Type size

Three bands

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Band one Band two Band three Indexed to the container, not the panel Volume is a cruder proxy than panel area And the bands are wide All 145 containers on our shelf are in band two Which means one number, 2 millimeters The boundary is worth respecting Then there is the second half of the rule References

The container decides the type size. Not the label, not the panel.

Band one

"Containers of 237 milliliters (8 fl. oz.) or less. The mandatory statement required by Sec. 16.21 shall be in script, type, or printing not smaller than 1 millimeter."

Band two

"Containers of more than 237 milliliters (8 fl. oz.) up to 3 liters (101 fl. oz.). The mandatory statement required by Sec. 16.21 shall be in script, type, or printing not smaller than 2 millimeters."

Band three

"Containers of more than 3 liters (101 fl. oz.). The mandatory statement required by Sec. 16.21 shall be in script, type, or printing not smaller than 3 millimeters."

Indexed to the container, not the panel

Which distinguishes it from the cycling property, where 16 CFR 1500.121 scales type size with the area of the principal display panel. Here it is the volume of the container.

Volume is a cruder proxy than panel area

A tall thin 500 mL bottle and a squat wide one are in the same band with very different label areas. The rule does not distinguish them.

And the bands are wide

237 mL to 3 litres is a single band covering a twelve-fold range of volume. Almost every retail alcohol container sits in it.

All 145 containers on our shelf are in band two

250 to 976 mL, median 473. None is 237 mL or less and none exceeds 3 litres, so there is no band decision to make here at all.

Which means one number, 2 millimeters

And one density, 25 characters per inch. The whole shelf behaves identically for this purpose.

The boundary is worth respecting

A 237 mL container is in band one and a 240 mL container is in band two, with a 60 percent jump in required line length between them.

Then there is the second half of the rule

A maximum number of characters per inch, which is the part that makes this the most useful type size rule in the library.

References

27 CFR 16.22(b): "(b) Size of type. (1) Containers of 237 milliliters (8 fl. oz.) or less. The mandatory statement required by Sec. 16.21 shall be in script, type, or printing not smaller than 1 millimeter. (2) Containers of more than 237 milliliters (8 fl. oz.) up to 3 liters (101 fl. oz.). The mandatory statement required by Sec. 16.21 shall be in script, type, or printing not smaller than 2 millimeters. (3) Containers of more than 3 liters (101 fl. oz.). The mandatory statement required by Sec. 16.21 shall be in script, type, or printing not smaller than 3 millimeters." The accompanying table gives the maximum number of characters per inch for each type size: 40 at 1 millimeter, 25 at 2 millimeters, 12 at 3 millimeters. law.cornell.edu

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.

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.