Pints and pub food

Something reminds me of my time in London almost every day, but we really had a London-type experience last evening. The only difference was the football they were playing with on the TV in the "pub" was the wrong shape.

Well, maybe not everything else was the same. We were actually at a brewery, that has a pub on the side, and I don't remember visiting any of those in London. Specifically, Blue Star brewery, one of our kids' favorite places to visit when they come home.

We weren't watching the aforementioned football, either, as we opted to eat outside on the patio (another non-London touch). And we were on the banks of the San Antonio River, not the Thames.

But Henry and I shared a delicious plate of fish-and-chips! As good as any I had in London. (Although I missed the mushy peas, the cole slaw on the plate instead was excellent. I know I should have taken a photo of the food, JaPRA, but I didn't think of it until it was gone!)

And we had pints of beer. I know I drank more beer in London than I usually do at home, simply because it's what one does in pubs. Although I would often substitute cider, one of the many culinary discoveries I made while in England. But I do occasionally indulge here, especially when we have guests, like Hal and Carey, spending a few days with us while their Austin house's bathroom gets re-tiled.

Along with the beer and food, we had an enjoyable, relaxing evening of conversation. And, given the high bsq [beer snob quotient] of the younger generation, a good bit of the conversation revolved around the beer we were drinking. The aspect that most interested me, however, was the size of our servings.

I thought my glass held more than the ½ pints I usually ordered in London, which led us into a long discussion of the relative sizes of British and American pints. H&C have had beer all over the world and so there was a lot of experience to draw upon, if not actual evidence. But I was practically convinced that either 1) my memory was faulty, or 2) that I was misled by the size/shape of the glasses.

However, internet research has proved me right! According to this well-researched and referenced Wikipedia article, British pints contain 568 milliliters, while American pints have 473. I also found this historical account, which includes the same figures, plus several others.

A pint, by any other name, or size, would still taste as good. But I was glad to find some hard figures to quantify yet another difference between my life here and now and how I lived during my "Dream Season."