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03-04-2023, 07:10
Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2023/04/looking-back-part-four.html)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9hO1YwhUugG_se4WCS_6ioptXDE8YGRHdKDdiTRdNZ 5xbEjKi0ElrN7Lvn4EuswXP3Ekc0EqR2J2-nr-6x4a-ZQ0_FB_MjvubEC95vzgNPEzE1FivQ3G-uFnaSbw75dUc5bbqfzsCcOh3g_RAeJpVRogkw7y0jhlIunqOCY a8mdRSKR2tAgID5tR/w346-h400/Home_Stout.JPG (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9hO1YwhUugG_se4WCS_6ioptXDE8YGRHdKDdiTRdNZ 5xbEjKi0ElrN7Lvn4EuswXP3Ekc0EqR2J2-nr-6x4a-ZQ0_FB_MjvubEC95vzgNPEzE1FivQ3G-uFnaSbw75dUc5bbqfzsCcOh3g_RAeJpVRogkw7y0jhlIunqOCY a8mdRSKR2tAgID5tR/s445/Home_Stout.JPG)
Something more prosaic amongst my memories today. Prices.
The 1970s were a time of high inflation. Not knowing any better, I soon got used to pub prices increasing not once, but three, four or more times a year. It's just the way things were.
How different from the forty years leading up to WW I, where the price of beer didn't change. Can you imagine that? What must it have been like for older drinkers when the price of beer doubled in the space of a year or two? It must have seemed like the world was coming to an end.
Older drinkers must have felt something similar in the 1970s. Because from 1947 to 1962, there was no change in the average price of draught Bitter. The price rose steadily in the late 1960s, but went crazy in the mid-1970s.
When I first ventured into pubs, there was quite a difference in prices between different breweries. I happened to grow up in one of the cheapest regions, the East Midlands. Where there were strong regional breweries who kept prices down. Beer from the Nottingham breweries was 1p or 2p cheaper than beer from the Big Six breweries. Which was quite a large percentage when a pint cost 13p or 14p.
Talking of different prices, inflation really eroded the differential pricing for styles and rooms. When beer was 13p per pint, Bitter cost 1p more than Mild and cost 1p more in the lounge than in the public bar. That remained the same, even when the price of beer had doubled.
One of the reasons I was never even vaguely tempted by Lager was that it was such poor value. Most were the same strength as Mild or maybe Ordinary Bitter, but cost 25-30% more. Keg Bitter was more expensive than cask, too. Though the difference was smaller, usually 1p per pint.
More than just memories today. I've also some numbers. Where you can see that the price of Bitter trebled in the 1970a.
Average draught beer prices 1970 - 1979
Year
Bitter
Lager
1970
10.7
1971
12
1972
12.5
1973
13
17
1974
15
19
1975
20
23
1976
23
28
1977
27
32
1978
29
35
1979
34
40
Source:
"Statistical Handbook of the British Beer & Pub Association 2003", p. 44.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2023/04/looking-back-part-four.html)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9hO1YwhUugG_se4WCS_6ioptXDE8YGRHdKDdiTRdNZ 5xbEjKi0ElrN7Lvn4EuswXP3Ekc0EqR2J2-nr-6x4a-ZQ0_FB_MjvubEC95vzgNPEzE1FivQ3G-uFnaSbw75dUc5bbqfzsCcOh3g_RAeJpVRogkw7y0jhlIunqOCY a8mdRSKR2tAgID5tR/w346-h400/Home_Stout.JPG (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9hO1YwhUugG_se4WCS_6ioptXDE8YGRHdKDdiTRdNZ 5xbEjKi0ElrN7Lvn4EuswXP3Ekc0EqR2J2-nr-6x4a-ZQ0_FB_MjvubEC95vzgNPEzE1FivQ3G-uFnaSbw75dUc5bbqfzsCcOh3g_RAeJpVRogkw7y0jhlIunqOCY a8mdRSKR2tAgID5tR/s445/Home_Stout.JPG)
Something more prosaic amongst my memories today. Prices.
The 1970s were a time of high inflation. Not knowing any better, I soon got used to pub prices increasing not once, but three, four or more times a year. It's just the way things were.
How different from the forty years leading up to WW I, where the price of beer didn't change. Can you imagine that? What must it have been like for older drinkers when the price of beer doubled in the space of a year or two? It must have seemed like the world was coming to an end.
Older drinkers must have felt something similar in the 1970s. Because from 1947 to 1962, there was no change in the average price of draught Bitter. The price rose steadily in the late 1960s, but went crazy in the mid-1970s.
When I first ventured into pubs, there was quite a difference in prices between different breweries. I happened to grow up in one of the cheapest regions, the East Midlands. Where there were strong regional breweries who kept prices down. Beer from the Nottingham breweries was 1p or 2p cheaper than beer from the Big Six breweries. Which was quite a large percentage when a pint cost 13p or 14p.
Talking of different prices, inflation really eroded the differential pricing for styles and rooms. When beer was 13p per pint, Bitter cost 1p more than Mild and cost 1p more in the lounge than in the public bar. That remained the same, even when the price of beer had doubled.
One of the reasons I was never even vaguely tempted by Lager was that it was such poor value. Most were the same strength as Mild or maybe Ordinary Bitter, but cost 25-30% more. Keg Bitter was more expensive than cask, too. Though the difference was smaller, usually 1p per pint.
More than just memories today. I've also some numbers. Where you can see that the price of Bitter trebled in the 1970a.
Average draught beer prices 1970 - 1979
Year
Bitter
Lager
1970
10.7
1971
12
1972
12.5
1973
13
17
1974
15
19
1975
20
23
1976
23
28
1977
27
32
1978
29
35
1979
34
40
Source:
"Statistical Handbook of the British Beer & Pub Association 2003", p. 44.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2023/04/looking-back-part-four.html)