A couple of years ago, when Greene King reduced the strength of draught Old Speckled Hen from 5.2% ABV to 4.5%, they also announced that henceforward, the 5.2% bottled version would only be available in 355ml bottles. The supermarkets made valiant efforts to sell these at a similar price to competing beers in 500ml, but eventually admitted defeat and the 500ml bottles were back.
Now I note my local Tesco selling 330ml bottles of a few ales, including OSH again and Hobgoblin, alongside the 500ml ones. However, I really can’t see these taking off, especially as the price/volume ratio is higher than it is for the bigger bottles. If you’re buying to drink at home, you want to a have a near-pint 500ml, not some titchy little measure that only comes halfway up the glass. I’ll give it six months...