The arithmetic

Against our shelf

On this page13

What we measure Which gives a circumference And the requirement is 11.32 inches Only the largest container has the circumference The smallest is nowhere near Which is the normal and expected answer And it makes a wrap-around label the default Height is the other dimension 21 containers of the 145 have no diameter recorded A shrink sleeve changes the answer And a keg or a can changes it again None of which solves the closure References

The warning is longer than the median bottle is round.

What we measure

Diameter is recorded on 124 of the 145 containers in this group, running 1.95 to 3.86 inches with a median of 2.71.

Which gives a circumference

About 8.52 inches around the median container, 6.13 around the smallest and 12.13 around the largest.

And the requirement is 11.32 inches

So on the median bottle the statement cannot be set on one line, even at the tightest density the regulation permits and with no margin at all.

Only the largest container has the circumference

12.13 inches against 11.32, which is a margin of eight tenths of an inch for a block that has to stand separate and apart. In practice that is not a single line either.

The smallest is nowhere near

6.13 inches of circumference against 11.32 inches of line. At least two lines, and realistically three once a reserved block is accounted for.

Which is the normal and expected answer

Alcohol warnings are set in two or three lines on almost every bottle you have handled. The arithmetic simply shows why.

And it makes a wrap-around label the default

A front-and-back pair of labels gives two panels and neither has the full circumference. A single wrap label has the whole 8.52 inches to work in.

Height is the other dimension

A three-line block at 2 millimeters plus leading is a few millimetres tall, which is not the constraint. Line length is.

21 containers of the 145 have no diameter recorded

So for those the panel cannot be checked from our data. An absent field is a reason to ask rather than to assume.

A shrink sleeve changes the answer

A full-body sleeve gives the whole circumference and the whole height, which is why so much beverage packaging uses one. It is a decoration decision made for a labeling reason.

And a keg or a can changes it again

Neither is in this catalog, and both have far more panel than a 473 mL bottle. The hardest version of this problem is the small glass bottle.

None of which solves the closure

The arithmetic is sound and the shelf still cannot close a carbonated beverage. Those are two separate problems and only one of them has a number.

References

Computed from published values only. The statement required by 27 CFR 16.21 is 283 characters including spaces and punctuation. 27 CFR 16.22(b)(2) covers containers over 237 mL and up to 3 L, where the type must be at least 2 millimeters and the accompanying table permits at most 25 characters per inch. 283 divided by 25 is 11.32, so the statement requires at least 11.32 inches of line. On the Davis Pack Supply beer shelf, measured 19 October 2026, diameter is recorded on 124 of the 145 containers and runs 1.95 to 3.86 inches with a median of 2.71; the circumference of the median container is therefore about 8.52 inches, the smallest about 6.13 and the largest about 12.13. All 145 containers fall in band (2), none being 237 mL or less and none exceeding 3 L.

The Davis Pack Supply catalog, measured 19 October 2026. 328 rows: 145 containers and 183 closures. 250 to 976 mL with a median of 473; 82 over a pint, 18 over a quart. 124 PET and 21 glass. 137 bottles and 8 jars. 46 PET boston rounds, 27 PET packer bottles, 22 PET imperial bullet cosmos, 8 glass boston rounds, 5 honey containers, 5 PET cylinder rounds. 56 clear, 34 amber, 20 white, 16 blue, 8 green, 5 black, 4 dark amber. Necks: 43 at 24-410, 35 at 28-410, 26 at 45-400, 16 at 28-400, 9 at 38-400, 5 at 63TW. Closures: 107 continuous thread polypropylene lids, 17 spouted caps, 16 metal or aluminum CT caps, 15 flip top caps, 11 metal lug or twist caps. Buyability, a snapshot: 78 of 145 available, 67 not; 72 quote only; 44 full case only.

The Davis Pack Supply catalog, checked catalog-wide on 19 October 2026. There is no crown cap, swing top, cork, champagne wire hood or can end anywhere in it. The largest closure family is 336 continuous thread polypropylene lids; the metal options are 62 metal or aluminum CT caps and 20 metal lug or twist caps. None of these retains carbonation. All five leaves in this group are carbonated products.

Written from 27 CFR 16.21 and 16.22 and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. This catalog holds no crown cap, swing top, cork, champagne hood or can end, so it cannot close a carbonated beverage and this property says so rather than selling around it. Nothing here addresses brewer's notice, permits, formula approval, excise tax, label approval, net contents or alcohol content statements, or state law. The placement requirement in 16.21 is described rather than quoted, because no verbatim rendering of it was obtained.