Pricey beer stops

[Nightwatch]

Skipton.

 

Down one of the little side streets, there's The Beer Engine. Excellent range of ales, very likeable owner. Last visit I had Reverand James Ale. Very nice at £3.00. All his beers seem to be £3.00. He had one beer at 6.2%. I didn't like to try it. If he gets more than twenty peeps in there he's full.

 

Come out onto the High Street, The Woolly Sheep. A pint of Landlord,served short, topped up disgruntingly, £3.70.

[dogless]

Skipton.

Down one of the little side streets, there's The Beer Engine. Excellent range of ales, very likeable owner. Last visit I had Reverand James Ale. Very nice at £3.00. All his beers seem to be £3.00. He had one beer at 6.2%. I didn't like to try it. If he gets more than twenty peeps in there he's full.

Come out onto the High Street, The Woolly Sheep. A pint of Landlord,served short, topped up disgruntingly, £3.70.

Rev. James, now that is a good pint, right up there with Slumbering Monk. Cheers

 

Rog

[S and K]

Swmbo, and her friend were on the Embankment on a red hot day a little while, she and her friend fancied A cold bottle of Cider each, £15 please madam!

[Victor Vectis]

Come out onto the High Street, The Woolly Sheep. A pint of Landlord,served short, topped up disgruntingly, £3.70.

Yes, but The Woolly Sheep is a TT pub so they know how to cellar and serve Landlord properly.

 

And so probably worth £3.70.

[bag 'o' bones]

Quick rough and ready comparison of costa coffee with a pint of 4% beer:

 

Pint of costa (560ml 'massimo') = £2.65

 

Pint of beer in my local = £2.80

 

Beer duty (4%) = 45p (55p or there about when vat is taken into account - yes you really do pay tax on tax!)

 

'Real' cost of a pint = £2.25

 

Its funny folk are very quick to criticise the cost of beer but rarely do people complain about the cost of coffee.

 

 

If I've got my sums wrong feel free to correct.

[mross]

I had an enjoyable espresso coffee in St Mark's piazza in Venice, with my wife. It cost about £20. Some one asked me why I paid silly money. I said so that I could sit in peace, with a wonderful view an no queues. And, I did not have to sit next to him and his unruly children!

[dmr]

Quick rough and ready comparison of costa coffee with a pint of 4% beer:

 

Pint of costa (560ml 'massimo') = £2.65

 

Pint of beer in my local = £2.80

 

Beer duty (4%) = 45p (55p or there about when vat is taken into account - yes you really do pay tax on tax!)

 

'Real' cost of a pint = £2.25

 

Its funny folk are very quick to criticise the cost of beer but rarely do people complain about the cost of coffee.

 

 

If I've got my sums wrong feel free to correct.

 

OK, if you want to compare beer with non beer..

 

Beer, mostly water and some other readily available natural ingredients, about £3.00 per pint. Takes a week or two to produce.

 

Diesel, based on a precious non renewable that is running out and in short supply. Takes a few million years to produce. Extracted in a distant country and transported here, then subject to complex chemical process to refine it, sold on the cut at about 30p per pint.

 

Beer is very expensive!

 

................Dave

[Nightwatch]

Yes, but The Woolly Sheep is a TT pub so they know how to cellar and serve Landlord properly.

 

And so probably worth £3.70.

really??

[bag 'o' bones]

 

OK, if you want to compare beer with non beer..

 

Beer, mostly water and some other readily available natural ingredients, about £3.00 per pint. Takes a week or two to produce.

 

Diesel, based on a precious non renewable that is running out and in short supply. Takes a few million years to produce. Extracted in a distant country and transported here, then subject to complex chemical process to refine it, sold on the cut at about 30p per pint.

 

Beer is very expensive!

 

................Dave

Not the first time I 've heard your analogy but your quite right.

Having said that, without the petrol station shop you can't make a living out of selling fuel (so I have heard). Perhaps that is why most village petrol stations have long since closed down (along with the pub) Too little foot-fall.

[bag 'o' bones]

I had an enjoyable espresso coffee in St Mark's piazza in Venice, with my wife. It cost about £20. Some one asked me why I paid silly money. I said so that I could sit in peace, with a wonderful view an no queues. And, I did not have to sit next to him and his unruly children!

So....

 

£2.65 for the coffee and £17.35 to enjoy the peaceful location, wonderful view and non existent queue?

 

well,bit expensive for my pocket but knowing how unruly crowds can spoil an otherwise perfect (and likely expensive holiday) I can understand your logic.

Edited August 31, 2016 by bag 'o' bones

[twbm]

Quick rough and ready comparison of costa coffee with a pint of 4% beer:

 

Pint of costa (560ml 'massimo') = £2.65

 

Pint of beer in my local = £2.80

 

Beer duty (4%) = 45p (55p or there about when vat is taken into account - yes you really do pay tax on tax!)

 

'Real' cost of a pint = £2.25

 

Its funny folk are very quick to criticise the cost of beer but rarely do people complain about the cost of coffee.

 

 

If I've got my sums wrong feel free to correct.

 

.. and wholesale cost of a pint circa £1.20, cost of making the coffee - probably less than 20p.

[Victor Vectis]

really??

Yes. It's a fine beer when on form.

[Nightwatch]

What I meant by 'really' was questioning the keeping of good beer in the Woolly Sheep. I knew it's a TT pub. Wraps they like their beer so much, that they short measures. If they can get away with it. Landlord is indeed a good pint.

 

Less than a stones throw away is The Beer Engine. £3.00 a pint.

[eye high skipper]

Whilst we have low inflation generally the prices in pubs and restaurants seems to have rocketed in recent years. This is the main reason why I rarely use them. Congleton jazz and blues over the weekend, I paid £3.80 for a pint of Bombadier that was served much too cold. Beartown Tap, who apparently brew their own, desisted from passing on the saving they enjoy from not supplying a middle man, charging £3.40 a pint.

 

Broughton Arms at Rode Heath is good on a Tuesday though; £2.20 a pint for real ales after 8.00 p.m. 100% or so mark up on supermarket prices, seems reasonable. A 200% + mark up certainly isn't. It's no wonder so many pubs are closing.

 

Ditto that, I was there last Tuesday.

 

Also Mon to Fri 12pm to 5pm they have a buy one get one free food offer http://www.marstons.co.uk/img/pubs/assets/menus/Village%20Light%20Nights%202016%20Main%20Menu/High%20Band%20Daytime%20241%20Menu/68a193b0-f74e-4f91-b97f-bf61caa7d124.pdf

[dor]

Many years ago when I was first involved in the licensed trade, pubs regarded beer as the bread and butter but the real profit was made on spirits. Even so a sixth of a gill tot of whiskey or gin was more expensive than a pint. And as for how much it would be if you added a mixer... That was where the real money was made, mark-up on beer was about 10%.

 

What has happened in the intervening period is that beer has gone up a lot more proportionately. Much of this is to do with the high rents paid to the pubcos and also the high "wholesale" price they are forced to pay (could be double what the brewery would charge to the free trade). As a result pubs have to take a much higher margin on the beer. Same goes for wine, where a 175ml (1'4 bottle) glass of cheap plonk costs about £5 for a bottle of wine which the pub has probably paid £3 for.

 

Then there are the 'coke' etc drinks, where the post-mix syrup for a half pint of Coke is a few pence but you will pay anything up to £2 for.

 

I don't think the supermarkets sell beer at a loss, in fact I don't think they are now allowed to.

[Naughty Cal]

We popped down onto the Avon at Stratford yesterday for a day's jaunt. Stopped on a tiny mooring at Binton Bridges and went to the Four Alls by the river. There was an OK beer garden and a rather odd interior to the place. Since it was scorchio we all decided to have cold Peroni. Oh and there was no proper beer on anyway. So 4 pints of Peroni, 4 packets of crisps, guess how much?

 

Jeff gave me £20 but that wasn't enough! It was £25. Having recovered from shock I did ask if that was really correct and how much was a pint of Peroni? Answer £5. Blimey, this is a country pub in the middle of nowhere (well, on the edge of Welford on Avon actually), surely that is extortionate? Needless to say we had the one pint (which wasn't even that nice) and went back to the boat for seconds.

 

Crap landing stage, not particularly nice beer garden, mediocre beer all from kegs, extortionate pricing. What's to like?

 

What other pubs charge extortionately? Any advance on £5 a pint?

Southwold and pretty much all the pubs charged the same.

 

4 pints of Adnams (local to the town) £24.40.

[IanM]

Southwold and pretty much all the pubs charged the same.

 

4 pints of Adnams (local to the town) £24.40.

 

Ah, but what Adnams beer was it?

 

Adnams Southwold in my local, £3.20. Adnams Dry Hopped Lager, £3.80

 

But £6.10 a pint does seem a little steep even for Southwold!

[Naughty Cal]

 

Ah, but what Adnams beer was it?

 

Adnams Southwold in my local, £3.20. Adnams Dry Hopped Lager, £3.80

 

But £6.10 a pint does seem a little steep even for Southwold!

We had just stepped off the boats after mooring up in the harbour so went to the pub by the quayside. Initially we expected it was just the pubs location that made the beer expensive, however after walking into town we found that they were all a very similar price.

[Dave_P]

next to Gas Street Basin is a frequently unnoticed place the Gentleman and Scholar. It's in the bottom of the Hyatt Hotel. It doesn't serve any decent beer and charges over £6 a pint for it. BUT you can always go in there, get served straight away and find an empty table to drink it on in peace, even on New Years Eve. So there is a point to going in there sometimes.

Gentleman and Scholar draft beer/cider list:

 

HEINEKEN EXTRA COLD, NETHERLANDS £6.50

AMSTEL, NETHERLANDS £6.00

BIRRA MORETTI, ITALY £6.95

SYMONDS FOUNDERS RESERVE, ENGLAND £5.75

 

see what I mean?

 

If you want a 500ml bottle of Spitfire, it'll set you back £7.95!

Edited September 7, 2016 by Dave_P

[dave moore]

Thanks for the warning. Those prices are worse than London!

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[dmr]

next to Gas Street Basin is a frequently unnoticed place the Gentleman and Scholar. It's in the bottom of the Hyatt Hotel. It doesn't serve any decent beer and charges over £6 a pint for it. BUT you can always go in there, get served straight away and find an empty table to drink it on in peace, even on New Years Eve. So there is a point to going in there sometimes.

Gentleman and Scholar draft beer/cider list:

 

HEINEKEN EXTRA COLD, NETHERLANDS £6.50

AMSTEL, NETHERLANDS £6.00

BIRRA MORETTI, ITALY £6.95

SYMONDS FOUNDERS RESERVE, ENGLAND £5.75

 

see what I mean?

 

If you want a 500ml bottle of Spitfire, it'll set you back £7.95!

 

Looks like its still the Prince of Wales and the Flapper for us then.

 

...............Dave

[mrsmelly]

When you buy a pint in a pub you are also renting the space in which to spend an hour drinking it, which you don't get when buying from the supermarket.

 

So comparing pub prices with supermarket prices is comparing apples with pears.

 

At last the voice of reason and precisely correct on this matter.

 

Tim

[dogless]

When you buy a pint in a pub you are also renting the space in which to spend an hour drinking it, which you don't get when buying from the supermarket.

 

So comparing pub prices with supermarket prices is comparing apples with pears.

Not to mention participation in chat and atmosphere, a sense of belonging, use of loos, and these days use of wifi and mains electric.

 

I like pubs.

 

Rog

[twbm]

Not to mention participation in chat and atmosphere, a sense of belonging, use of loos, and these days use of wifi and mains electric.

 

I like pubs.

 

Rog

 

Aye. Currently converting all our publicly accessible sockets to mains / USB and fitting a couple of extras. Spent the price of a small car refurbing our loos last year.

[The Ents]

The King's Lock, Middlewich. Four or five local beers between 3.0- and 3.30. If you use their points reclaim system you can get 1.00 per pint off.

Oh and the staff are friendly and know their beers.

Mike.