Down with the middy as drinkers find size does matter

Sydney has called last drinks on the middy.

Pubs and clubs across the city are permanently shelving rack upon rack of the once-popular 285ml glass after orders dried up from a young, thirsty clientele.

Gone are the days of bartenders asking customers which size glass patrons would like when ordering a drop of ale, with the 425ml schooner glass now considered standard.

At popular Bondi Beach watering hole Ravesi's, the only beer size available in the main bar is the schooner, while upstairs in a boutique cocktail bar customers are able to purchase the fence-sitting schmiddie.

"The margins work out better for us. There's more glass, more beer and people see more value in a schooner," bar manager Blake Schill said.

"We don't even sell middies. Literally no one asks for them, the only place I see them any more is old blokes drinking them at golf clubs."

One of the last refuges of the middy glass is Balgowlah Bowling Club. There, middies account for roughly three in every four beer sales. "We are an older club and membership ranges from around 60 to 93," secretary manager Valerie Murray said.

"We're old-school and though ladies can certainly knock back schooners, they prefer middies as do the men."

Murray said middies were especially popular on hotter days when members sat outside, and she saw no reason why the once-dominant size should be phased out.

"I think whoever's stopping middies is nuts," she said.

"Not everyone drinks that much volume in a schooner and I think it's very irresponsible in terms of responsible service of alcohol."

Australian Hotels Association NSW boss Paul Nicolaou said there would always be a place for the humble middy.

Alyson Walker 25, Stephanie Furuno 28 and Annelise Lindsay 20, enjoying a schooner of beer at Ravesi's in Bondi. Picture: Tim Hunter 

Source: The Herald Sun, 3 February 2013