The Stingy 11.2 ounce bottle. 

Thieving Euros?


Perhaps the title of this post is a bit harsh. 
I usually don't purchase beer from the old world.
There are ample quality brews available brewed in the United States now.
At one time such beers were rare.
From time to time I enjoy one of the British Bitters or Trappist Ales, a Stella Artois or a Heineken, especially when in the islands of the Caribbean.

I bought a box of Löwenbräu yesterday.
I did it because I noticed that the version suddenly common in the stores is brewed in Germany again.

For many years Miller Brewing concocted an American Löwenbräu that contained corn in the recipe. It didn't taste much like the former import beer. It tasted like Miller. They thereby destroyed the reputation of the brand over a thirty year period and it was discontinued here early in the twenty-first century.
I knew that Löwenbräu is now owned by the same international conglomerate (AB InBev) that owns Budweiser and I was curious about this Löwenbräu.

The flavor I found in this Löwenbräu, which is described as a 5.2% malt liquor on the label, was OK. But it is as bland as German beer can get. And it is not as tasty or as fragrant as the remembered  imported Löwenbräu of my youth.
But memories of youth can be illusive.

Then I noticed a disturbing fact.
This beer from Europe comes in an 11.2 ounce bottle.
That means you get 9.6 ounces LESS in a twelve pack of beer.
I had subliminally noticed that some beers from away came in a smaller bottle.
But for the first time it really annoyed me.
I am finished buying beer that comes in the 11.2 ounce bottle.
Brewers, stop stealing 80% a bottle of beer from me when I buy a twelve pack and I will reconsider my decision.
At least prominently display on the box that the bottles contain a measly 11.2 ounces of beer.
Before great American beers become available I suppose I would have accepted the 1/3 liter size bottle as the price one had to pay for an imported beer. But no more.
On my next beer buying excursion I will research bottle sizes of various brands and report in this space.

Anheuser-Busch InBev produces 25% of all the beer in the world and bottles the following brands:

International

Budweiser, Stella Artois, Beck's and Brahma 

Some Local and Regional Brands

Staropramen, Alexander Keith's, Leffe and Hoegaarden, Bud Light, Skol, Quilmes, Labatt Blue, Michelob, Harbin, Sedrin, Cass, Klinskoye, Sibirskaya Korona, Chernigivske and Jupiler.  

The 330 ml bottle brings a lot of extra profit when you consider how big AB InBev is and how much imported beer they sell in the USA to people who may not be aware that they are drinking from a short-measured bottle.