Wednesday 8 May 2013

Stop Whining about your Glass Half Full!

Read between the lines...

Lets share a standard drink..do you know why there is a line on the glassware in restaurants?? 

Often thought as the way that the restaurant 'makes' money, well, in some cases, yes it can serve to be useful for stock control management, however in reality the fines incurred by not serving alcohol responsibly far outweigh that misconception. 

The 'average' drink is for most consumers one glass of wine; right? So when you go out, you assume that women can have one standard 'drink' per hour and men can have two standard 'drinks' in one hour, and then one each hour after that.  Yes of course, that depends on what you have had to eat, body weight, fitness levels (not piss fit, physical fit..) and all these have to be taken into consideration.  

Any alcoholic drink which contains 10 grams of alcohol is called a standard drink. As the alcohol content of drinks varies greatly, it takes differing amounts of different types of alcohol to make up a standard drink.  Follow this guide;
The following standard drinks have approximately 8-10 grams of alcohol:

30ml of spirits (40% alc/vol)

60ml of fortified wine (port) (18% alc/vol)

100ml of Sparkling (12% alc/vol)

100ml of wine (12% alc/vol) ****some wines are now 14+%

150ml of light wine (8% alc/vol)

280ml of standard strength beer (4.9% alc/vol)

375ml of low-alcohol beer (2.8% alc/vol)

The average wine 'pour' in a restaurant is about 150ml - 180ml depending on house rules. This is what the line on the glass determines. This means that if you are a woman, and think that you can have one glass per hour, you are in fact having 1.5 glasses of wine in the first hour and therefore be over the limit if sticking to that rule of thumb. Let alone the fact that some wines are now up around the 14-15% alc. mark can make you DOUBLE the limit......If the restaurant only served 100ml of wine, customers would freak out and feel completely ripped off and generally probably have another glass anyway; therefore sending them over the limit (for driving).

TIP; always inquire how much alcohol is in the wine, stick to moderate alcohol of about 12-13%. There are very few if any wine lists that keep such data on their list. Its up to you to ask.  If you go to a club or smaller restaurant and because they 'fill' the glass..beware......So stop complaining your glass is half full, this is keeping you safe.

Every person who handles an alcoholic beverage glass (full or empty) in Queensland requires an RSA; Responsible Service of Alcohol certificate.  These are updated every 2 years by means of an online course and ONLY then is that person by law able to pour or clear a glass.  There are HUGE fines for those who break the rules, there are also dramatic differences between guidelines interstate.  

So if you hold a Queensland RSA, you will not be able to use this in New South Wales, or Victoria, Tasmania or Western Australia, because their school of thought is different; stupid huh? Revenue raising..I mean if they can bring the school curriculum into line, why cant they do the same with this? Fundamentally this would be a huge benefit all round, skill base wise, unemployment levels would benefit, and we would all share the same understanding of the fine print of alcohol service. Economically it makes sense.

So, love that line on the glass or love the cuffs on the wrists....or worse, take some responsibility for your actions and stop giving the restaurant staff a hard time. Just enjoy what you have.



Related Links;
Queensland Liq & Gaming
Tasmanian Liq & Gaming 
Dept Gaming Racing & Liq WA 
NSW office of Liq Gaming & Racing 
Dept of Justice VIC 

Penalties for industry QLD



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