Schooner

Two thirds of an imperial pint, and the newest legal measure for draught beer in Britain.

Almost every unit in this archive was abolished. The schooner was invented. Until 2011 the only lawful measures for draught beer in Britain were the third, the half and the full pint, which left strong beers awkwardly served: a pint of anything above six per cent is a considerable commitment, and a half feels mean. The Weights and Measures (Specified Quantities) Order of 2011 added two thirds of a pint to the list, and the trade borrowed a name from Australia to describe it. That borrowing is where it gets confusing, because an Australian schooner is 425 millilitres in most states and 285 in South Australia, where the glass everyone else calls a schooner is called a pint instead. Three countries, one word, three volumes, and the newest of them arrived in British law within living memory.