It’s not the size of the glass, it’s the motion of the potion

As we leave you for a three day weekend, we take a look at the sport of boozing. New research in the field (or “bar”) indicates that people drink beer faster when served in a high-falutin’ curved glass than from traditional pint glass. The drinkers finished curvy beers five minutes faster, taking up to 12 minutes to consume their plain-jane drafts.

The brave beer scientists believe it’s not physics at play here, but a matter of human psychology or, more to the point, perception.

Your average drinker measures their progress in degrees, like “half-empty” or “half-full.” They then use this halfway marker to determine whether they are drinking too fast or too slow. But, with a curvy glass, the midway point becomes hazy, just like the drinker himself. Unable to determine how much beer is “half,” they are no longer able to moderate their drinking and finish, on average, in seven minutes instead of 12.

To avoid falling victim to this sensation, the Guys suggest thinking of your beer as neither half-empty nor half-full, but as a wasted opportunity for another full glass.