Another interesting pub article

[NickDavies]

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion...m-2186216.html

[Bucking Fastard]

Nick,that's a good article and a reasonable arguement for a review of excise duty.The government seems to have decided on a minumum retail alcohol price of excise duty +VAT ,so the only variable going forward would be to look at how excise duty is levied.I dont know the current regime,I am sure a few other posters will be more clued up,but it does seem over my drinking career that the relative price of "off sale" vodka has decreased and this is the drink of choice for the young.Has excise duty for vodka kept pace with the duty for beer ?I've got a feeling that excise duty for cider is also relatively low (?) and this may have contributed to the degree of park bench swilling .

Clearly the main culprits hurting the pub trade are the supermarkets and some "bargain" high street alcohol outlets but if the article is focussing on young peoples drinking behaviour ,a review of excise duty may be a sensible addition to minimum pricing.

[Brewguru]

No idea what duty rates on spirits are but for beer it is the ABV% x 17.32 (this is the duty rate) x volume in hectolitres. For a firkin (9 gallon) assume a volume of 40 litres approx, for a 4.0% beer this equates to £27.02 per 9 gallon cask.

Microbrewers get duty relief if small enough and pay half this amount.