MANY NAMES FOR BEER

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 146, 17 March 1934, Page 18

MANY NAMES FOR BEER

Popular Australian Terms

Beer in Australia is known by many names. Whether a customer asks in a Melbourne hotel for a “pint.” a “mug,” a “beaker,” a “tankard,” a “handle,” a •jug,” a "noggin.” or merely a "pot.” or a" “beer,” the barman seems to have little' difficulty in understanding what is required. The interstate traveller, however, sometimes finds himself momentarily at a loss. In Brisbane a tall 16oz. glass of beer is served to the customer who demands a “schooner,” but. if he should give the same order in Newcastle the barman may raise an eyebrow and ask, “You mean a pot?” It is debatable, says the “Argus,” what the South Australian visitor to Melbourne would receive were he to follow his home custom and ask for a “butcher.” A similar reception might await the visitor from Western Australia who asked for his “jack”—a term surviving from days when there were

leather drinking vessels known as “black jacks,” or "flagons. But the “pot” is recognised almost everywhere. A pot of beer in Melbourne is. strictly speaking, a 12oz. glass with a handle, .but the inquirer for a pot may be served with a metal pot of 20oz.—an Imperial pint. He may make sure of it bv asking for a “tin,” a “can," "tankard,” “mug,” “stein,” “pewter.” or “bucket.” However, as the one costs 6d. and the other at least 10d., glass pots are the more popular. In one famous hotel the thirsty may demand a huge vessel of fragile glass filled with a quart of ale. This is a “dreadnought.” Another interesting variation between State and State is the custom in Queensland and Western Australia of bulk distribution in five and gallon basks, whereas in the southern and eastern States “nines” are the vogue.