Americans are discovering the joy of a true pint of beer

AT THE BARS of the United Centre, a sports arena on the near west side of Chicago, the default drink available is Modelo, a Mexican lager that in May became America’s best-selling beer. But a popular alternative is a craft beer sold in cans from a fridge behind the bar, called “Tropical Beer Hug”. Adorned with a picture of a cartoon bear wearing sunglasses, the marketing is memorable. But to your British correspondent, the more striking part is the size of the cans. Each one contains 19.2 US customary fluid ounces of beer. That is 568ml in metric measures. But more importantly, it is 20 Imperial fluid ounces, known in Britain, Ireland and a few other former British territories as “one pint”.