[AusMap] Australian Drinking: A Brief Guide


Beer Glass Names

The Australian dialect of English is remarkable for having virtually no regional variation over the entire continent. However, there's one place that regional terminology runs rampant: the Pub. You can always pick a "foreigner" because they come in and ask for a beer using the wrong glass name or the wrong brand (although the big commercial brands are pretty much national nowadays). To prevent embarrassment, we present the following list of beer glass terminologies used in the various Australian states. One of the amazing things about this list is that although some terms actually are common between two or more states, they generally refer to different sized glasses in each state. Some states actually have names for six different sizes of beer glass. We'll present just the most commonly-used two or three for each state.
New South Wales
Glass (200ml) ..... Middy (285ml) ..... Schooner (425ml)
Norther Territory
Six (200ml) ..... Seven (285ml) ..... Handle (425ml)
Queensland
Glass (200ml) ..... Pot (285ml) ..... Schooner (425ml)
South Australia
Butcher (200ml) ..... Schooner (285ml) ..... Pint (425ml)
Tasmania
Seven (200ml) ..... Ten (285ml) ..... Pint (425ml)
Victoria
Glass (200ml) ..... Pot (285ml)
Western Australia
Bobby (200ml) ..... Glass (285ml) ..... Pot (425ml)

Most hotels use personalised beer coasters, or at least ones related to the beer they're serving. I've got a collection of these and have scanned in some of them, for your viewing pleasure.


Page maintained by John Shepherd ... jas@cse.unsw.edu.au ... Last modified 21 Jan 1996