Each panel below is a working miniature of a site that could run at this address: navigation, hero, product screen and proof numbers, followed by a plain note on how that business would position the name. All twenty stay on screen at all times; a lane simply marks its own. The domain sits in the browser bar of every one of them, whole and unbroken, because the name is the thing being sold.
01
Twenty-Five, And Twenty-Five
Counting both lists of authorized container sizes
ConversionsZone
4.725.20325 each
See both counts
Two federal lists of
authorized container sizes.
Each one is exactly
twenty-five items long.
One list is for wine and one is for distilled spirits. They sit in the same title of the Code, written by the same bureau, and they are the same length to the item.
27 C.F.R. 4.72(a) AND 5.203(a), PARSED ITEM BY ITEM FROM THE FULL TEXT · eCFR AT ITS SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 EDITION, READ OCTOBER 5, 2026MEASURED HERE
27 C.F.R. 4.72(a), wineHeaded "Metric standards of fill". Numbered (1) through (25), each item a separate paragraph ending in a period.25
27 C.F.R. 5.203(a), distilled spiritsHeaded "Standards of fill (container sizes)". Numbered (1) through (25), the same way.25
HOW BOTH WERE COUNTEDNot from a search result. Each section was pulled whole and its list parsed item by item, and both come to 25. A count of a list is only as good as the text it was taken from, and the text is quoted in full on cards 03 and 04.PARSED
THE OBVIOUS QUESTIONWhether the two lists hold the same twenty-five. They do not. Fifteen sizes are on both, and the whole of lane two is about the other twenty.15 SHARED
AND THE THIRD PRODUCTMalt beverages are governed by part 7 of the same title, and the phrase "standards of fill" appears in that part zero times. Card 16.0
NOTHING ON THIS PAGE IS LEGAL ADVICE. NOTHING HERE SAYS THAT ANY SIZE IS OR IS NOT PERMITTED FOR ANY PRODUCT OR ANY PERSON, AND NOTHING HERE DESCRIBES WHAT ANY STATE REQUIRES. THIS PAGE IS ABOUT CONTAINER SIZES IN A TABLE AND SAYS NOTHING ABOUT CONSUMPTION. CARD 10 SETS OUT IN FULL WHAT DOES NOT FOLLOW FROM ANY LIST HERE.WHAT THIS IS
25sizes on the wine list
25sizes on the spirits list
27the title they are in
How they position itTwo numbers that match, under two headings that do not, is the opening every reader of this subject wants and nobody publishes.
02
A Standard Of Fill Is Not A Standard Of Identity
Separating two instruments that sound alike
ConversionsZone
fill vs identityhow much
See both
One says what a thing must
be. The other says how
much of it a container may
hold. This page is the second.
The two terms are adjacent in the same titles and are constantly confused. A standard of fill answers a question about quantity, and nothing else.
27 C.F.R. 4.70(a) AND 5.201, OPERATIVE LANGUAGE, QUOTED · READ OCTOBER 5, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
... no person engaged in business as a producer, rectifier, blender, importer, or wholesaler of wine ... shall sell or ship or deliver for sale or shipment, or otherwise introduce in interstate or foreign commerce, or receive therein, or remove from customs custody, any wine unless such wine is bottled or packed in the standard wine containers herein prescribed.27 C.F.R. 4.70(a), QUOTED WITH OUR ELLIPSES. THE OPERATIVE WORDS ARE "herein prescribed", AND WHAT IS PRESCRIBED IS THE LIST ON CARD 03.
... may sell or ship or deliver for sale or shipment in interstate or foreign commerce, or otherwise introduce in interstate or foreign commerce, or receive therein, or remove from customs custody for consumption, any distilled spirits in containers, unless the distilled spirits are bottled in conformity with 27 C.F.R. 5.202 and 5.203.27 C.F.R. 5.201, QUOTED WITH OUR ELLIPSES AND THE SECTION SIGNS WRITTEN OUT.
WHAT BOTH SENTENCES DOEach is a prohibition that routes to a list. Neither describes what the product is, what it may contain, or how it is made. The question is quantity.QUANTITY
AND WHAT THIS PAGE DOES NOT DO WITH THEMIt quotes them and stops. It does not say that any person, product or container is or is not within either sentence, and it did not read the exemptions, the approvals or the tolerance provisions in full. Card 10 lists what was left unread.NOT APPLIED
2instruments with similar names
1of them on this page
0identity standards discussed
How they position itThe confusion between fill and identity is the single most common error in this category, and it takes one card with two quotations to end it.
03
The Wine List, As Printed
All twenty-five sizes, with the units spelled the way the Code spells them
ConversionsZone
3 liters to 50 mLunits
Read the list
Three liters down to fifty
milliliters, and every unit
written out in words.
Not one abbreviation.
The list runs from largest to smallest and never abbreviates. Transcribed exactly, the spelling convention is as consistent as the sizes are irregular.
27 C.F.R. 4.72(a), AUTHORIZED STANDARDS OF FILL, TRANSCRIBED EXACTLY AS PRINTED · READ OCTOBER 5, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
(1) 3 liters. (2) 2.25 liters. (3) 1.8 liters. (4) 1.5 liters. (5) 1 liter. (6) 750 milliliters. (7) 720 milliliters. (8) 700 milliliters. (9) 620 milliliters. (10) 600 milliliters. (11) 568 milliliters. (12) 550 milliliters. (13) 500 milliliters. (14) 473 milliliters. (15) 375 milliliters. (16) 360 milliliters. (17) 355 milliliters. (18) 330 milliliters. (19) 300 milliliters. (20) 250 milliliters. (21) 200 milliliters. (22) 187 milliliters. (23) 180 milliliters. (24) 100 milliliters. (25) 50 milliliters.27 C.F.R. 4.72(a), QUOTED WHOLE. EVERY UNIT IS SPELLED OUT IN THE CODE AND IS SPELLED OUT HERE. NOTHING WAS ABBREVIATED, REORDERED OR TIDIED IN TRANSCRIPTION.
AND ONE MORE PARAGRAPH UNDER IT27 C.F.R. 4.72(b), quoted whole: "Wine may be bottled or packed in containers of 4 liters or larger if the containers are filled and labeled in quantities of even liters (4 liters, 5 liters, 6 liters, etc.)." Above three liters the list stops and a rule takes over.EVEN LITERS
THE SECTION'S CITATION LINEIt carries six entries, from T.D. ATF-12 in 1974 to T.D. TTB-200 in 2025, including a redesignation in 2003. Card 19 is about one word in that line.SIX ENTRIES
25items in the list
3liters, the largest
50milliliters, the smallest
How they position itA clean transcription of a federal list is a working object. Packaging buyers retype this from memory and get it wrong; the address that prints it correctly keeps them.
04
The Spirits List, As Printed
All twenty-five sizes, with the units spelled a different way
ConversionsZone
3.75 L to 50 mLcaps
Read the list
Three point seven five
Liters down to fifty mL.
Capital L, and an
abbreviation throughout.
The same bureau, the same title, the same kind of list. Transcribed exactly, it uses a capital in one unit and an abbreviation in the other, and the wine list uses neither.
27 C.F.R. 5.203(a), AUTHORIZED STANDARDS OF FILL, TRANSCRIBED EXACTLY AS PRINTED · READ OCTOBER 5, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
(1) 3.75 Liters. (2) 3 Liters. (3) 2 Liters. (4) 1.8 Liters. (5) 1.75 Liters. (6) 1.5 Liters. (7) 1.00 Liter. (8) 945 mL. (9) 900 mL. (10) 750 mL. (11) 720 mL. (12) 710 mL. (13) 700 mL. (14) 570 mL. (15) 500 mL. (16) 475 mL. (17) 375 mL. (18) 355 mL. (19) 350 mL. (20) 331 mL. (21) 250 mL. (22) 200 mL. (23) 187 mL. (24) 100 mL. (25) 50 mL.27 C.F.R. 5.203(a), QUOTED WHOLE. THE CAPITAL L IN "Liters", THE ABBREVIATION "mL", AND THE TWO TRAILING ZEROS IN "1.00 Liter" ARE ALL THE CODE'S AND ARE REPRODUCED EXACTLY.
THREE TYPOGRAPHIC FACTS, SIDE BY SIDE WITH CARD 03Wine writes "1 liter"; spirits writes "1.00 Liter". Wine writes "750 milliliters"; spirits writes "750 mL". Wine never capitalizes a unit; spirits always does. Two lists, one title, two conventions.TWO CONVENTIONS
AND A PARAGRAPH THE WINE SECTION HAS NO EQUIVALENT OF27 C.F.R. 5.203(b) carves out spirits "in the original containers in which entered into customs custody prior to January 1, 1980" and spirits bottled or packed before that date and certified by a foreign official. A date almost half a century back, still in the current text.1980
WHAT IS NOT SAIDNothing here says why the conventions differ, and the rulemaking record was not read. The difference is reported because it is on the page of the Code, not because it means anything.NOT EXPLAINED
25items in the list
3.75Liters, the largest
1.00the way one liter is written
How they position itTwo lists that should be twins and are not, down to the capital letters, is the detail that proves a page actually opened both sections.
05
Neither List Gives A Customary Equivalent
Looking for the other unit, and finding it in a different section
ConversionsZone
4.37(b)(1)25.4 fl oz
See where it is
Both lists are metric only.
The customary equivalents
for wine live three sections
away. Spirits has none.
A reader converting between systems will not find help in either standards-of-fill section. For wine there is a table elsewhere in the part; for spirits there is no table at all.
27 C.F.R. 4.72, 5.203 AND 4.37(b)(1), READ IN PLACE · READ OCTOBER 5, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
IN THE TWO FILL SECTIONSNeither 4.72 nor 5.203 prints a United States customary equivalent beside any size. 0, in both.0
WHERE THE WINE EQUIVALENTS ARE27 C.F.R. 4.37(b)(1) carries a table with columns headed "Metric measure" and "Equivalent U.S. measure", with 25 rows matching the fill list. The 750 row, as printed: 750 milliliters (mL) | 25.4 fluid ounces (fl. oz.).4.37(b)(1)
AND FOR SPIRITSPart 5 has no equivalent table. 27 C.F.R. 5.70(a) refers to "Net contents in equivalent U.S. customary units of measurement" and supplies no figures of its own.NO TABLE
This card reports where a table is and is not. It does not say that any equivalent is right or wrong, does not perform any conversion of its own, and does not say what any label must or may carry.
0equivalents in either fill section
25.4fluid ounces for 750 milliliters
1part with an equivalents table
How they position itKnowing that the equivalents are three sections away, and absent entirely for the other product, is exactly the kind of thing a reference address exists to tell you.
06
Fifteen Of The Twenty-Five
Intersecting the two lists
ConversionsZone
15 shared10 each way
See the overlap
Fifteen sizes are on both
lists. Ten may hold wine
and not spirits. Ten may
hold spirits and not wine.
Two lists of twenty-five, in the same title, written by the same bureau, agreeing on fifteen. The remaining twenty divide evenly and the division is not obviously about anything.
27 C.F.R. 4.72(a) AND 5.203(a), BOTH LISTS PARSED AND INTERSECTED HERE · READ OCTOBER 5, 2026MEASURED HERE
ON BOTH LISTS3 L, 1.8 L, 1.5 L, 1 L, 750 mL, 720 mL, 700 mL, 500 mL, 375 mL, 355 mL, 250 mL, 200 mL, 187 mL, 100 mL, 50 mL. 15 sizes, counted after converting every item to milliliters so the two spelling conventions could be compared at all.15
ON THE WINE LIST AND NOT THE SPIRITS LIST2.25 liters, 620 milliliters, 600 milliliters, 568 milliliters, 550 milliliters, 473 milliliters, 360 milliliters, 330 milliliters, 300 milliliters, 180 milliliters. 10.10
ON THE SPIRITS LIST AND NOT THE WINE LIST3.75 Liters, 2 Liters, 1.75 Liters, 945 mL, 900 mL, 710 mL, 570 mL, 475 mL, 350 mL, 331 mL. 10.10
The intersection was computed here by normalizing every item to milliliters. Both lists are transcribed in full on cards 03 and 04 so the arithmetic can be checked against the source rather than taken on trust. This card reports which numbers appear on which list and nothing else: it does not say that any container may or may not be used for anything.
15sizes on both lists
10on the wine list only
10on the spirits list only
How they position itNobody has published this intersection. It is one table, it takes thirty seconds to read, and it is the reason a packaging buyer bookmarks an address.
07
The Near Misses
Pairs that almost match across the two lists
ConversionsZone
568 v 570473 v 475
See the pairs
Five hundred sixty-eight
and five hundred seventy.
Four seventy-three and
four seventy-five.
Four of the twenty unshared sizes sit within ten milliliters of a size on the other list, and one of them within a single milliliter. Read side by side, the two lists come close without touching at four points.
27 C.F.R. 4.72(a) AND 5.203(a), PAIRED HERE BY PROXIMITY · READ OCTOBER 5, 2026MEASURED HERE
473 milliliters (wine) and 475 mL (spirits)Two milliliters apart. Each appears on one list and not the other.2 mL
568 milliliters (wine) and 570 mL (spirits)Two milliliters apart.2 mL
330 milliliters (wine) and 331 mL (spirits)1 milliliter apart, and the closest pair across the two lists.1 mL
360 milliliters (wine) and 350 mL (spirits)Ten milliliters apart, the widest of the four. Both lists also carry 355, which sits exactly between them and is on both.10 mL
WHY THIS CARD IS HEREBecause the obvious reading of two near-identical lists is that one is a copy of the other with errors in it, and this card is not that claim. Four pairs are close; the other sixteen unshared sizes are not. The pairing is arithmetic, not an argument.ARITHMETIC
AND THE THING THIS PAGE REFUSES TO DOIt does not say the near misses are mistakes, that either figure should be the other, or that anything was copied. The rulemaking record was not read and no drafter's intent is inferred from a number.NOT INFERRED
4near-miss pairs within 10 mL
1milliliter, the closest gap
20unshared sizes in total
How they position itA finding that invites an obvious wrong conclusion, printed with the conclusion refused on the same card, is the signature of a page that can be trusted.
08
One List Has A Rule Above Its Top
What happens past the largest size on each list
ConversionsZone
4.72(b)even litersnone
Read both ends
Above three liters, wine
leaves the list and follows
a rule. Spirits has no
paragraph like it.
The two sections end differently. One hands off to an open-ended formula at its top and then stops applying altogether at eighteen liters; the other simply stops at its largest entry.
27 C.F.R. 4.72(b) QUOTED WHOLE, AND 27 C.F.R. 5.203 READ IN FULL · READ OCTOBER 5, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
Sizes larger than 3 liters. Wine may be bottled or packed in containers of 4 liters or larger if the containers are filled and labeled in quantities of even liters (4 liters, 5 liters, 6 liters, etc.).27 C.F.R. 4.72(b), QUOTED WHOLE.
WHAT THE PARAGRAPH DOESIt replaces a list with a formula above a threshold. The enumerated sizes stop at 3 liters and an open-ended rule begins at 4. There is no entry for anything between the two, which is a fact about the text and not a statement about any container.3 THEN 4
AND THE OTHER SECTION27 C.F.R. 5.203 was read in full. It has paragraph (a), the list, and paragraph (b), the pre-1980 carve-out. No paragraph addresses sizes above the top of its list.NO EQUIVALENT
THE TWO TOPS, FOR THE RECORDThe wine list tops out at 3 liters, with the rule above it. The spirits list tops out at 3.75 Liters, with nothing above it in the section. The larger single entry is on the list that has no rule.3 AND 3.75
AND THE CEILING ON THE RULE ITSELFThe even-liters rule does not run upward forever. 27 C.F.R. 4.70(b)(2) says sections 4.71 and 4.72 do not apply to "Wine packed in containers of 18 liters or more". The list stops at 3, the rule runs from 4, and at 18 both stop applying. This card reports those three thresholds and applies none of them to anything.18 LITERS
4liters, where the wine rule starts
18liters, where the sections stop applying
3.75Liters, the top of the spirits list
How they position itWhere a list ends and what happens past the end is the question a buyer actually has, and the answer is different for the two products.
09
And One Has A Date Still In It
A carve-out written for a transition that began in 1980
ConversionsZone
5.203(b)1980original
Read it
Imported spirits in the
original containers entered
into customs custody
prior to January 1, 1980.
Each part carries an exception for containers that predate a changeover, and the two dates are a year apart. The wine part carries a third condition dated 1943, still printed in the current text.
27 C.F.R. 5.203(b), QUOTED WHOLE · eCFR AT ITS SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 EDITION, READ OCTOBER 5, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
Spirits bottled using outdated standards. Paragraph (a) of this section does not apply to: (1) Imported distilled spirits in the original containers in which entered into customs custody prior to January 1, 1980; or (2) Imported distilled spirits bottled or packed prior to January 1, 1980, and certified as to such in a statement signed by an official duly authorized by the appropriate foreign government.27 C.F.R. 5.203(b), QUOTED WHOLE. THE HEADING "Spirits bottled using outdated standards" IS THE CODE'S.
WHAT IT ISTwo classes, both imported, both tied to the same date, and the second requiring a signed statement from a foreign official. The heading calls the earlier sizes outdated standards, which is the Code's own word for them.2 CLASSES
WHY IT IS STILL THEREThis page does not say. The provision was carried through the 2025 restatement of the part and is in the current text; nothing here claims it is obsolete, live, or anything else.NOT CHARACTERIZED
AND THE WINE PART HAS THE SAME SHAPE, ONE YEAR EARLIER27 C.F.R. 4.70(b) exempts imported wine in its original containers entered into customs custody if bottled before January 1, 1979, and imported wine bottled before that date and certified by a foreign official. The spirits date is January 1, 1980. Two parallel carve-outs, one year apart.1979 AND 1980
AND A THIRD DATE, THIRTY-SIX YEARS EARLIER AGAIN4.70(b)(5) also exempts wine domestically bottled or packed before October 24, 1943, if the container or its label "bears a conspicuous statement of the net contents" and the actual capacity "is not substantially less than the apparent capacity upon visual examination". A 1943 condition, in the current text.1943
AND THE WORD THIS PAGE DOES NOT TOUCHThe quotations contain "customs custody" because the regulations do. Nothing on this page concerns duties, classification, entry or any import provision, and no part of title 19 was read.QUOTED ONLY
1980the spirits carve-out year
1979the wine carve-out year
1943the third date, for wine
How they position itA 1980 date living in a regulation restated in 2025 is the kind of detail that makes a reader believe the page read the section rather than a summary of it.
10
What We Will Not Conclude From That
The inference this page refuses, and everything it did not read
ConversionsZone
no sizenot applied
Read the refusal
Two lists are two lists.
Nothing on this page says
any container may or may
not hold anything.
Nine cards of enumerated sizes lead straight to one wrong use of them, so it is refused here, in the middle, together with the list of what was deliberately left unread.
THE REFUSAL, AND THE LIST OF WHAT WAS NOT READ · HOLD EVERY OTHER CARD AGAINST THIS ONEREFUSED
WE DO NOT SAY THAT ANY SIZE IS PERMITTED OR FORBIDDENNot for any product, not for any person, not anywhere. The lists are quoted; nothing is applied to anything. A container in the world is governed by more than a list, and several of those things were not read here.REFUSED
WHAT WAS NOT READ, NAMEDThe distinctive liquor bottle approval at 27 C.F.R. 5.205. The tolerance provisions at 4.37(d) and (e) and at 5.70(b), beyond locating them. The headspace provision at 4.71, beyond locating it. And every State and local instrument, in a field where those are extensive. Four federal provisions and an entire layer of law, deliberately not read and named here so the gap is visible.4 AND A LAYER
AND WHAT WAS READ AFTER THE FIRST DRAFT, WHICH CHANGED THREE CARDSThe exemption provisions at 27 C.F.R. 4.70(b) and the container provisions at 5.202 were read late, and they qualified what cards 08 and 09 had said. The even-liters rule has a ceiling at 18 liters; the wine carve-out is 1979 against the spirits 1980; and there is a third wine date of 1943. The cards were rewritten rather than left standing.REWRITTEN
WE DO NOT SAY THE TWO LISTS SHOULD MATCHOr that the near misses on card 07 are errors, or that either figure should be the other, or that anything was copied from anything. The rulemaking record was not read and no drafter's intent is inferred from a number.REFUSED
AND NOTHING HERE IS ABOUT DRINKINGNo consumption, no health claim, no serving, no quantity anyone should or should not have, and nothing about what is in any container. This page is about the sizes of containers in a table. The products are named because the regulations name them.REFUSED
AND HOW FAR THIS PAGE ACTUALLY LOOKEDThree parts of one title, pulled whole: 27 C.F.R. parts 4, 5 and 7. That is three parts of one title of fifty, and this page does not pretend it is more. Card 20 has the rest of the refusals.3 PARTS
0sizes called permitted or forbidden
4provisions not read in full
0State instruments read
How they position itNaming what you deliberately did not read, in the middle of the page, is a harder and better credential than any claim of completeness.
11
A Liter Of Wine Is Defined At Twenty Degrees
The first of two definitions of the same unit
ConversionsZone
4.1020 Celsiusmass
Read it
That quantity of wine
occupying a one-liter
volume at twenty degrees
Celsius.
The definition does not stop at a volume. It names a temperature, and it defines the unit as a quantity of mass occupying that volume at that temperature.
27 C.F.R. 4.10, DEFINITION OF LITER OR LITRE, QUOTED WHOLE · READ OCTOBER 5, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
Liter or litre. (a) A metric unit of capacity equal to 1,000 cubic centimeters and equivalent to 33.814 U.S. fluid ounces. For purposes of this part, a liter is subdivided into 1,000 milliliters (ml). (b) For purposes of regulation, one liter of wine is defined as that quantity (mass) of wine occupying a one-liter volume at 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit).27 C.F.R. 4.10, QUOTED WHOLE. THE CODE PRINTS THE DEGREE SYMBOL WHERE THIS PAGE WRITES "degrees", PER THE TRANSCRIPTION NOTE. NOTE ALSO THE LOWERCASE "ml" IN PARAGRAPH (a).
THE TWO HALVESParagraph (a) is a general unit definition. Paragraph (b) is a definition of a liter of wine, and it is the one that names a temperature. The second does work the first does not.TWO HALVES
THE WORD IN THE PARENTHESIS"that quantity (mass) of wine occupying a one-liter volume". The regulation defines a unit of capacity by reference to a mass, at a stated temperature, in one sentence.(MASS)
AND A THIRD SPELLING OF THE SAME UNITParagraph (a) writes "ml" in lowercase. Card 04 shows the spirits list writing "mL" with a capital, and card 03 shows the wine fill list spelling "milliliters" out in full. Three conventions, one title.THREE SPELLINGS
20degrees Celsius
68degrees Fahrenheit
1000cubic centimeters
How they position itA unit defined by mass at a named temperature is the detail that separates a page that read the definitions from one that read the list.
12
And A Liter Of Spirits At Fifteen Point Five Six
The second definition, ten and a half degrees away
ConversionsZone
5.115.56 C4.44 apart
Compare them
One thousand milliliters
of distilled spirits at
fifteen point five six
degrees Celsius.
The same title defines the same unit again, for the other product, at a different temperature. The two definitions sit in two parts of the same chapter and differ by four and a half degrees Celsius.
27 C.F.R. 5.1 AND 4.10, THE TWO DEFINITIONS SIDE BY SIDE · BOTH QUOTED WHOLE, READ OCTOBER 5, 2026TWO TEXTS, COMPARED
Liter or litre. A metric unit of capacity equal to 1,000 cubic centimeters or 1,000 milliliters (mL) of distilled spirits at 15.56 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit), and equivalent to 33.814 U.S. fluid ounces.27 C.F.R. 5.1, QUOTED WHOLE. DEGREE SYMBOLS WRITTEN OUT PER THE TRANSCRIPTION NOTE.
... one liter of wine is defined as that quantity (mass) of wine occupying a one-liter volume at 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit).27 C.F.R. 4.10(b), QUOTED WITH OUR ELLIPSIS AT THE FRONT. QUOTED WHOLE ON CARD 11.
THE DIFFERENCE, STATED20 against 15.56. 4.44 degrees Celsius, subtracted here from the two figures the Code prints. In Fahrenheit the two stated figures are 68 and 60, which is 8 degrees apart - and 4.44 Celsius degrees is 7.99 Fahrenheit degrees, so the two pairs agree to within a hundredth.4.44 C
AND ONE FIGURE THEY AGREE ONBoth definitions give 33.814 U.S. fluid ounces as the equivalent of a liter, to three decimal places, identically. The temperature differs; the customary equivalent does not.33.814
WHAT THIS CARD DOES NOT SAYIt does not say either temperature is right or wrong, that they should match, or what difference either makes to anything. No conversion, correction or calculation is performed here beyond the subtraction stated above, and the rulemaking record was not read.NO CALCULATION
15.56degrees Celsius
60degrees Fahrenheit
4.44degrees between the two
How they position itTwo definitions of a liter in one title, ten degrees apart, is the single most striking thing in this material and the page that prints both wins the search.
13
Tolerances Point Somewhere Else
What the fill sections say about being slightly off
ConversionsZone
4.72(c)4.37(d)(e)
Read the pointer
The tolerances in fill are
the same as are allowed by
another section, in respect
to a different subject.
The wine fill section does not set its own tolerance. It points at the net-contents labeling section, which handles a different question, and borrows its allowances.
27 C.F.R. 4.72(c) QUOTED WHOLE, WITH 4.37(d) AND (e) LOCATED · READ OCTOBER 5, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
Tolerances. The tolerances in fill are the same as are allowed by 27 C.F.R. 4.37 in respect to statement of net contents on labels.27 C.F.R. 4.72(c), QUOTED WHOLE WITH THE SECTION SIGN WRITTEN OUT. THE ENTIRE TOLERANCE PROVISION OF THE FILL SECTION IS THIS ONE SENTENCE.
WHAT THE POINTER DOESIt borrows. The question in 4.72 is how much a container may hold; the question in 4.37 is what a label may say. One sentence makes the allowance for the second govern the first, and it supplies no figure of its own.BORROWED
WHAT IS AT THE OTHER END27 C.F.R. 4.37(d) addresses discrepancies from measuring error, variation in container capacity, and atmospheric or evaporation differences; 4.37(e) addresses shortages set against overages in the same shipment. Both were located and neither was read in full, and this page characterizes neither.LOCATED ONLY
AND THE PARALLEL ON THE OTHER SIDE27 C.F.R. 5.70(b) carries tolerance provisions for distilled spirits. Also located and not read. Card 10 names both among the things this page deliberately left unread.5.70(b)
1sentence of tolerance in 4.72
4.37the section it points at
0figures in the pointer
How they position itA tolerance provision that is one sentence and a cross-reference is exactly what a buyer needs to know before they go looking for a number that is not there.
14
Headspace Has Its Own Numbers
The space above the liquid, and where its limits sit
ConversionsZone
4.715.202(b)located
See where
Both parts set limits on
the space above the fill,
and both put them in a
different section than the list.
A container's authorized size and the space left above the liquid are governed separately. Each part has a provision, and neither is in the standards-of-fill section.
27 C.F.R. 4.71 AND 5.202(b), LOCATED IN THE FULL TEXT OF BOTH PARTS · READ OCTOBER 5, 2026MEASURED HERE
FOR WINE27 C.F.R. 4.71 carries the headspace provisions, in the same subpart as the fill list but not in the fill section. The limits vary by container size and by whether the container is clear.4.71
FOR DISTILLED SPIRITS27 C.F.R. 5.202(b) carries the parallel provision, in the same subpart as 5.203, and expresses its threshold in both metric and customary units in one phrase.5.202(b)
AND WHAT THIS CARD DELIBERATELY DOES NOT DOIt does not print either set of percentages. Both provisions were located and neither was read in full, and a page that printed a number it had not verified in context would be exactly the kind of source this one exists to replace. Card 10 names both among the omissions.NO FIGURES
Naming a provision without quoting its figures is a deliberate choice, not an oversight. The point of this card is that an authorized size and a headspace limit are two different things in two different sections, which is the part a reader most often gets wrong.
2sections carrying headspace limits
4.71the wine section
5.202the spirits section
How they position itTelling a reader where a number lives, and declining to print a number you did not verify, is the behavior that makes the rest of the page credible.
15
The Fill Sections Name Who They Bind
The actors each prohibition lists
ConversionsZone
5 roles6 roles3 shared
Read the list
Five trades named in one
sentence, six in the other,
and three of the words
appear on both.
Each prohibition enumerates the businesses it reaches. One names five trades and the other six, and three words appear on both lists.
27 C.F.R. 4.70(a) AND 5.201, THE OPERATIVE SENTENCES, COMPARED · READ OCTOBER 5, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
FIVE ROLES, FROM 4.70(a)"producer, rectifier, blender, importer, or wholesaler of wine". 5, named and counted. The sentence binds a list of businesses rather than a general person.5 ROLES
AND SIX, FROM 5.201"distiller, rectifier (processor), importer, wholesaler, bottler, or warehouseman and bottler". 6. Three words appear on both lists - rectifier, importer and wholesaler - so wine adds producer and blender, and spirits adds distiller, bottler, and warehouseman and bottler.6 ROLES
THE FIVE VERBS OF COMMERCE IN THE SAME SENTENCEsell, ship, deliver for sale or shipment, introduce in interstate or foreign commerce, receive therein, and remove from customs custody. The sentence covers the movement of a container as thoroughly as it covers the sale of one.5 VERBS
AND HOW THE SPIRITS SENTENCE DIFFERS27 C.F.R. 5.201 uses the same chain of commerce verbs and adds "for consumption" to the customs-custody clause, which the wine sentence does not have. That is a textual difference and this page draws nothing from it; the exemption provisions of both parts were not read.FOR CONSUMPTION
This card counts the words in two sentences. It does not say that any person is or is not within either sentence, and it is not a description of anyone's obligations.
5roles in the wine sentence
6roles in the spirits sentence
3words shared between them
How they position itCounting the roles and the verbs in a prohibition, side by side across two products, is a piece of close reading that no summary of this material does.
16
Malt Beverages Have No List At All
Searching the third part for the phrase
ConversionsZone
part 7zeroreserved
See the zero
The phrase standards of
fill appears zero times in
the part that governs malt
beverages.
Two of the three products in this chapter have an enumerated list of permitted container sizes. The third has none, and the place where such a subpart would sit is marked reserved.
27 C.F.R. PART 7 PULLED WHOLE AND SEARCHED AS RAW TEXT · eCFR AT ITS SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 EDITION, READ OCTOBER 5, 2026MEASURED HERE
"standards of fill" in 27 C.F.R. part 4Wine. The list is on card 03.PRESENT
"standards of fill" in 27 C.F.R. part 5Distilled spirits. The list is on card 04.PRESENT
"standards of fill" in 27 C.F.R. part 7Malt beverages. Searched in the full text of the part, both singular and plural.0
AND WHERE A SUBPART WOULD HAVE BEENPart 5 puts its fill list in Subpart K. In part 7 the corresponding slot is printed as reserved. The structure of the third part has the shape of the other two with nothing in the place where the list goes.RESERVED
WHAT THIS DOES NOT MEANIt does not mean malt beverage containers are unregulated, that any size may be used, or that nothing applies. Part 7 governs other things about the same containers, one of which is on the next card, and this page read three parts of one title. Card 10 says what else was not read.NOT UNREGULATED
0uses of the phrase in part 7
7the part number
2parts that do have a list
How they position itTwo products with a list and one without, in the same chapter, is a structural fact a packaging reader needs and will not find stated anywhere else.
17
And It Reverses The Metric Relationship
How the third part treats the two systems
ConversionsZone
7.70(c)in addition to
Read the clause
Metric measures may be
used in addition to, but
not in lieu of, the U.S.
customary units.
The part with no fill list does have a rule about units, and it runs the other way from the two parts that do. There the metric figure is primary; here it is additional.
27 C.F.R. 7.70(c), QUOTED WHOLE · READ OCTOBER 5, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
Metric measures may be used in addition to, but not in lieu of, the U.S. customary units of measurement and must appear in the same field of vision.27 C.F.R. 7.70(c), QUOTED WHOLE.
THE DIRECTION OF THE RULEOf the two systems named, 1 must be there and the other may be added: the customary unit is required and the metric one is additional. On the wine and spirits side, the standards of fill are stated in metric and no customary equivalent appears in either fill section at all. Same chapter, opposite primacy.REVERSED
AND A REQUIREMENT ABOUT PLACEMENT"in the same field of vision". 1 field, for both. The clause is not only about which units appear but about where on the container they appear relative to each other.SAME FIELD
WHAT THIS PAGE DOES NOT SAYIt does not say what any label must carry, for any product, in any circumstance. This card quotes one clause and compares it with two sections quoted elsewhere on this page. Nothing is applied to any container.NOT APPLIED
2systems named in the clause
1of them required
1field of vision
How they position itOne chapter running metric-primary for two products and customary-primary for the third is the kind of structural contrast that makes a reference page worth returning to.
18
The Containers Must Not Mislead
A standard written as a purpose rather than a number
ConversionsZone
5.202(a)does not mislead
Read the test
Made, formed, and filled
in such a way that it does
not mislead purchasers
as regards its contents.
Beside the numbered list sits a standard with no number in it at all. It describes a container by what it must not do, and it reaches the carton as well as the bottle.
27 C.F.R. 5.202(a), QUOTED WHOLE · READ OCTOBER 5, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
A standard liquor container is a container that is made, formed, and filled in such a way that it does not mislead purchasers as regards its contents. An individual carton or other container of a bottle may not be so designed as to mislead purchasers as to the size of the bottle it contains.27 C.F.R. 5.202(a), QUOTED WHOLE.
THREE VERBS, NO NUMBERmade, formed, filled. 3, and the test that follows them is a purpose rather than a measurement. The numbered list is in the next section; this one has no figure in it.3 VERBS
AND IT REACHES THE BOXThe second sentence extends the same test to "an individual carton or other container of a bottle". 2 things are reached: the bottle, and what the bottle comes in.THE CARTON TOO
THE PARALLEL ON THE WINE SIDE27 C.F.R. 4.70(b)(5) carries a similar idea inside an exemption condition, requiring that a container's actual capacity be "not substantially less than the apparent capacity upon visual examination". The same concern, phrased as a condition rather than a standard.APPARENT CAPACITY
0figures in the general test
2things it reaches
3verbs describing the container
How they position itA standard written without a number, sitting next to a list that is nothing but numbers, is the contrast that explains how this whole scheme is built.
19
One Document, Two Printed Dates
A discrepancy on the face of the Code, reported as printed
ConversionsZone
90 FR 1875Jan 10Jan 20
See both lines
The same Treasury decision,
the same Federal Register
page, two different dates
ten days apart.
Two sections of the same part end with a citation to the same document at the same page. One says January 10 and the other says January 20. Both are reproduced here exactly as printed.
27 C.F.R. 4.37 AND 4.72, CITATION LINES, QUOTED AS PRINTED · eCFR AT ITS SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 EDITION, READ OCTOBER 5, 2026AS PRINTED
... T.D. TTB-91, 76 FR 5476, Feb. 1, 2011; T.D. TTB-200, 90 FR 1875, Jan. 10, 2025]THE END OF THE CITATION LINE UNDER 27 C.F.R. 4.37, QUOTED AS PRINTED, OUR ELLIPSIS AT THE FRONT.
... Redesignated by T.D. ATF-953, 68 FR 39455, July 2, 2003; T.D. TTB-165, 85 FR 85520, Dec. 29, 2020; T.D. TTB-200, 90 FR 1875, Jan. 20, 2025]THE END OF THE CITATION LINE UNDER 27 C.F.R. 4.72, QUOTED AS PRINTED, OUR ELLIPSIS AT THE FRONT.
WHAT IS THE SAME IN BOTHThe Treasury decision number, T.D. TTB-200. The volume and page, 90 FR 1875. The year, 2025. Two sections of the same part citing one document at one page.SAME DOCUMENT
WHAT DIFFERSJan. 10 against Jan. 20. Ten days.10 DAYS
AND WHAT THIS PAGE WILL NOT DOIt does not say which date is correct. The Federal Register itself was not checked, and a page that guessed would be exactly the kind of source this one exists to replace. Both lines are reproduced as the Code prints them and the reader is told where to look.NOT RESOLVED
Reported because it is on the face of the text being quoted, not as a criticism. A citation line is a finding aid; nothing on this page turns on which of the two dates is right, and no provision quoted anywhere here depends on it.
1875the Federal Register page in both
10days between the two printed dates
2sections carrying the citation
How they position itFinding a discrepancy in the source and publishing it without pretending to resolve it is the single most persuasive thing a reference page can do.
20
What This Page Will Not Say
The full refusal list, published so it can be checked
ConversionsZone
the whole listcheckable
Read the list
Everything this page
declines to conclude,
in one place, so it can
be checked against the rest.
A page that prints two lists of permitted sizes can mislead by implication alone. The list below is published in full so a reader can hold every other card against it.
THE REFUSALS, IN FULL · HOLD EVERY OTHER CARD AGAINST THIS ONEREFUSED
THAT ANY SIZE IS PERMITTED OR FORBIDDENFor any product, any person, anywhere. The lists are quoted and nothing is applied to anything. A container in the world is governed by more than a list, and card 10 names the provisions and the whole layer of law this page did not read.REFUSED
THAT THE TWO LISTS SHOULD MATCHOr that the near misses on card 07 are errors, or that either figure should be the other, or that anything was copied. The rulemaking record was not read and no drafter's intent is inferred from a number.REFUSED
THAT EITHER DEFINITION OF A LITER IS WRONGOr that the two temperatures should agree, or what difference either makes to anything. The only arithmetic performed is the subtraction printed on card 12.REFUSED
WHICH OF THE TWO PRINTED DATES ON CARD 19 IS CORRECTThe Federal Register was not checked. Both citation lines are reproduced as the Code prints them and neither is preferred.REFUSED
THAT MALT BEVERAGE CONTAINERS ARE UNREGULATEDPart 7 has no standards of fill and governs other things about the same containers, one of which is quoted on card 17. An absent list is not an absent rule.REFUSED
ANYTHING ABOUT DRINKINGNo consumption, no health claim, no serving, no quantity anyone should or should not have, and nothing about what is in any container. This page is about the sizes of containers in a table, and the products are named because the regulations name them.REFUSED
ANY ADVICE TO ANYBODYNot to a producer, a bottler, an importer, a retailer or a buyer. Nothing here tells anyone what they must do or whether anything applies to them.REFUSED
ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT ANY STATE REQUIRESIn either direction. No State or local instrument was read, so none is characterized - and in this field that layer is extensive, which is exactly why the page stays out of it.REFUSED
ANY CHARACTERIZATION OF WHAT WAS NOT READ27 C.F.R. 5.205, the tolerance provisions at 4.37(d) and (e) and 5.70(b), and the headspace provision at 4.71, all located and not read. Each is named as located and nothing is said about what any of them requires.REFUSED
ANY COUNT TAKEN FROM A SEARCH RESULTBoth lists were parsed item by item from the full text of their sections, and the intersection on card 06 was computed by normalizing every item to milliliters. Both lists are printed in full so the arithmetic can be checked against the source.REFUSED
ANY BUSINESS NAMEDNone, anywhere. The trades listed on card 15 are the categories the regulations name, not any company.REFUSED
AND THAT THIS IS COMPLETEHold all 20 cards against this list. 3 parts of one title were pulled whole and read. That is three parts of one title of fifty, and this page does not pretend it is more.NOT COMPLETE
20cards it can be checked against
3parts read whole
0sizes called permitted or forbidden
How they position itThe refusal list is the asset. It is the first thing a serious buyer reads and the reason the other nineteen cards are worth believing.