You must not forget that this law came not alone: Along the same time yet another law was set which determined the size of a maß (or measure) of beer. A bartender who skimped his customers on the amount of beer given (smaller Steins were a popular way) was required by law to be drowned in a cage for several minutes. Surprisingly enough this happened quite a bit and a considerable number of brewers / beertenders lost their lives in the proccess.