Discussions

It is a known fact that one alcoholic drink is:  
12 oz. of 5% beer, or  
5 oz. of 12% wine, or  
1.5 oz. of 40% hard liquor.  
 
From the Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba (LGAM) website:  
http://lgamanitoba.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/LGA-Know-My-Limits-Campaign-Liquor-Marts.jpg  
 
If you go to a bar/lounge/social or licensed premises where the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries controls the distribution of alcoholic drinks, you are served:  
12 oz. of 5% beer, or  
5 oz. of 12% wine, or  
1.0 oz. of 40% hard liquor.  
 
If a drink has a price of $5.00 per drink and you buy 3 beer or 3 glasses of wine, you are spending $15.00 and you are getting 3 drinks of alcohol.  
 
If you buy 3 drinks of hard alcohol, you are still spending $15.00, but in actuality, you are only getting 3 oz. of hard liquor, or according to the LGAM, 2 drinks or $10.00 of alcohol.  
 
This thread is not about whether you should drink or not, whether you should patronize licensed premises and purchase alcohol or not, or drinking and driving (which you shouldn’t do).  
 
The point here is that the government is telling you what constitutes an alcoholic drink, but is only selling you two thirds of that drink if it is hard alcohol. This is basically stealing our money. If you or I were to try that, we would be in a lot of legal trouble. Why is the government allowed to do this?

it's the government and they make the rules. If you or me or anybody doesn't like it then the best thing to do is to ask questions. Find out who the minister responsible for the liquor commission is and e-mail him or her and ask them why. State your case as professionally as you can and believe it or not you will get a response. I know I had some questions and concerns regarding rules and regulations in another department and action was taken. I as very impressed. You have to go to the top don't mess around with underlings. It may take time but if you're serious about seeing change or getting answers it is very possible you just have to put time and energy into it. It's good to get a conversation started on ebrandon but unless the minister responbible for this portfolio is reading this you won't get the answer your looking for. I would be interested in hearing what he or she has to say so please keep us informed.

Know how places are stealing from you when it's posted on the menu that the alcoholic drink you are purchasing only has 1 oz in it.

If you haven't realized the government steals from us constantly. We shouldn't have to pay taxes on the money we've earned from working hours. There's enough other things, like alcohol and tobacco that the corrupt government makes money off of.

I thought the typical serving a wine at a premises is 4 oz, not 5? I know 5oz is the "official" serving, but don't most serve 4 oz anyway, which is 1/2 a cup?

Just because it's "alcohol equivalent" doesn't necessarily make it "standard". "Standard" is whatever the governing body says it is, regardless of what it's "equivalent" to. Don't mix the meaning of the terms up.  
 
A standard drink has been 1oz for as long as I can remember, and I'm turning 40. I can also think of several non-money-motivating factors that might encourage regulators to reduce the size of a shot.

According to the federal Weights & Measures act, when a person orders a pint, legally the pour must be 20oz pour. Generally restaurants and pubs only pour 14-16oz portions. However, you don't really see the word pint mentioned on many menus anymore, instead they will advertise "Xoz pours" instead so that they can still be legally in the right. But if you see a place that flat out says "pints" but doesn't advertise the Pour size, they can be fined, as well.. they are "supposed" to give you a full legal 20oz pour  
 
https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/mc-mc.nsf/eng/h_lm00007.html

ZachT said "It is a known fact that one alcoholic drink is:   12 oz. of 5% beer, or   5 oz. of 12% wine, or   1.5 oz. of 40% hard liquor.     From the Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba (LGAM) website:   http://lgamanitoba.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/LGA-Know-My-Limits-Campaign-Liquor-Marts.jpg     If you go to a bar/lounge/social or licensed premises where the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries controls the distribution of alcoholic drinks, you are served:   12 oz. of 5% beer, or   5 oz. of 12% wine, or   1.0 oz. of 40% hard liquor.     If a drink has a price of $5.00 per drink and you buy 3 beer or 3 glasses of wine, you are spending $15.00 and you are getting 3 drinks of alcohol.     If you buy 3 drinks of hard alcohol, you are still spending $15.00, but in actuality, you are only getting 3 oz. of hard liquor, or according to the LGAM, 2 drinks or $10.00 of alcohol.     This thread is not about whether you should drink or not, whether you should patronize licensed premises and purchase alcohol or not, or drinking and driving (which you shouldn’t do).     The point here is that the government is telling you what constitutes an alcoholic drink, but is only selling you two thirds of that drink if it is hard alcohol. This is basically stealing our money. If you or I were to try that, we would be in a lot of legal trouble. Why is the government allowed to do this? "

All this really means is that, drink for drink, those who drink hard liquor in gov't regulated establishments will be more sober than those drinking beer or wine.

ZachT said "It is a known fact that one alcoholic drink is:   12 oz. of 5% beer, or   5 oz. of 12% wine, or   1.5 oz. of 40% hard liquor.     From the Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba (LGAM) website:   http://lgamanitoba.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/LGA-Know-My-Limits-Campaign-Liquor-Marts.jpg     If you go to a bar/lounge/social or licensed premises where the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries controls the distribution of alcoholic drinks, you are served:   12 oz. of 5% beer, or   5 oz. of 12% wine, or   1.0 oz. of 40% hard liquor.     If a drink has a price of $5.00 per drink and you buy 3 beer or 3 glasses of wine, you are spending $15.00 and you are getting 3 drinks of alcohol.     If you buy 3 drinks of hard alcohol, you are still spending $15.00, but in actuality, you are only getting 3 oz. of hard liquor, or according to the LGAM, 2 drinks or $10.00 of alcohol.     This thread is not about whether you should drink or not, whether you should patronize licensed premises and purchase alcohol or not, or drinking and driving (which you shouldn’t do).     The point here is that the government is telling you what constitutes an alcoholic drink, but is only selling you two thirds of that drink if it is hard alcohol. This is basically stealing our money. If you or I were to try that, we would be in a lot of legal trouble. Why is the government allowed to do this? "

You are mixing up several things here.  
 
1) The definitions linked are for the purposes of judging consumption. At the ABV percentages given, those quantities all contain the same amount of alcohol, and that amount of alcohol is considered "one drink", as a guide for whether you can/should drive.  
 
2) These quantities have nothing to do with a bar offers. Beer and wine often differ from those percentages, and as you note, a bar shot is often smaller.  
 
3) It is the bar or restaurant that is serving/selling you these quantities. Even if the above definitions were a legal definition for what a bar is supposed to serve, it wouldn't be the government ripping you off, it would be the bar. But it's not, because again, the two things are not connected in any way.

I worked in restaurants 30 years ago and a standard shot was always 1 oz. However, as recently as this weekend I was in Winnipeg at 2 different restaurants that served cocktails where they clearly advertised 2 oz of the main spirit in a mixed cocktail. So, I don't think this is the government setting the drink sizes. I think this is restaurants and bars looking at a 26 oz bottle and saying we can sell 26 1 oz drinks or 17 1.5 oz drinks, or 13 2 oz drinks, and realizing they get more bang for their buck if its a 1 oz pour. It's called maximizing profit. Remember, if you want more, you'll pay for more.

As I'm sure that you are well aware, the government strictly controls the sale and distribution of alcohol. Don't you think that they strictly control the size of the shot that can be served?  
 
I can certainly understand profits. If a mixed drink is advertised as 1 oz., then you get an ounce. If a mixed drink is advertised as 2 ounces, then you get 2 ounces. If the government is posting a drink as 1.5 oz. of hard liquor, then I should be getting 1.5 oz. of hard liquor, which is 1 drink. Anything less than 1.5 oz. is not a drink and I'm not getting what I'm paying for, which is 1 drink.

ZachT said "As I'm sure that you are well aware, the government strictly controls the sale and distribution of alcohol. Don't you think that they strictly control the size of the shot that can be served?     I can certainly understand profits. If a mixed drink is advertised as 1 oz., then you get an ounce. If a mixed drink is advertised as 2 ounces, then you get 2 ounces. If the government is posting a drink as 1.5 oz. of hard liquor, then I should be getting 1.5 oz. of hard liquor, which is 1 drink. Anything less than 1.5 oz. is not a drink and I'm not getting what I'm paying for, which is 1 drink. "

Again, the government DOES NOT tell bars what a "drink" is. Bars create drinks and drink sizes according to the profits they are after and the customers they are marketing for. The "one drink" definition you're referring to is not a legal term whatsoever: it's simply an easy way for the MLCC to advertise for their "know your limits" campaign.  
 
The gov't does limit the max and min sizes, and in maintain a legal definition of what certain measurements actually mean (ie: a pint is 20 ounces, not a random glass), but there is no legal definition of "a drink".  
 
Do you also complain if the bar serves you a 4% beer, or offer to pay extra when the wine you like is 15%?  
 
Edited by pudds, 2017-07-24 15:24:09