Pub drink gone up recently?

gurramok

Just heard a few pubs have put up a pint of lager by 20c in last week or so(Central Bank in city centre + a few in Finglas).

Is this a widespread trend?

Just wondering if this is the hike me myself reported in AH a few weeks ago being implemented (http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055240729&highlight=pint)

Haven't been hardly in a pub in a few weeks to report on this due to offy consumption

Kenjd

I know that 2 pubs in Dalkey put up their prices, 1 by 15 and the other by 20cent. Offy consumption is the way forward for us mere mortals who aren't minted! Its a shame, the publicans ain't doing themselves any favors! And yes i know this increase is from the breweries, but what about all the increases over the years from the publicans!
There aren't any cheap options when it comes to drinking out in Ireland, like on the continent. The publicans opposed the cafe bar licence, so it makes me wonder, who is more powerful in this country, publicans or the government?

rubadub

Kenjd wrote: »

the publicans ain't doing themselves any favors!

Yes I would love to see some pubs accounts. The divide is bigger than I have ever know. When I first started going to pubs 15 years ago a pint was around twice the price of a can. In bargain alerts somebody listed 24 heinekens for €20. 83cent per bottle. Think I paid €4.90 last week for the same bottle, so around 6 times the price.

People will just be having an extra drink at home and hitting the pubs even later.

Frankiestylee

The differance is insane when ya think about it. Ok,so pubs go on about overheads etc,but thinking about it Offies have very similar overheads and probably more expensive stock (assuming a keg of beer is cheaper then its equivalent in cans... dunno if this is true). Having said that, you can't really compare cost price offers like 24 Heineken etc.

arybvtcw0eolkf

gurramok wrote: »

Just heard a few pubs have put up a pint of lager by 20c in last week or so(Central Bank in city centre + a few in Finglas).

Is this a widespread trend?

Just wondering if this is the hike me myself reported in AH a few weeks ago being implemented (http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055240729&highlight=pint)

Haven't been hardly in a pub in a few weeks to report on this due to offy consumption

The price of a pint of Carlsberg in Campions (Malahide Rd) has jumped 20 cent recently. I was surprised as I hadn't heard of an increase coming, gave the barman €4:50 and was stung for another 20c.

Oh well, I'll drink slower

And although I'm not a mean whore, I'm fvcked if I'll go somewhere like Gibneys (Malahide) where a Carlsberg was already €5:10 and pay €5:30 a pint now - feck that.

BeerNut

Frankiestylee wrote: »

but thinking about it Offies have very similar overheads

They really don't. Staff costs, insurance costs, plumbing, lighting, sound, cleaning -- all waaay higher for a pub.

That said, where I think the big difference is, is that offies will compete with each other on price. In Dublin there are only a handful of dodgy pubs that'll do this. Proper competition would be one way to prevent pubs pricing themselves out of existence while whining that supermarkets are shafting them.

Decent beer would be another...

Kenjd

BeerNut wrote: »

Decent beer would be another...

Yeah, whats with the sh*te that we get served??? Diagio's cleaning methods are woeful!
Enough of the bud, heineken, and carlsberg sh*te, give us something nice! MMMMMMM think I'll head to porterhse!!!

super_furry

All the more reason to drink at home before heading to a club and completely by-passing the pub. Pubs are pricing themselves out of the market - the fact that you can't get four pints for €20 in the vast majority of Dublin pubs is just a joke.

guildofevil

Kenjd wrote: »

And yes i know this increase is from the breweries, but what about all the increases over the years from the publicans!

What gives you that idea? If it was the breweries then all pubs and off-licences would be affected. When the prices go up behind the bar, the publican would prefer if you blame the government or the brewery but for over a decade now, all price increases have been down to your friendly local publican.

Sure there's inflation, but how come the average price of a pint of stout rose by 51.2% between 1993 and 2003, while the consumer price index for the same period only rose by 35.7%? The government didn't put an extra excise on it and the breweries didn't put up their prices (Figures from the Competition Authority). And that's a national average. Regional price rises (*ahem* Dublin) have been even worse.

The publicans have been gouging us for years and now they are whining and blaming the smoking ban and below cost selling for their falling sales.

And soon enough, our wonderful government will ban below cost selling on alcohol and maybe even take booze out of our petrol stations and convenience stores in an effort to give their publican friends a helping hand... er, I mean combat binge drinking and alcohol related violence. Because people don't binge drink in pubs and all those fights after pub closing are due to people who were drinking at home and got a taxi into town so they can have a punch up outside McDonald's.

BeerNut

guildofevil wrote: »

for over a decade now, all price increases have been down to your friendly local publican.

Not true. Diageo put beer prices up in 2006 and 2007.

The pubs are still gouging shamelessly, of course.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

rubadub

Why is it you always hear of the breweries increasing the price to pubs, but not offies. Does anybody know if the price goes up the exact same per litre to offies? it would make sense to.

a pint of stout rose by 51.2% between 1993 and 2003

And in that 10 years the price in off-licences has decreased. I never remember a bottle being less than £1 (€1.27) 15 years ago, yet 70cent-1euro bottles are the norm now.

BeerNut

rubadub wrote: »

Does anybody know if the price goes up the exact same per litre to offies? it would make sense to.

The 2006 article I linked to above says that the price rise does not apply to off sales.

Why? Perhaps because there is competition on the beer shelves that doesn't exist at the bar taps.

The Hill Billy

As Solitaryman666 said - Guinness stuck 5¢ on the pint recently. How the publicans can justify whacking another 15¢, on top I don't know.

BeerNut

Hill Billy wrote: »

How the publicans can justify whacking another 15¢, on top I don't know.

Well that's the thing: they don't have to.

oblivious

Hill Billy wrote: »

As Solitaryman666 said - Guinness stuck 5¢ on the pint recently. How the publicans can justify whacking another 15¢, on top I don't know.

Well most companies when faced with a reduction in profits try to come up with a plan to attract more costumers, offer better value and improve services and so on. Of course you could be completely sarcastic and see it as Irish publicans simply up the price to compensate

guildofevil

BeerNut wrote: »

Not true. Diageo put beer prices up in 2006 and 2007.

Sorry, you are right. I should have said that they are responsible for the vast majority of price increases. Not all.

Hill Billy wrote:

Guinness stuck 5¢ on the pint recently. How the publicans can justify whacking another 15¢, on top I don't know.

They do the same when there is an Excise Duty or VAT hike.

The publicans jump on any price increase and inflate it. Always have. That way, when the customer asks about the price rise, they can blame someone else, instead of admitting that they are gouging bastiches.

guildofevil

oblivious wrote: »

Well most companies when faced with a reduction in profits try to come up with a plan to attract more costumers, offer better value and improve services and so on. Of course you could be completely sarcastic and see it as Irish publicans simply up the price to compensate

That is exactly what they are doing.

The Irish publican has not had to operate in the real world since the The Liquor Licensing (Ireland) Act of 1902. That piece of legislation artificially restricted the number of pubs in Ireland, effectively creating a low competition environment, which has only gotten worse over time.

At the turn of the century, Dublin had a population of 433,711 and 1,119 licenses serving them. By 1996, with a population of 1,058,264, Dublin had 946 licenses.

Is it any wonder the Irish publican no clue how to respond to a shrinking market? It has never happened before!

Irish tastes are changing and the average Irish pubs is not keeping up. People in Ireland are shifting more and more to wine and craft beer. We are demanding a variety of products which simply don't appear behind the local bar. The offie is providing those products and at a fraction of the price the publican is charging for his inferior offerings.

Hence the rise of home drinking.

This has introduced an element of competition that the Irish pub has never had to deal with before. They have no clue what to do and are panicking.

gurramok

Finally found an online article http://www.4ie.ie/irish_news.asp?id=71974

Note the excuses and the publicans imaginary 'margin':D

Trouble Brewing Over Price Of Pint
The price of the average pint in Ireland could rise by up to 15% by the start of next month.

One of Ireland's main drinks' companies, Diageo, has announced the price for kegs of its beers will increase by as much as €4.40 each.

Diageo Ireland supplies Ireland's most popular pints, such as Budweiser, Guinness, Carlsberg and Harp, and in a letter sent to publicans; the company said the increase was "necessitated by higher production costs, increased overheads and ongoing market investment".

The average 50 litre keg of Guinness draft will increase from €132.92 to €137.32 with Budwieser, Carlsberg and Harp experiencing similar increases.

An industry source said this increase works out as a 5% per pint increase but to maintain a margin, the publicans will be asking customers to pay an extra 15%.

The source also said: “Diageo Ireland usually sets the trend that other brewers follow so there could well be increases in other well-known beer brands.”

The news is a damaging blow to the already faltering bar industry in Ireland, which was revealed to have suffered a closure of almost 1,000 bars in the last five years due to previous price rises and the impact of the smoking ban.

The price hikes have also been linked to the rising price of barley and hops due to a change in the use of farmland from growing hops to producing environment-friendly biofuels.

And look what happens when a publican reduces the prices, the turnover increases, would you believe it?
Story from '05 but still pertinent today.(http://www.dublinpubs.ie/story.asp?id=25)

THE price of a pint is being slashed across some of Dublin's pubs in an effort to attract customers.

In one pub on the quays, a pint of Guinness, lager or cider can be bought for €3.

Ciaran O'Connell, the owner of the Croppy Acre on Ellis Quay, said his turnover had doubled since he introduced the new prices.

After the smoking ban was introduced, he tried reducing the price of a pint of Guinness from €3.70 to €3.45, and lager from €4 to €3.70 to see if it would help, and it did.

Then he decided to do a two-day promotional special last August, in which he charged pints of Guinness and lager at €3. "At the end of the two days, I had twice as much money in my till."

He repeated the exercise over a three-day period the following week and again found it to be good for business. He decided to introduce the €3 a pint price permanently just over four months ago.

"It is working very well. People are getting their cheap pint, and I am getting repeat business," he said.

Mr O'Connell added that the smoking ban wasn't wholly to blame for a fall-off in general in the numbers going to pubs.

"It is dear to go out and there are huge variances in the price of a pint," he said.

Meanwhile James Boyle, the owner of Harry B's bar in the Earl of Kildare Hotel, Dublin, confirmed that pints of Guinness were reduced after the smoking ban in his establishment.

He said there was no question that business was affected by the smoking ban. "We felt it was prudent to make some recognition of that and reduce prices."

it is now €3.60 for a pint of Guinness, and €3.90 for lager and pints of Bulmers on regular nights.

"If you charge a reasonable price, you are not encouraging people to binge drink and it is not prohibitively expensive on the other hand. You get to pay your staff and other commitments," he commented.

The Licensed Vinters' Association said it was incorrect to label the price reductions as a new trend. A spokesperson said there had always been a range of prices in Dublin.

Meanwhile, the Vintner's Federation of Ireland, which represents pubs outside Dublin has estimated that business has come down in pubs by up to 25pc since the smoking ban.

The average price of a pint of Guinness is €3.50 outside the capital, with lager costing about 20c more. This means that in some cases, prices in Dublin pubs are lower than those charged in rural pubs.

O'Looney's, The Irish House on Harold's Cross Bridge, Dublin charges €2.70 for a pint of Beamish, €2.90 for a pint of Guinness, and all lagers are €3.50.

BeerNut

O'Looney's, The Irish House on Harold's Cross Bridge, Dublin charges €2.70 for a pint of Beamish, €2.90 for a pint of Guinness, and all lagers are €3.50.

I don't think low prices did it much good. It was demolished very soon after this was published.

guildofevil

Now I'm no mathematician, but using skills taught to me in primary school I have determined that if you raise the price of a keg from €132.92 to €137.32 that is an increase of €4.40 on the whole keg.

Using the same childhood skills I worked out that this is actually a 3.3% increase, not a 5% one.

Now, again, I am no accountant, but is seems to me, that a 3.3% increase in the Retail Price of a pint of beer, would not only cover the 3.3% increase in the Wholesale Price of beer, but would also cover the resultant extra nibble the VAT man takes and would preserve the retailers margin exactly as it is, when expressed as a percentage of the price of a pint of beer.

As a matter of fact, a 3.3% increase in the retail price would actually increase the retailers mark-up fractionally, as the excise man's cut has not gone up in this little dance.

Apparently the publicans of Ireland use a different form of mathematics where, between the cellar and the tap, 3.3% becomes 15%.

Now suppose I choose a random Dublin city pub that charges €4.40 for a pint of yellow fizz and raise the price by 15%, it becomes €5.06. A rise of 66 cent.

Assuming a keg holds 88 pints of beer, of that 66 cent, 5 cent goes to the brewery.
The VAT man takes 21%, so that's 13.86 cent.
Leaving our publican with a paltry 46.14 cent extra per pint.

So, because he had to pay an extra €4.40 for a keg of beer, the publican now expects to get an extra €40.60 on that keg of beer, after he has paid the brewery and the VAT man their cut.

If the same pub had raised the price of the pint by 3.3%, as the brewery did, he would have added 14.5 cent to the pint. Call it 15 cent.

Of that 15 cent, 5 cent would have gone to the brewery, as above.
The vat man's 21% would have come in at 3.15 cent extra leaving the publican with an extra 6.85 cent per pint for his trouble.

Or €6.02 per keg extra into his pocket, after he has paid the VAT man and the brewery.

That is preserving his margin. Anything else is gouging his customers.

Suaimhneach

I was gonna start a thread on this in AH but a search led me here.

I was in the Dandelion on Friday and it was 6.10 euro for a pint of Miller. I was ordering two and out of a 20 I got less than 8 euro change... how sick is that.

And last night I was in Messrs and it was 5.60 for a pint of Miller after 11...

I think its an utter disgrace that I (and my entire generation) are growing up in the norm of these utter rip off prices. Often we hear talk of how much cheaper things are abraod when really they're just properly priced and reasonable. I hope Ireland catches up with itself and cops on.

BeerNut

I think it's a disgrace that you'd go to a pub where you can buy Irish craft beer for €4 a pint and order Miller.

If the beer is too expensive, don't buy it. No-one's forcing you into overpriced city centre bars.

Suaimhneach

I take it you're talking about Messrs? I did notice a sign that said €4 beer but I hadnt heard of it and had already started on the Miller. I am assuming from your signature you advocate drinking that instead...

I would also think it a disgrace to continue drinking at such ridiculous prices and I didnt buy another pint after I was charged 6.10. So there. :P

/me goes to research this Craft beer...

BeerNut

Jesjes wrote: »

I take it you're talking about Messrs?

Yep.

Jesjes wrote: »

but I hadnt heard of it

A good rule to drink by is never drink beer that's advertised on television. It's one that has served me pretty well over the years. With these beers, a lot of your money is going into the marketing budget rather than the ingredients.

Jesjes wrote: »

I am assuming from your signature you advocate drinking that instead...

I think you should drink what you like and what you enjoy. What I do advocate is trying something else. Give it a go, and if it doesn't taste better just revert back. This is never more relevant than when there's over €2 difference in the price of a pint.

As I see it, if you walk up to a bar and order a specific brand of beer without checking how much it costs or what else is on offer you are begging to be gouged. It sends a big message of "Give me what I want: I don't care how much it costs". It creates what's known as a "seller's market", and you will never get good value this way. Of course the bar owner doesn't want you inspecting the price list; of course the barman will get snippy if you take more than 10 seconds inspecting the taps and the fridges -- it's in their interests for you to just name a brand you saw on TV, and which they can then charge what they want for, and raise the price when they feel like it.

Jesjes wrote: »

I would also think it a disgrace to continue drinking at such ridiculous prices

I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing you weren't around on the pub scene during the big scandal when the price of a pint topped £2 for the first time. The "norm of utter rip-off prices" is the way it has always been. And for as long as people walk up to a bar and order their usual brand without a thought of how much it'll cost or what else they can have, it will continue.

rubadub

Jesjes wrote: »

I hadnt heard of it and had already started on the Miller.

I never bought into, or really understood the "sticking to one beer" thing. Fair enough some people do not like switching from beer to wine over a night (I have no problem). But If in a pub like messers or the porter house you have a massive selection, I rarely have 2 pints the same if the selection is good. Even in normal pubs I might start on smithwicks, then guinness, then lager- it is all barley at the end of the day.

I similarly wouldnt go to a restaurant, have a soup for starter, main and desert;)

I am still waiting for tesco or dunnes to open up a pub, they are really missing a golden goose oppertunity, it would rightly screw the vitners. I think tescos do have pubs abroad, or at least cafes in their store selling alcohol.

oblivious

rubadub wrote: »

then lager- it is all barley at the end of the day.

Sadly most "premium" lagers aren't all barleyy

BeerNut

rubadub wrote: »

I am still waiting for tesco or dunnes to open up a pub, they are really missing a golden goose oppertunity, it would rightly screw the vitners. I think tescos do have pubs abroad, or at least cafes in their store selling alcohol.

The supermarkets are about to get a severe shafting from the Vintners' Enforcement Unit which passes for a government in this country. If I were them I'd be keeping the head down for fear of losing my licence altogether.

rubadub

oblivious wrote: »

Sadly most "premium" lagers aren't all barleyy

, yeah budweiser, brewed from prime potato waste and rice in a matter of hours, and "aged" in seconds by passing it through oak to mask the horrific taste while leaving all the cogeners and dodgy alcohols pass through. Then charge you premium price to watch a bunch of horses running around during coronation street breaks.

The supermarkets are about to get a severe shafting from the Vintners' Enforcement Unit which passes for a government in this country. If I were them I'd be keeping the head down for fear of losing my licence altogether.

I can't really imagine the supermarkets not being able to sell beer. Ben Dunne has his own gyms now. Is there really anything they could do to stop him or a person on his behalf opening a pub? can they just refusing licence for no apparent reason?

In a AH thread the topic of supermarkets and offies came up, some lad was going on about how it should be banned in supermarkets, but could not answer me one simple question "what is a supermarket?"

BeerNut

rubadub wrote: »

I can't really imagine the supermarkets not being able to sell beer.

No, it's not likely, but if they became enough of a pain they could find the going very hard. I'll be very surprised if a below-cost selling ban on alcohol is not introduced very soon.

It's illegal to run a post office which shares an internal door with a pub. You could do the same with places that sell food and alcohol for consumption off the premises, with support from a sufficient number of legislators, of course.

rubadub wrote: »

Ben Dunne has his own gyms now.

But no supermarkets.

1carrot2

I am still waiting for tesco or dunnes to open up a pub, they are really missing a golden goose oppertunity

I would presume by the fact that you contribute to this forum that you are interested in quality and breadth of range as well as price. IMO, if Tesco / Dunnes entered the on-trade, it would be greatly to the detriment of quality and breadth of range. They are slaves to the brand and to 'category management' whereby each product needs to justify its shelf space with sales. That would sound the death knell for most interesting craft beers.
What we need is more adventurous, quality oriented pubs like Bull & Castle and we need to be be prepared to pay the premium necessary for these outlets to thrive, survive and multiply.

oblivious

1carrot2 wrote: »

I would presume by the fact that you contribute to this forum that you are interested in quality and breadth of range as well as price. IMO, if Tesco / Dunnes entered the on-trade, it would be greatly to the detriment of quality and breadth of range. They are slaves to the brand and to 'category management' whereby each product needs to justify its shelf space with sales. That would sound the death knell for most interesting craft beers.
What we need is more adventurous, quality oriented pubs like Bull & Castle and we need to be be prepared to pay the premium necessary for these outlets to thrive, survive and multiply.

I praise the efforts of bull and castle and the like of them, but unfortunately IMO the majority of Irish publicans are like doing exactly what you fear that Tesco / Dunnes would do. Most brands there are/if available are been push by the major distributors, five variations of mediocre lager a stout and maybe a German wheat beer for variety.

BeerNut

1carrot2 wrote: »

we need to be be prepared to pay the premium necessary for these outlets to thrive, survive and multiply.

The sad irony being that the beer is often cheaper in such places. A half litre of hand-crafted beer in the Bull & Castle will set you back €4.40, not €5.60 or €6.10, and the price doesn't go up during the evening.

On the other hand there's a real danger of them offering beers you've never heard of :eek:

kenmc

BeerNut wrote: »

On the other hand there's a real danger of them offering beers you've never heard of :eek:

Indeed, if it's not on the televideo machine, then it must be rubbish, cos after all, that machine is the bible....

BeerNut

kenmc wrote: »

Indeed, if it's not on the televideo machine, then it must be rubbish, cos after all, that machine is the bible....

Though there's also the Gospel According to Football Players' Shirts.

I just found an interesting article on this subject from the BBC News archive several years ago.

"People don't drink lager, they drink advertising".

kenmc

BeerNut wrote:

"People don't drink lager, they drink advertising".

Alternatively " People don't drink lager, they drink 'lager' "

Mr Magnolia

"People don't drink lager, they drink advertising".

QFT, unfortunately.

noby

'I had half a dozen ads last night, and I'm wrecked today.'

Davidth88

I am still waiting for tesco or dunnes to open up a pub, they are really missing a golden goose oppertunity, it would rightly screw the vitners.

Witherspoons were going to open a pub here ( Dublin ) what happened ? Were they mugged by the LVA ?

They to a great extent changed the way pubs ran in England if you ask me. They usually stock a number of cask ales ( although some are badly kept because the turnover may be very low possibly ?? )

I think the fuss about ' cheap ' booze being the root of all our social problems is a total cop-out, in Belgium/France booze is much cheaper and they dont have the same issues .

oblivious

Davidth88 wrote: »

Witherspoons were going to open a pub here ( Dublin ) what happened ? Were they mugged by the LVA ?.

I think it was a combination of high land/rent and pub licenses

Kenjd

Although some pubs are trying to do good deals.
I was in the "In" in Dalkey last night and they had 4 bottles of Carlton Ice for €10 or 4 bottles of Brahma for €10, not too bad!

noby

I suppose that depends on your defenition of a good deal.

BeerNut

TBH, I think anything that breaks the power of the heavily-advertised brands is a good thing. The more people think about what they're actually drinking, whether on grounds of price or quality, the better. Keep pushing the diversity agenda and the industry will eventually realise that not everyone wants fizzy yellow lager or cold nitro stout.

I'm an optimist, me.

noby

Well, yes, it might be encouraging people to try something different. My comment about it not being a good deal in my eyes is that you have to buy four.

Kenjd

Well you wouldn't just have one would you??
It sure as hell beats 4.80 for a bottle that they usually charge in the area.
The barman also said i could only have one and get 3 to take away if i wished!!

Elem

I work in a nightclub in dublin city... don't do much draft sales but lager is 5.40, cider 5.60, Vodka (Stoli) 5.40, Gin (Bombay), 5.20 Rum (Havanna) 5.40.. Splits ie coke/7up 3.00

Prices went up in January, first time since mid 2006.

RDM_83

I'm sure our new leader will be very sensitive to the "needs" of the publicans (his brothers a tax defaulting pub owner).
That said though I don't like the price of drink in Ireland in general I think that country pubs which sell a good guinness for 3.70-4.00 euro shouldn't be lumped in with the Dublin pubs that charge 4.70+ for a bad pint of the black stuff.
What really annoys me is the fact that the Porterhouse charges such a premium on imported beers (I'm sure the cost of import is quite low and I know from drinking in wetherspoons (dives though they generally are) importing beers to these islands doesn't have to drive the price up significantly and they also manage to sell "real" ales for around 1.40 sterling)

BeerNut

RDM_83 wrote: »

I know from drinking in wetherspoons (dives though they generally are) importing beers to these islands doesn't have to drive the price up significantly and they also manage to sell "real" ales for around 1.40 sterling)

The Irish and UK pub trades are very different markets, mainly due to the different licensing regimes. It's not the cost of import that matters, it's the cost of being allowed to sell it, as well as having a building in which to do it, and paying the wages of the person who hands it over and takes your cash.

Plus, Wetherspoons buy centrally in enormous bulk, like a supermarket. Ireland has no specialist beer retailer with that sort of purchase power. Not until beer drinkers start demanding more choice, that is

RDM_83

Very true and drinking in wetherspoons does feel like drinking in a supermarket ;-)

My gripe is that because the demand for international beers could be seen as a "premium" (in the real sense of the word not the Premium Dutch Lager way) market the prices are raised, but in bars and shops where the patrons consider them normal beer i.e the Czech inn etc, (and Lithuanica I think used to occasionally have SVYTURYS for a very reasonable price) the price is comparable to most other beers (one of my ideas about why off-licences are offering more deals is that people buying a crate are also tempted by a few new imported beers for 3 euro a bottle- I know I am)

basically I want to be able to drink Zlaty Bazant and other such beers for only 4 to 5 times the price I'd pay in there countries of origin :-( (tasty lagers and ales :-) rather than Hieneken Budweiser and Carlsburg(which is brewed in Dundaulk or somewhere i think)

BeerNut

Cork and Kilkenny - though you do see Dutch Heineken around more and more. Anyway, if you don't want to drink them, don't drink them: that's all there is to that. Every pint of industrially-produced dull beer that we buy is further tightening Heineken and Diageo's grip on the Irish market: no-one gets to drink this stuff and complain about it

TBH, I'm not sure where you're doing your price referencing, but again I would encourage you to seek value and frequent the places where you can get the beer you want at a price you regard as reasonable. Avoid the places which don't stock what you want or are ripping you off. Things will not change if you don't do this.

As an aside, I do know of one Dublin pub that raises its prices on popular imported beers which it knows will sell so that it can use this money to subsidise the harder-to-source rarer imports which command much higher wholesale prices. I see nothing wrong with this: the Erdinger at the next table subsidises my Sierra Nevada :cool:

oblivious

RDM_83 wrote: »

basically I want to be able to drink Zlaty Bazant and other such beers for only 4 to 5 times the price I'd pay in there countries of origin :-( (tasty lagers and ales :-) rather than Hieneken Budweiser and Carlsburg(which is brewed in Dundaulk or somewhere i think)

ah, you have not heard of Irish beer brand loyalty one of the strongest force in this universes