Outrageous Beer Prices

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by LesDewitt4beer, May 1, 2025.

  1. clearspirit

    clearspirit Initiate (35) Jun 27, 2025

    Take it y'all heard the current price of a pint in a London pub right now?
     
    ChicagoJ likes this.
  2. DogbiteWilliams

    DogbiteWilliams Zealot (647) Mar 28, 2015 California

    He has passed away, so we can't ask Harold Pinter.
     
    ChicagoJ and Shanex like this.
  3. BruChef

    BruChef Maven (1,277) Nov 8, 2009 New York
    Society

    Must be nice. Not only is it harder to come by but a bottle of BT is at least $40 if not more around my neck of the woods.
     
    ChicagoJ and Resistance88 like this.
  4. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    I would be willing to bet it is cheaper than a pint (16 US ounces) at a bar in Boston or New York City.

    Cheers!
     
    ChicagoJ, John_M and MrOH like this.
  5. moodenba

    moodenba Pooh-Bah (2,502) Feb 2, 2015 New York
    Society Pooh-Bah

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/lon...d-butlers-stonegate-greene-king-b1161418.html
    Average Imp. pint in London L5.43. or about $7.25. But you get about 25% more beer compared to US pint. so reduce London price by about $1.75. In London that comes out to about $5.50 per US pint. In the US you might need to add sales taxes. Also, Britain is more conscious of requiring full measure. The US bars might well be selling 12 or 14 oz "pints". And you will probably be expected to tip more heavily in the US. All in all, $5.50 in London sounds pretty good.
     
    #185 moodenba, Jun 28, 2025
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2025
  6. BJC

    BJC Zealot (626) Nov 9, 2002 New Jersey

    Plus there is no expectation of at least a $1.00 a beer tip.
     
  7. PolskaKielbasia

    PolskaKielbasia Zealot (509) Dec 24, 2018 Minnesota

    Was going to pick up a 4-pack of DDH King Sue yesterday. Saw the price of $22 for the 4x16 and bought a 4x16 of Bell's Two Hearted instead for $9.

    I've actually started going back to the breweries I drank before I got into the more local stuff: Deschuttes, Founders, Bells, Sierra Nevada, etc... I can still get 12-packs of Fresh Squeezed for $16.49 or Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing for $15.99. And those two are better than probably 60-70% of the hyperlocal IPAs in my area.

    Much rather the extra cash go towards my kids' college funds or my 401k than my craft beer hobby...
     
  8. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Exactly. After tax and tip, the cost of a "pint" where I live is pretty close to $10 now. The wife and I were in London for a few days last year, and I thought the price for a pint was pretty comparable to what I was paying back in PDX. Except that I wasn't expected to leave an additional 20% tip for the bartender to pour it.
     
    ChicagoJ and beergoot like this.
  9. moodenba

    moodenba Pooh-Bah (2,502) Feb 2, 2015 New York
    Society Pooh-Bah

    There's at least one other advantage to using a "standard" craft beer from a larger outfit. The beer is more likely to be available regularly at convenient locations. That means I don't have to search for a replacement beer as often, when one of my regular beers disappears out of the market. I don't want to experiment much with questionable purchases, since that cuts into my relatively limited beer quota. I reserve the right to be choosy. Price also can be a factor.
     
    ChicagoJ, Shanex, nomisugitai and 3 others like this.
  10. PolskaKielbasia

    PolskaKielbasia Zealot (509) Dec 24, 2018 Minnesota

    Definitely. Another thing I've noticed is that those beers from standard outfits tend not to become shelf turds. I've bought Fresh Squeezed, Founders All Day, Two Hearted, SN Pale Ale, etc. regularly for ages, and have never seen them more than 3-4 months old, which is perfectly fine for those beers if they are canned and (mostly) stored cold. I've even gotten some incredibly fresh batches, like 2-3 weeks old, way out here in MN! On the other hand, I now regularly see Toppling Goliath beers that are 6+ months old, and some of the hyperlocal stuff is even worse.

    I never will forget trying a hyperlocal IPA in March 2022 with a canned month of January - thought it was 2 months old. Tasted odd... until I saw it was actually canned January 2021, 14 months earlier!!!
     
    ChicagoJ, mactrail and LAFreeway like this.
  11. clearspirit

    clearspirit Initiate (35) Jun 27, 2025

    last I heard, average pint in London was like £8, so what's that in $?
     
    ChicagoJ, Shanex and Resistance88 like this.
  12. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    That's around $11, which is pretty high. Wife and I were last in London a bit over a year ago and stayed in the Hyde Park area. I paid nothing like that for a pint. As I recall, pint prices for Fullers ESB at the local pub down the street from our hotel were running around $7.

    Of course there was some price fluctuation from pub to pub, and certainly some places were more expensive than others, but I don't ever recall paying $10 or more for a pint.

    Granted, this was back in June 2024, so prices could have risen somewhat since then, but £8 on average for a pint seems really, really high.
     
  13. Resistance88

    Resistance88 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,462) Apr 9, 2015 California
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I recently checked a taplist at a cask bar and the shits still £6 to £7 .
    Pints of "IPA" thought were £9
    What a buncha suckers
     
    ChicagoJ, Shanex, Providence and 2 others like this.
  14. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    That's insane. I think I was paying between £5 and £6 on average last time I was there, which was still on the high side I thought. However...
    considering there was no sales tax and no expectation of an automatic 20% tip, that took some of the sting out of the pricing.

    Here in Washington, pints are petty much $10 a pop for an APA or IPA, once you include the tax and tip. If you're ordering a BA stout, BW, saison or lambic, the sky's the limit.
     
    ChicagoJ and mactrail like this.
  15. BJC

    BJC Zealot (626) Nov 9, 2002 New Jersey

    I was in London last May and stayed near Westminster Abbey. At the Sanctuary, a pint of Fuller's ESB was about 6.40 GBP. Standard cask (4-5% ABV) was about 6 pounds per pint with GBP = $1.27 at the time.
     
    ChicagoJ, Shanex, rocdoc1 and 2 others like this.
  16. ilikebeer03

    ilikebeer03 Pooh-Bah (2,616) Oct 17, 2012 Texas
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Buffalo trace sits by the case at about $25 around me.
     
    ChicagoJ likes this.
  17. rocdoc1

    rocdoc1 Savant (1,215) Jan 13, 2006 New Mexico

    You youngsters! When I was in high school we would drive 90 miles to Slidell Louisiana and buy Dixie Beer from New Orleans for $0.69 per sixer. My standards were somewhat lower in 1971 but that was certainly a price I could afford with my job that paid $1.05 per hour.
     
  18. rocdoc1

    rocdoc1 Savant (1,215) Jan 13, 2006 New Mexico

    Oddly, in France red wine consumption is way down because young people are drinking far more beer and far less wine.
     
  19. rocdoc1

    rocdoc1 Savant (1,215) Jan 13, 2006 New Mexico

    To the OP's question about outrageous prices, in my area of France there are lots of small breweries that have opened in the past 10 years. Their beers all taste the same, are generally designed to have little hop bitterness, and are expensive. Normally these breweries produce a blonde, a blanche(wit beer) and an ambree(sweetish brown). They are all around 5.5% ABV, so if you want a buzz it's gonna require multiple bottles. Almost all of them sell for at least $3 a 33 cl bottle(12 oz), so around $40 for 12 bottles.
    OTOH, at the grocery store near here I can buy Chimay Red for about $1.50, Blue for $1.75, German 50 cl bottles for around $2-2.50. Even the higher end Westmalle and Rocheforts are well under $3 a bottle.
     
  20. LesDewitt4beer

    LesDewitt4beer Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,315) Jan 25, 2021 Minnesota
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Beer prices in the U.S. have gone crazy. Have we no scruples?
     
    ChicagoJ and Shanex like this.