500ml to 440ml?

Edit: the 440 on the right, is the last of a can that I bought in a four pack. The 500 on the left, is one of three I bought as singles.

Packaged Guinness comes in 440 milliliters. Single cans of Guinness come in 500 mL.

Apparently, that’s how Guinness does it here in Canada.

And apparently, I lazily avoided any attempt to research or apply any level of critical thinking before posting.

  • PhineaZEnglish
    128•9 months ago

    That is not new though? I am fairly certain I bought both sizes at various places all over Europe. I guess the 440 is meant for the british market while the 500 is intended for civilised countries.

    • @[email protected]English
      26•9 months ago

      Yeah, this is not new and not shrinkflation… here in Canada the 440ml has been around for over 20 years in multi-packs, and the 500ml is available as individual cans.

      • @[email protected]English
        2•9 months ago

        My local Aldi had the 500ml cans here in Germany this week so I guess you could get both.

    • @[email protected]English
      6•9 months ago

      In Britain lots of beers come on both sizes, and it makes comparing prices #mildlyinfuriating. Is 6x500ml at £7.99 better than 4x440ml at £4.50? What if there’s an 12 pack of 330ml stubbies for £15, but it’s Buy One Get One Free?

      • beanEnglish
        3•9 months ago

        Purely curious myself, I asked GPT4 for you. This is the response:

        Here’s how the prices compare per liter:

        •	6x500ml at £7.99: £2.66 per liter
•	4x440ml at £4.50: £2.56 per liter
•	12x330ml at £15 (Buy One Get One Free): £1.89 per liter

        The 12 pack of 330ml stubbies (with the Buy One Get One Free offer) offers the best value at £1.89 per liter.

    • @[email protected]English
      5•9 months ago

      440ml is a UK variant. No one has a confirmed explanation for its existence alongside 500ml.

      However 440ml of water would be 0.44kg which is just under one pound imperial weight (0.45kg). Presumably the fluid plus the aluminium can would weight about 1lb which may explain the odd volume measure (given transport costs and possibly even how customs costs may have used to work?).