The 814-ounce pour is common in the restaurant business, but in a limited survey of area bars and restaurants, I couldn't find one that would fess up to it. (Graphic by Jonathan Boho)

Do you know, like the Tootsie Pop owl, how many sips it takes to reach the bottom of a pint glass? Would you notice if you made that trip a little more quickly at certain bars and restaurants?

A Wall Street Journal story published June 7 raised a furor about places serving up "falsies" -- pint-priced beer in thick-bottomed vessels that are the same size as 16-ounce glasses but hold 2 fewer ounces.

For bars and restaurants, the smaller serving is one way to fight the downward trend in consumer spending. But the move has sparked outrage among beer fanatics, so Indy .com decided to check in with local hops heads and bar operators to get their takes on the subject.

Bill Markins of Bubbaz Bar & Grill said it sells 16-ounce pints -- not that it matters in this economy. Bubbaz instituted 12-ounce beer specials after lunch business dropped off by 75 percent. With more and more of his clientele's income going into the gas tank, Markins said, "Guys ain't got nothin' left."

Profit margins are tight in the food-service business, said Broad Ripple Brewpub general manager Billy Hannon, and restaurateurs have but two options to widen it: "You can raise the price or shrink the portion." The rise in fuel prices has increased the cost of producing and transporting barley, hops and the finished product, and that cost has to be borne by the retailer or the customer.

The barkeep said he doesn't fault other establishments for using the 14-ounce measure, as long as they don't advertise or imply that they're selling the customer a pint. The Brewpub stays above reproach by using the 20-ounce Imperial Pint and charging $4.25 for it.

According to Hannon, the 14-ounce pour is common in the restaurant business, but in a limited survey of area bars and restaurants, I couldn't find one that would fess up to it.

I called national chains and mom-and-pop joints on the Northside, Southside, Eastside, Westside and Downtown -- no dice.

Just to be sure, Mike Atwood asked all of his Hoosier Beer Geek cohorts if they had run into this problem.

"We've never come across this -- or at least we've never noticed," Atwood said. "We'd like to think that the bartenders around town treat us better than that. And I think they do."

Barkeeps might be pulling a fast one on beer drinkers in other parts of the country, but it appears that Hoosiers are still getting what they pay for. Now, whether they can afford those 16 ounces anymore is another story.