Liters to Pints Converter

Two pints exist: 473 mL in the US and 568 mL in the UK. A litre is 2.11 of one and 1.76 of the other.

Conversion table

Volume	In US pints
0.5	1.0567 pt
1	2.1134 pt
1.5	3.1701 pt
2	4.2268 pt
2.5	5.2834 pt
3	6.3401 pt
4	8.4535 pt
5	10.5669 pt
6	12.6803 pt
7	14.7936 pt
8	16.907 pt
9	19.0204 pt
10	21.1338 pt
12	25.3605 pt
15	31.7007 pt

🍻 The two pints

1 US pint473.18 mL
1 imperial pint568.26 mL
1 litre2.113 US pints
1 litre1.760 imperial pints

Knowing which pint you are getting

A British pint holds 95 mL more than an American one — about a fifth more beer for the same word.
In the UK, draught beer and cider must be sold in thirds, halves or pints, and the glass carries an official stamp.
Germany and most of continental Europe serve 0.3 L and 0.5 L glasses; a half-litre is 12% smaller than an imperial pint.
A US pint of ice cream is 473 mL, which is why an American tub looks small next to a 500 mL European one.

One eighth of a gallon, twice over

A pint has always been an eighth of a gallon, so when Britain and the United States ended up with different gallons, the pint split with them. The US pint inherited the old English wine gallon and came out at 473.176 millilitres; the imperial pint, defined from the 1824 gallon of ten pounds of water, is 568.261 millilitres. That is a 20% gap hiding behind an identical word, and it runs all the way down: an imperial fluid ounce is 28.41 mL while a US one is 29.57, and the imperial pint holds twenty of them against the American sixteen.

The pint that is a legal measure

In the United Kingdom the pint is not just a size, it is a regulated quantity. Draught beer and cider may only be sold in third-pint, half-pint and pint measures, and the glass must be either a stamped brim measure or a lined glass showing the volume below the head. That is why British pint glasses carry a crown, a CE mark or a UKCA mark — proof that the vessel has been verified. Nowhere else in the world regulates a beer glass this way, which is part of why the imperial pint has survived decades of otherwise thorough metrication.

What a glass of beer means around the world

United Kingdom and Ireland: 568 mL, a legally defined imperial pint.
United States: 473 mL, though many bars pour into 16 oz glasses that hold slightly less once poured.
Germany, Austria and much of Europe: 0.3 L and 0.5 L, marked on the glass.
Australia: a pint is 570 mL in most states but 425 mL in South Australia, where 570 is called an imperial pint.
The Netherlands and Belgium: 250 mL and 330 mL are the common pours.
Canada: sells in millilitres by law but calls a 20 oz imperial pour a pint in practice.

Volumes worth knowing

1 litre is 2.11 US pints or 1.76 imperial pints.
A 500 mL bottle is 1.06 US pints, or 0.88 of an imperial pint.
A UK pint of milk is 568 mL; a US pint of cream is 473 mL.
A US pint is 16 US fluid ounces; an imperial pint is 20 imperial fluid ounces.
A 5-litre mini keg holds 8.8 imperial pints or 10.6 US pints.
A standard 330 mL bottle is 0.58 of an imperial pint — just over half.

Worked examples

Bottles, glasses and kegs

One litre in pints

1,000 ÷ 473.176 = 2.113 US pints
1,000 ÷ 568.261 = 1.760 imperial pints
The same litre, two very different counts

1 L = 2.11 US pints = 1.76 imperial

A 5 litre mini keg

5,000 ÷ 568.261 = 8.8 imperial pints
5,000 ÷ 473.176 = 10.6 US pints
Nearly two extra glasses for the same beer

5 L = 8.8 UK pints or 10.6 US pints

Frequently Asked Questions

How many pints are in a litre?

2.113 US pints or 1.760 imperial pints. The difference comes from the two gallons: a pint is an eighth of a gallon in both systems, and the imperial gallon is 20% larger, so the imperial pint is too.

How much bigger is a UK pint than a US pint?

By 95 millilitres, or about 20%. An imperial pint is 568.26 mL and a US pint is 473.18 mL. A round of four in London is roughly one extra American pint compared with the same round in New York.

Why is a UK pint glass stamped?

Because draught beer and cider are sold by legally defined measures in the United Kingdom, so the glass itself must be verified. A crown, a CE mark or a UKCA mark on the glass certifies that it holds the quantity it claims, either to the brim or to a marked line.

Is a half litre the same as a pint?

No. Half a litre is 500 mL, which is 12% less than an imperial pint of 568 mL but 6% more than a US pint of 473 mL. A German 0.5 L glass therefore sits neatly between the two.

How many fluid ounces are in a pint?

Sixteen US fluid ounces in a US pint, and twenty imperial fluid ounces in an imperial pint. Confusingly, the imperial fluid ounce is the smaller of the two at 28.41 mL against 29.57 — but there are more of them, so the imperial pint still wins.

Is an Australian pint the same as a British one?

Usually, but not always. Most Australian states pour 570 mL, essentially an imperial pint. In South Australia a pint means 425 mL and the full 570 is called an imperial pint, which catches out visitors from every other state.