Ads not shown when logged in
Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 39

Thread: Why haven't beer prices come down?

  1. #1
    This Space For Hire Aqualung's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Posts
    4,485

    Default Why haven't beer prices come down?

    In the last two years there have been two duty reductions as well as rapidly falling fuel prices. Last year's weather seems to have produced a bumper crop of fruit and veg, I don't know enough about farming to say whether it would have benefitted barley and hops. Has any pub anywhere reduced their prices? I think we all know that the answer to that is a big fat NO, so why is that?
    My opinion is that the trade just charges what they can get away with regardless of all other factors and I would include Wetherspoons in the mix.
    The pub trade always whinges on about duty increases and other spiralling costs so why is there no reaction when quite clearly the exact opposite is happening?

  2. #2
    Still about Mobyduck's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Out saving pubs and enjoying it.
    Posts
    5,775

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Aqualung View Post
    In the last two years there have been two duty reductions as well as rapidly falling fuel prices. Last year's weather seems to have produced a bumper crop of fruit and veg, I don't know enough about farming to say whether it would have benefitted barley and hops. Has any pub anywhere reduced their prices? I think we all know that the answer to that is a big fat NO, so why is that?
    My opinion is that the trade just charges what they can get away with regardless of all other factors and I would include Wetherspoons in the mix.
    The pub trade always whinges on about duty increases and other spiralling costs so why is there no reaction when quite clearly the exact opposite is happening?
    Cos they're greedy feckers.
    "Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
    -W.C.Fields

  3. #3
    I'll stay on me own
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Nottingham
    Posts
    1,696

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Aqualung View Post
    In the last two years there have been two duty reductions as well as rapidly falling fuel prices. Last year's weather seems to have produced a bumper crop of fruit and veg, I don't know enough about farming to say whether it would have benefitted barley and hops. Has any pub anywhere reduced their prices? I think we all know that the answer to that is a big fat NO, so why is that?
    My opinion is that the trade just charges what they can get away with regardless of all other factors and I would include Wetherspoons in the mix.
    The pub trade always whinges on about duty increases and other spiralling costs so why is there no reaction when quite clearly the exact opposite is happening?
    Take a trip up to Heckmondwike,the few pubs are still up and running are all charging £2 a pint,the Old Hall is even cheaper as it is a Samuel Smiths tied house,i even got a pint of Lees keg bitter for a £1 a pint as it was mistakenly poured out as a pint when i has asked for a half,but the landlord said you can have it for a £1.
    We are all equal,but some are more equal than others

  4. #4
    This Space For Hire Aqualung's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Posts
    4,485

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Al 10000 View Post
    Take a trip up to Heckmondwike,the few pubs are still up and running are all charging £2 a pint,the Old Hall is even cheaper as it is a Samuel Smiths tied house,i even got a pint of Lees keg bitter for a £1 a pint as it was mistakenly poured out as a pint when i has asked for a half,but the landlord said you can have it for a £1.
    Thanks for that, I've heard of the name but needless to say had to look up where it was. I didn't know that Lees beers travelled as far as Yorkshire (Spoons excepted).

  5. #5
    This Space For Hire
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Brentford
    Posts
    2,837

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Al 10000 View Post
    Take a trip up to Heckmondwike,the few pubs are still up and running are all charging £2 a pint,the Old Hall is even cheaper as it is a Samuel Smiths tied house,i even got a pint of Lees keg bitter for a £1 a pint as it was mistakenly poured out as a pint when i has asked for a half,but the landlord said you can have it for a £1.
    How can pubs survive selling beer at that price.Are they mobbed. They must pay £1 a pint to buy the beer at the very least. Wetherspoons have economy of scale with 800+ pubs and the food ,soft drinks even coffee can subsidise the beer prices .I paid £4.35 for a pint of Bengal Lancer in a tenanted Fullers pub on New Years Day.

  6. #6
    This Space For Hire Aqualung's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Posts
    4,485

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by london calling View Post
    How can pubs survive selling beer at that price.Are they mobbed. They must pay £1 a pint to buy the beer at the very least. Wetherspoons have economy of scale with 800+ pubs and the food ,soft drinks even coffee can subsidise the beer prices .I paid £4.35 for a pint of Bengal Lancer in a tenanted Fullers pub on New Years Day.
    You just don't seem to accept that most London pubs are taking you for a ride. I've only tried 500ml bottled Bengal Lancer from the supermarket which cost well under two quid per bottle (I think it was three for a fiver) and I thought it was rubbish.
    I would dispute your idea that Spoons food subsidises the beer just as I would Tim Martin's ridiculous suggestion that supermarkets are using zero VAT on fresh or uncooked food items to subsidise cheap booze. In my local Spoons on Steak Club Tuesday the mixed grill costs £6.85 as opposed to £9.70 on other days. When I had one last week I had a Banks's Devil's Backbone keg IPA as the drink which should have been £2.89 and that meant the meal with gammon, rump steak, lamb, sausage, mushroom chips and tomato effectively cost less than £4.00. The food requires someone to microwave it, deliver it and collect the empty plates so is more staff intensive than just a pint of beer.
    As for soft drinks what are they anyway? I know about coffee in Spoons though and all the ones I've been to do a free refill of bog-standard coffee from opening to 14:00. This means I could turn up at my local Spoons at 08:00 and drink endless coffees until 14:00 for just 0.79p. I've never done this but last week I got through two for £1.15 in the Willow Walk at Victoria while waiting for the coffin-dodger's pass time to arrive.
    In the West Midlands Batham's pubs all sell their Mild at £2.30 and Best Bitter at £2.55, they and their pubs seem to be doing alright. Those prices are competetive with the local Spoons which I've generally found are not as good as a lot of the London ones.

  7. #7
    This Space For Hire
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Bristol
    Posts
    1,183

    Default

    I hear rent in London is cheap like the bird.

  8. #8
    This Space For Hire gillhalfpint's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    West Midlands
    Posts
    1,531

    Default

    Pub in Birmingham selling 2 beers at 4.8% and 5% at £3.80 a pint, and Beavertown Smog Rocket at £4.60 a pint. Who says prices are coming down.
    Alcohol doesn't solve problems .... but then again, neither does milk.

  9. #9
    Still about Mobyduck's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Out saving pubs and enjoying it.
    Posts
    5,775

    Default

    Typical prices in my area (excluding Spoons) are £3.60 - £3.80 for a pint that is sub 5%, yet the Nags Head in Reading (20 miles from me) manages to sell all beers whatever the strength at £3.20 with the exception of normally one out of 12 of high ABV 7% or more which is £4.00,so well worth a bus trip for me.
    Last edited by Mobyduck; 04-01-2015 at 09:28.
    "Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
    -W.C.Fields

  10. #10
    This Space For Hire Aqualung's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Posts
    4,485

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gillhalfpint View Post
    Pub in Birmingham selling 2 beers at 4.8% and 5% at £3.80 a pint, and Beavertown Smog Rocket at £4.60 a pint. Who says prices are coming down.
    Exactly, the duty savings of 2p a pint and the much lower fuel costs should have meant a reduction in price. When I went to the Chesham Brewerry Shop where all draught Red Squirrel beers including keg are sold at £2.25 a pint the manager said that someone in the trade said to the brewery that they should be charging more for the keg offerings as people will pay it. The brewery who should know better than anyone about the cost of what they are selling disagreed.
    My question wasn't really directed at just London but anywhere.

Similar Threads

  1. Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Beer prices (again)
    By Blog Tracker in forum Blog Tracker
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 03-03-2013, 08:08
  2. New Inn, Milford Haven
    By AlanH in forum That Doesn't Go There!
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 19-01-2012, 07:58
  3. Replies: 0
    Last Post: 17-10-2011, 20:29
  4. beer prices
    By hondo in forum Chit Chat
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 06-10-2011, 10:21
  5. Truck Haven not a pub
    By sheffield hatter in forum That Doesn't Go There!
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 04-04-2011, 17:18

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •