Verein gegen betrügerisches Einschenken

Well, well, well.

I've just stumbled upon an article about these chaps, and their century old mission to make sure that German beer drinkers are not short changed when guzzling down a maß or 5.

The VGBA website tells all, but it is only available in German, and you are greeted with the smiling faces of my mate Christian Ude (looking curiously orange - bit too much time in the Schwabing tanning studios mething Christian), and some bloke I don't know called Stoiber.

In England, its been commonplace for years for people to insist on absolutely no head (on their beers), and lager glasses filled up to such an extent that there is actually a visible meniscus atop the insipid amber brew. The weak gag "can you fit a whisky in there? Yes? Well bloody fill it up properly then" can still be heard in pubs across the country. The English are all bawdy drunks though, so that extra 5 ml of beer is of prime importance.

As anyone with any taste buds knows though, the froth on a beer is an important thing - but certainly not at the expense of beer space, hence the standard marks on beerglasses. Still though, the VGBE is seriously concerned about German beerdrinkers getting ripped off, particularly at the Oktoberfest or in biergartens over the summer where you may have more than one or tow drinkies, and shifty patrons may well take advantage of your euphoric boozed up state to slip you a cheekily undermeasure tipple.

From an article in the Deutche Welle:


Thats a lot of beer man. There is a bierzelt umfrage on the VGBE page where you can add your vote about beerglassfullness.
Apparently they also meet on the first and third tuesday of the month in the Hofbraühaus, and you can download registration forms from here.

that's some seriously random surfing you're up to this morning don! not sure i'd like to attend a meeting though, these guys may just take life a bit too seriously for my liking but i appreciate their efforts.

They have undercover guys at the Oktoberfest checking on the levels in the Mass.

Now that is a job, "Well I left work early but then I decided to get a bit of practice in"

Sounds like the first and third Tuesday of the month are good days to get a full glass at Hofbraühaus.

Madame showem is my beerline checker at the Wies'n. Whatever time day or night she can reliably tell if the beer is full enough and sort out a splash extra if needed. My advice would be to take her out with you at all times (of course, it might cost you the odd Maß to get her to stay checking though).

I can't find it, but there was an old Oktoberfest poster of a policeman sahking his finger at the kellner filling the beer, saying that he must make certain it is the full amount.

Showem is the best at getting skimpy Mass properly filled!

I'm always a bit scared of complaining in case the waitress then ignores you but you can go back to the Ausschank yourself can't you?

Not at Oktoberfest.

I'd have the same fear: get ignored for complaining.

Yes you can, I've done this at the O'Fest because the waitress said she couldn't do anything about it! I took 4 masses back and said to the guys that I would like them filled properly please. They didn't grumble or anything, just filled them up properly.

Cinzia, you most certainly CAN take it back to the Ausschank yourself during Oktoberfest! I've done it a few times. I won't say several, because after pointing it out to the waitress once and DIYing it, it's usually enough to make sure they are topped up the next round.

Respect, Showem!

Especially since I rarely end up with a full Mass at Oktoberfest. Which is usually OK, since that's the last place I'd ever want to be really drunk, but still. They shouldn't really be making money off that.

Can the waitresses really not do anything about it?

i guess when they're filling up thousands upon thousands of glasses constantly, even the most dilligent beer pourer could end up with a few with over sized heads. and with the volume they sell, i'm sure they don't give a monkey's about topping them up.

on the other hand, when you're on a leo sayer, the odd slop of missing beer really doesn't make a difference to me!

The waitress has too much going on to refill a not full Mass. But she can make sure it gets filled proper the first time if she's paying attention. It means better tips for her.

As for making money off of not-quite-full beer glasses, my understanding is that the breweries are taxed for 110L for every 100L they sell.

My rule of thumb at Oktoberfest really is my thumb. If the beer level is lower than my thumb edge from the top of the marker, it gets sent back. I do wait for the foam to settle a bit, just to make sure.

I doubt it's a matter of money. For the most part the waitstaff are more concerned about getting the beer to you as quickly as possible. Sitting around witing for the head on the beer to go down so you can fill up the beer takes a long time.

You can have it quick or you can have it accurate, with the kind of numbers you see at octoberfest you're going to go for quick over accurate. This shouldn't stop the customer from going up for a top up themselves though.

Grazzenger, it's intentional and everyone knows it. The Finanzamt knows it so well they tax a 200-litre keg for 210 Maß at O'Fest, which no one argues since they manage to squeeze 215-220 Maß out of those kegs. There's a similar 5% excess tax on the big beer tanks based on the reported delivery amount.

You can always walk up to the Ausschank to get the beer filled. The problem is that if you've even taken one sip, you have no more claim and it can take 15 minutes for the head to die down naturally. Furthermore, they'll often splash some high-pressure foamy run into your glass which will then fill and overflow the contents and you'll be back to the shorted amount once that settles, but with less carbonation.

woof.

EDIT: forget it

Funny that, it is the last place I would ever want to be sober

Have you seen this movie that is coming out? Beerfest

"Two brothers travel to Germany for Oktoberfest, only to stumble upon secret, centuries-old competition described as a "Fight Club" with beer games. "

I try to strike a balance. Oktoberfest certainly IS the last place I would ever want to be sober.

But there are too many examples of the other extreme stumbling around there for me to want to join their number.

lol, i was gonna ask does any one want to join my group on a sat evening at HB tent last weekend of the fest, guess this is in the wrong topic !!

Saw a report several years ago on these guys. They seem to have some serious influence round these parts. You can recognize them by the girth or their stomachs. They take is seriously and are invited to the Wies'n free of charge.

As Showem and perhaps others (I didn't read them all carefully) have said, point it out the first time and your worries are over. Collect an euro from everyone at the table and say upon ordering that you expect the fullest of full maß's and the best service and the night is yours! Better yet, collect 2 up front and give the waitress half upon the first order and the second half a couple of orders later. If she sucks, pocket the second half and the table is none the wiser.

Why should this year be different than last? If "your group" includes a few even half fit birds, you'll see me. I'm the bloke in lderhosen with the Howard Stern hair at all the girls working there are talking to. It's your round, right?

woof.

lmao, im hopin to get them birds at the table, i will look out for you & yes, i have no probs buyin a round !!

difficult english for me

again this sentence is imcomprehensible to me. what does it mean to give a monkey's head?

A "Leo Sayer" is an "all dayer", as in drinking all day.

"Couldn't give a monkey's" means "don't care".

To give a monkey's head, or to give a monkey head is a completely different kettle of fish.

Means he must like giving head to monkeys (JK)

Oops, edited while DK was writing the same thing.

Great minds think alike

Fools seldom differ.

Dabei weiß doch jeder, dass Bier gerade in Bayern den Status eines Grundnahrungsmittels hat."

what would Grundnahrungsmittels be called in english? basic nutrition agent?

i forgot to say thanks for help.

one of the basic food groups! something you can't live without! is that clear enough?

So where's the organisation that ensures that bread isn't a few grams short of the stated kilo

I don't know the name of it, but there is an organisation that goes around checking things like this in the grocery markets.

And I'm going to bring up Showem's example the next time somebody whinges about high taxes in Germany!

There is an international scandal! Call Interpol at once. Check out this article from the Uk Campaign for real ale magazine entitiled A pint is a pint!
"Getting what you pay for is a basic consumer right. When ordering a pint of beer you should receive exactly that - a full pint. The reality is very different, and because of loopholes in the law over 8 out of 10 pints are short measure with consumers losing out to the tune of over £400 million each year

Despite repeated promises, the Government has failed to act on short beer measures. Under pressure from the pubs industry, the Government is now proposing to define a pint as “not less than 95% liquid�. CAMRA believes that this proposal will lead to the worsening of the current situation as it gives a green light to companies to short change consumers. "

More importantly can you recognise any of the campaigners?

As a long-standing Camra member, I consider this to be their most pointless campaign. Why campaign for a full pint when 90% of the pints bought in the UK are tasteless shit? I'd rather drink 18oz of real ale than a full pint of Carling.

Anyway, there's more information about the Honest Pint Campaign on their website, along with the identities of the geriatrics in the photo above.

There's nowt like a good 'ead on thy beer tha knows!
'Specially when it's t'hand pulled stuff, reeeeeeet grand!

Ach, you northern bastard! Darn Sarf, we don't like head on our beer.

Just a question out of curiosity, i hope the thread is right.

Yesterday I was in Oktoberfest with some friends. In Paulaner's tent to be precise.

There we ordered 8 Mass and when the waitress brought them they all had beer until about the red line shown below (2 even lower ) and the rest was foam. One of my friends thought it was not right so he told the waitress, and her reaction was like "you re right but I cannot do something". I also didn't see any Germans complain so I thought it is normal.

Is it?


Topics merged by admin

Yes, it's all factored into the price. The less beer they give you, the sooner you'll spend another €8.25 on the next one.

You have to take your - undrunken from - Maß to the Schenke and have them fill it up. They might grumble but they are obliged to top your beer off to a full liter. Ask them, "Nachschenken, bitte".

At the Bräurosl* there are signs up, saying that underfilled glasses will be topped-up.

But note that very freshly tapped Masses often have more beer in them than you might think - wait a bit and see how much the level rises as the foam settles...

_{* Edit - hang on, it wasn't at the Schottenhamel.}