Are all SE Regional Brewers a rip-off?

[london calling]

No I don't think Fullers are a rip-off. They sell at a price that is right for them. Okay not great beer but all their beers are decent with a few good un,s as well.They refused to sell to Wetherspoon until they got the price they wanted that's why it sells at a premium to others.

[Wittenden]

Brewers,wholesalers,pubcos and individual licencees will charge what the Market will stand, and produce what they can sell.Says a lot about the beer drinking public.

Pity about MacMullen's-I used to seek 'em out when I went that side of the River, or was that Rayments, who also did a mean AK.

[Aqualung]

No I don't think Fullers are a rip-off. They sell at a price that is right for them. Okay not great beer but all their beers are decent with a few good un,s as well.They refused to sell to Wetherspoon until they got the price they wanted that's why it sells at a premium to others.

So how come thelr idea of selling a beer at a price is "right for them" differs so much from one of their own pubs to what they sell their bottles to Tesco for?

I was always a big fan of ESB, but the last pint I had of it (and probably the last pint I will EVER have of it) was in the Drum a few weeks ago where it was £2.79. around 40p dearer than an equivalent guest. The only reason I tried it was because I thought it unlikely that I would ever see it at that price again. I thought it lacked the hop flavour that I remembered, but that may just be a result of me having tried too many hop bombs.

I seem to recall a dispute between Spoons and Guinness (now there is an undisputable rip-off brewery) where they said that Spoons were selling their rubbish too cheaply.

The concept of "the right price" is something made up by a marketing idiot. Capitalism will always dictate that whatever company is selling it's products, it will sell them at the highest possible price. Despite my left wing leanings I have no idea at all as to whether this is a valid assumption.

I do miss having the 12% Romanov Stout on cask in the William for £1.99 less than 18 months ago!

[Bucking Fastard]

I believe the family are minted, so as you say the value of their tied houses plus the Brewery site should stop them shedding too many tears if it all went pear shaped.

They certainly are wealthy,they also own a lot of retail space in Hertford nothing to do with their pubs.Most of the land around the brewery was sold to Sainsbury's who have put up a shiny supermarket,the tower brewery is now converted to a mix of flats and offices while brewing has shifted across the road to an industrial shed where the bottling line used to be.

I have to agree that Stronghart was a good Christmas brew,sadly no longer on cask.The AK recipe was altered in the 80's I believe,much for the worse .On the local real ale front,the popular pubs in the area are those that aren't tied to Mc Mullens,so that may explain why their beers have been popping up in free houses much further afield.They must have cut a deal with a distributor to shift production I guess.

[Quinno]

I live in Mc Mullens country ,and when I used lived in the middle of Hertford you certainly knew when they were brewing.It is a bit harsh to describe them as rip off merchants,but they do alter their pricing depending on the location of the pub and the theme of that particular tied house

As do Wetherspoons. The Pikey Platter price was always the indicator as to which 'band' the pub fell into (eg 2 for £6.99 in Windsor, 2 for £4.99 in Wakefield). I remember when the Aberystwyth Spoons first opened it was on the lowest pricing tier (that I had seen, then again I don't drink in Burnley) but it rapidly shifted upwards and is now just below premium.

At the end of the day, vote with your wallet...

[Soup Dragon]

The Old Joint Stock is a Fuller's pub in Brum - very expensive, but then a lot of pubs in that area are hiking-up their prices. Nip to a Holden's pub in Bloxwich and you get a far better pint (Holden's MILD) at £2.15 - i know which i prefer, but then the OJS is perhaps a slightly nicer interior

[Aqualung]

The Pikey Platter

I've not heard that phrase before and it's so funny!

It doesn't provide a guide to the beer prices based on a random selection of their pubs that I've recently visited (it all seems to be £6.79) but I was alarmed to see that Yr Hen Orsaf in Aber was charging £8.79 for it.

Surely they are not charging more for the beer there than in North and East London?

[london calling]

[QUOTE=Aqualung;56126]So how come thelr idea of selling a beer at a price is "right for them" differs so much from one of their own pubs to what they sell their bottles to Tesco for?

I was always a big fan of ESB, but the last pint I had of it (and probably the last pint I will EVER have of it) was in the Drum a few weeks ago where it was £2.79. around 40p dearer than an equivalent guest. The only reason I tried it was because I thought it unlikely that I would ever see it at that price again. I thought it lacked the hop flavour that I remembered, but that may just be a result of me having tried too many hop bombs.

I seem to recall a dispute between Spoons and Guinness (now there is an undisputable rip-off brewery) where they said that Spoons were selling their rubbish too cheaply.

The concept of "the right price" is something made up by a marketing idiot. Capitalism will always dictate that whatever company is selling it's products, it will sell them at the highest possible price. Despite my left wing leanings I have no idea at all as to whether this is a valid assumption.

I do miss having the 12% Romanov Stout on cask in the William for £1.99 less than 18 months ago![/QUOT

Wetherspoons obviously use marketing men as they sell beer in Croydon at £1.95 but the same beer in Central London for £3.10.

[Aqualung]

Wetherspoons obviously use marketing men as they sell beer in Croydon at £1.95 but the same beer in Central London for £3.10.

You're right, Wetherspoons do have marketing idiots. The fact is that there is one simple principle of marketing, you charge a price for what you're selling that the punters will endure. This isn't something that requires a degree, you could get the idea from watching a single episode of The Apprentice.
That's why the rubbish pub companies are failing so badly, because they are overpriced and generally are not even selling a product that most of the people on this site at least would want to drink.