Imperial vs Metric in the Brewing World

US or Metric

  • I have only used US

    Votes: 4 22.2%

  • I have only used Metric

    Votes: 5 27.8%

  • I have used both and prefer US

    Votes: 2 11.1%

  • I have used both and prefer Metric

    Votes: 1 5.6%

  • I use both US and Metric

    Votes: 6 33.3%
  • Total voters
    18
Useless metric in the US facts that I picked up from a podcast a while back:

Weirdly, metric is the official unit of measure in the US. Your pollies ran out of political capital in the 70s when they made the change and couldn't get it adopted in the schools, but the civil service 'works' in metric, well at least when it's official documentation/tender responses.

And metric might have been adopted earlier if it wasn't for pirates - https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo...the-caribbean-hijacked-americas-metric-system

Only two other countries use imperial units, Liberia and Myanmar.
 
oliver said:
Starter - liters
Water volume - quarts
Salts - grams
Grains - lbs and oz
Hops - mostly oz, but also grams when i'm doing an experiment and need more accuracy.

even beyond weight and volume, I always record OG in Plato through a refrac and FG in specific gravity on a hydrometer.
Click to expand...

I do exactly the same thing.

I remember way back in the late 70's, in high school debate class, I was on the pro-metric side and won easily. It made so much sense that I had no doubt that the U.S. would be metric in 10 years. Then I grew up and discovered that common sense wasn't so common.
 
Let's not confuse US Conventional with Imperial. The British have some strange ways of measuring things. I can remember having a Triumph Bonneville in the late 60s/early 70s. It came with a tool kit that was totally British and odd. Whitworth wrench sizes were the thread size of the bolt or nut they were used on instead of the hex size they fit, and in inches too. So if you have a 1/2" bolt with a 3/4" head, the Whitworth size would be 1/2", even though the opening measured 3/4". It must have made sense to whomever Whitworth was.

I use both metric & USC in brewing. smaller measurements are easier with metric and larger ones with USC. Also multiples of 10,, like 100 ml DME for a 1 liter starter are much easier with metric. Pretty much the path of least resistance works well for me.
 
I am a hybrid, I was a teenager when they brought the metric system in here in Canada.
Temperature
I have been conditioned to think celcius for weather degrees. But when it comes to mash temperatures, I can't wrap my head around celcius.
I buy my fuel, and my milk in liters, but I think in gallons. US gallons, which makes no sense, because I grew up hearing my Dad say, the US gallon is 4 fifths of the "Canadian" gallon (Imperial actually), I am doomed...
 
Oh, don't ever confuse Imperial with Metric, they are very, very, distant cousins. They may in fact be just like old family friends...
 
That is true. It's weird to see cl on anything, that doesn't seem to be a unit of measure used in Canada.
 
Bubba Wade said:
Asking the bartender for a 500 cl of Guiness just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Click to expand...

After drinking 500 cl of Guinness you wouldn't have the same ring either :eek:That's just over 10 1/2 pints.
 
Hawkbox said:
That is true. It's weird to see cl on anything, that doesn't seem to be a unit of measure used in Canada.
Click to expand...
Or pretty much anywhere. When I lived in Germany, it was usually liters or milliliters, Cl very rarely (generally something coming out of the eastern bloc).
 
Ah that makes more sense then, when I was there I saw a lot of things (bottles) labelled 35cl so thought it was common.
 
Might be more prevalent now - I haven't been to Europe in a while. The nice thing about metric is it's relatively easy to convert 35cl to 350ml. Ounces, gallons, drams, quarts, pints....
 
Yeah it took me a bit to click what I was reading, but it made sense. That was around 10 years ago now.

God I'm getting old.
 
BOB357 said:
After drinking 500 cl of Guinness you wouldn't have the same ring either :eek:That's just over 10 1/2 pints.
Click to expand...
See how confusing the metric system is! Probably responsible for all sorts of drunkenness.

But if I ordered 10 1/2 pints, I guess I would just have to drink them.
 
I am Amazed how fluent you guys are in the two different measurements me metric celcius millimetres grams and Kilos cover every little thing I do. One thing I do dislike is we sell brew gear in Aus in Imperial I suppose it's geared for sale in US but I've ordered the wrong size push fittings way to many times I could run 3/4 inch keg system or 5/16th heck I still don't get it:confused:. See they sell the beer line 4mm ID 8mm OD but then they sell the push fittings and hose clamps in inches. Maybe I gotta drink more when making orders.
 
FreddieFred said:
Prefer measuring in metric but drinking in pints.
Click to expand...
After ordering beer in tens of countries and states, all with their own arcane measuring and naming systems, I now just ask for big or small. And we've been metric since the 60s so you'll eventually hit someone behind a bar that won't know what glass to use if you order a pint.

Here's the debacle if you tried to order a beer in the local lingo in Australia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Australia#Sizes
 
Brewing equipment with markings in gallons and such is not actually imperial, it is US. A US gallon is exactly four fifths of an Imperial (UK) gallon. Same deal with a US quart, and an imperial quart. In Canada, before switching to liters for fuel back in the 70's, our fuel was sold in imperial gallons.
Screenshot_20200723-215659_Calculator.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Copyright © 2007-2025 Brewer's Friend, Inc. - Send Feedback - Terms - RSS Feed - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Back
Top