Peter Davies can almost taste victory.

The provincial government has finally decided to look into the fact its liquor laws prohibit the serving of the time-honoured 20-ounce Imperial pint of beer in B.C.

Davies said yesterday he has received a letter from Karen Ayers, general manager of the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch, confirming that Rich Coleman, minister of housing and social development, has asked her to investigate this strange twist of provincial liquor laws.

"Given the various sized containers in which beer is sold, the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch has attempted to set out reasonable guidelines on serving size as a means to assist in the prevention of over consumption," Ayers says in the letter, dated Nov. 3.

"I appreciate your comments that an unintended consequence of the guidelines is that a pint serving is not permitted. I have asked my staff to review the issue of serving sizes and make proposals to update the guidelines. I expect that the review will be completed in several months' time."

The Vancouver Sun revealed in August that provincial liquor laws limit individual servings of beer in pubs and restaurants to 500 millilitres or 17.5 ounces, well below the 568.26 millilitres that constitute a legal 20-ounce Imperial pint.

The public response to that story could best be described as an outpouring.

But of the dozens of readers who expressed discontent with provincial liquor laws, it is Davies -- a former Brit from Manchester, England, who moved to Canada almost 36 years ago and is now semi-retired in Kelowna -- who doggedly pursued the issue with government officials.

"I'm selfishly dedicated," said the beer aficionado. "It's important work."

And it's still too early to celebrate, Davies is encouraged the province is looking into the issue. "It seems to me, they may relax or modify the provincial rules against container size so that establishments can serve 20 ounces," he said.

"At least they're inquiring into what's going on here."