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What happened to the Pub??

ardinn

For those of you who have left the pub scene and taken up home-drinking, what were your reasons?

What would you like to see happen in your local that would get you out again?

What do you think the local means in your area / or should mean?

Do you believe people have been forced into their homes by drink-drive laws / the smoking ban?

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IrishWhiskeyCha

ardinn wrote: »

I am unable to buy miller at the price dunnes sell it at - God know how much they are paying for it!

That is what I guessed and I don't think the general population realise that. They just see bottled beer in pubs as €x and see bottled beer in supermarkets as €y per bottle and go ... :eek: So I feel for ye there.

ardinn wrote: »

Maybe not 3 years but probably 5 - definately not 10 - After bulmers first massively successful year the government increased the duty on it. I remember it was a big point of discussion at the time. And it was very cheap compared to other brands.

I think you'll find it was very popular much earlier than you realise.

And I don't want to come across as pedantic or to get into an arguement but Bulmers has been a bit of a bug bear for me for many years and what a rip off it was. Remember we're talking about Pint Bottles which used to be cheaper than any other draught pint in a glass. So this next rant is more of a point of order

I've been drinking in Pubs since the mid 80's. Bulmers was categorically the cheapest drink. When I started drinking it was £1.30 for a pint bottle while stout was £1.50 and larger £1.60. By the mid 90's I was horrified that when in rounds with people that drank Bulmers Pint Bottles it was €1 more expensive than the average pint larger never mind Stout. Further the duty on Cider and Beer was identical at 47c per pint in 2006(See Bottom Page 5). So it is only since 2007 or later that the Cider duty has exceeded beer. Also see that the explosion of Cider sales was 1996 - 2002 in the same page. It was in 2003 that the Duty on Alcopops were changed from the Wine duty to Spirit duty. While Cider was evened up against beer. However the Duty on Beer was 19.87Cents per litre while the Duty on Cider was 18.5 Cents per litre so there was very little difference when they were put on parity, Where as alcopops went from 16.5 cents to 39.25cents per litre.

This is not the publicans fault obviously but the issue I'm trying to highlight is the inflated prices charged by the brewing industry. It is not priced at a fair percentage but more priced at what the market will bare. This is obviously good business but what it does not do is ring fence you product against massive down turns like we have now. Basically the Bulmers total sales have dramatically fallen and they are finding it hard to deal with as they became dependent on their excessive profits. Then suddenly tey were able to offer a 10% price drop on bottled Bulmers.

southsiderosie

ardinn wrote: »

Last week I had a meeting with 2 coca cola reps about the splash mechanism, They advised against it as, a) It's not much cheaper, b)it goes off very quickly and you would need to be selling very large quantities to justify it.

I would like to know how much less you know it was, as I was told directly from the horses mouth that it was not cheaper and this was my main reason for asking about it.

What? Are you talking about the soda "gun" with the buttons on it? The per-unit cost of soda from a gun is WAAAAY below individual bottles or cans; the markup is huge. That's why McDonalds uses the machines (which essentially do the same thing), rather than hand out bottles of coke: the per-cup cost is less than 10 cents, and they sell it for $1.85. If your supplier is telling you it's more expensive, it's probably because they want you to keep buying bottles. MAYBE if it goes bad fast and you don't have high turnover of soda and juice then fine, but I have never worked in a bar or restaurant in the US that didn't use these. If I were you, I'd ask a different supplier.

ardinn

southsiderosie wrote: »

What? Are you talking about the soda "gun" with the buttons on it? The per-unit cost of soda from a gun is WAAAAY below individual bottles or cans; the markup is huge. That's why McDonalds uses the machines (which essentially do the same thing), rather than hand out bottles of coke: the per-cup cost is less than 10 cents, and they sell it for $1.85. If your supplier is telling you it's more expensive, it's probably because they want you to keep buying bottles. MAYBE if it goes bad fast and you don't have high turnover of soda and juice then fine, but I have never worked in a bar or restaurant in the US that didn't use these. If I were you, I'd ask a different supplier.

This was coca cola themselves. I was thinking that tho.

HavingCrack

Hey ardinn cheers for replying to my earlier post.

Just another thought-Dicey Riellys in Dublin is able to charge €2.50 for all pints on a Wednesday night so I'm wondering would this mean they're only breaking even or making a profit on their night? Granted they do charge a fiver in which obviosuly adds more money to the coffers but out of interest on a typical pint of Smithwicks for example whaty price would you have to charge to make a profit?

ardinn

They would be just breaking even cost wise probably losing out on running costs, But, if you take someone havin 5 pints at €2.50 then payin a fiver in you get to €3.50 a pint so it ok but nothing wild! Volume sales then account for the difference

the_syco

ardinn wrote: »

I would like to know how much less you know it was, as I was told directly from the horses mouth that it was not cheaper and this was my main reason for asking about it.

Haven't worked there in many a year, but around 2005 I think it cost €2 for a pint of coca cola. They didn't make much profit of it I think, as they preferred to sell the bottles, as they got more profit with them. I'd advise you to ask how much "not cheaper" it is, and how long it lasts. From working in a cinema for 14 months, I'm of the opinion that they use similar machinery. By this, I mean the splash probably comes from canisters of syrup mixed with whatever is mixed with it. I agree that it goes off quickly though. I think the life span on the canisters in the cinema were only a few months (more than four months, bu don't know by how many).

ardinn wrote: »

The foundry's smoking room cost over €20.000.00 - I worked there when it was being built.

I believe it, but I'd say with so many out of work, you'd probably get it built now at a far lower price.

ardinn wrote: »

And the new cedar square has cost more so maybe you have not been there in a while but you should go as they are both worth seeing.

Haven't been there for a while, but may check it out. Staying in the Otterholt, and drinking in Carlow can work out cheap enough.

ardinn wrote: »

It's going to cost whatever way you look at it.

Aye, no argument there. If you get a chance, check out the Ozone in Leixlip, and the smoking area there. It's... interesting to say the least. It probably cost a fair whack, but if it was done on a smaller scale in an attic, I'd say it'd be popular.

=-=

My "local" would be Fibbers. By this I mean I'd go there more often than a local pub in Leixlip, as they play the music I like, charge a fiver for a bottle of Koppaberg, and my mates can get jugs of drink for a tenner at times. The smoking area is also very well done: they compressed the storage area, and put a beer garden into it

Paparazzo

First of all, fair play ardinn for answering questions!
I think the beer of the week idea is great, beer of the month would probably be better to give people a chance. Saw it done in a few pubs in London and they were the beers I ordered. Put it on special and people will try it!

Soft drink prices piss everyone off. Usually you get a warm 200ml bottle off the shelf for close to €3. Surely the gun despensers talked about would at least give more shelf space, less time packing shelves, collecting and recycling bottles, give the customer a colder drink? If someone asks for a coke in a bar in england they get a big pint glass with ice full. In ireland, despite being more expensive gets a tiny bottle that's gone in 2 mouthfulls! Bars in england usually have a far better selection of bottled and draught beers too.

marceldesailly wrote: »

Choice of beers.
Draught:Coors light,Miller,Becks,Bavaria,Heineken,Carlsberg,Guinness,Cider.
Bottles: Coors light,Miller,Corona,Heineken,Cider

I think this list is probably representative of the majority of pubs, a sad fact i'd say.6 lagers that taste of nothing and a stout not much better. So I'll buy a nice bottle of beer...oh no I can't do that either!

If I'm going to a pub I expect to be able to buy a beer that tastes of something,or have a choice. It's pretty depressing walking to the bar and to be faced with the choice above. Is it not a bit depresing for the publican too?

Often wondered this, almost all the bottles are the same as what's on draught! Girls these days almost never drink half pints, they drink 33ml bottles (if they drink beer) which are usually more expensive than a pint!

EDIT: for about 12 years I went to the pub at least twice a week, now about once a month

Heroditas

Des wrote: »

Want to let us in on the secret?

Portrait in the attic

skelliser

My two cents:

Over the last twenty years we have seen a marked change in the irish pub for the worse. Aplace of atmosphere to a place of money hungry people.
Pubs and publicans are only interested in money, get them in, get the money and get them out.
Well sorry lads, ye have priced yourselfs outta the market!

Instead of addressing the problem you have only made it worse by going after the offies, first it was getting the gov to change the closing hours from 11 to 10 and now i hear calls to ban below cost selling.
I for one saw thru the offie closing time thing, in fact its made me more determined to get offie now and to search out that good priced pint.

Im sick of hearing publicans pissing and moaning about how there industry is suffering, so whats ur solution, i know, lets force people into pubs by curtailing offie and supermarket drink, get a grip!!

For instance, Last week i heard some member of the vintners on the radio saying they should relax the drink driving laws!! ffs!!

IrishWhiskeyCha

In all fairness it is not all black ad white and there are a lot of pubs suffering. City centre pubs in the likes of Dublin, Galway & Cork will in the most ride out the storm but fringe pubs and rural pubs are dying on their feet. These are the pubs that provide a service to a community. I feel for the original poster in ways but at the end of the day people only have so much to spend and unless you have something more to offer you may fall by the way side.
So I'll say it again fair play to OP for trying to be proactive.

BeerNut

skelliser wrote: »

Pubs and publicans are only interested in money

Running a pub is a business. It's very unfair to accuse any business of being "only interested in money": of course they are -- why else would they exist?

skelliser wrote: »

Well sorry lads, ye have priced yourselfs outta the market!

Massive amount of truth to this. Pubs have been very busy jacking up the price of their own operation since 1902 (when issuing new licences became illegal). The pubs shot down the café bar licences in 2004, and made their own bed by doing so. Now that the huge investment that buying a pub licence once required is no longer necessary, there's no-one they can blame but themselves...

skelliser wrote: »

Instead of addressing the problem you have only made it worse by going after the offies, first it was getting the gov to change the closing hours from 11 to 10 and now i hear calls to ban below cost selling.

... but they're having a bloody good go at it.

username123

I definitely dont go to the pub as much as I used to, for a number of reasons.

Im older, have less disposable income and get worse hangovers than I used to.

When I do go to a pub, my main gripes are the following:

Too loud, too loud, too loud - I like to socialise and have a conversation, not just stand there like a nodding dog not knowing whats going on.

Expensive, and the trick of more expensive drink after 11pm does my head in. Worse is a receipt I examined recently where I was charged something madly exorbitant (over 2 euro if memory serves) for a splash of soda in a vodka. I remember the days when a splash was 10 pence.

Crisps - why do most pubs only do horrible pringles now? I used to LOVE a packet of cheese and onion tayto with a drink, its rare the pub youd find selling tayto these days.

Athmosphere. When the 'super' pub trend started in Dublin I thought they were the worst places in the world, just cattle marts with people too up their own behinds to have a bit of craic with. If a pub doesnt have a bit of athmosphere its useless.
TV screens should be banned in a pub - horrendous..

I do think the smoking ban has had some effect.
I think smokers will quite happily still go to a pub for the night, in a group and go out and smoke when they want, but I do think the smoking ban has dampened the quiet one or two pints with one other person (if one or both is a smoker). I used to go to the local fairly regularly with one or other of my friends for a quiet one or two and a chat, but since the smoking ban, we go to a house and drink tea and have a smoke (outside usually), rather than one person having to sit alone and mind a table in the local while the other smokes.

But the main factor is definitely cost. Its an expensive night out. I wouldnt be a huge drinker, but the price of the 6/7/8 drinks plus taxi, maybe food, compared to a botte of wine at home with food - it just makes more sense to have a couple of friends around for the night.

the_syco

skelliser wrote: »

Instead of addressing the problem you have only made it worse by going after the offies, first it was getting the gov to change the closing hours from 11 to 10

Agreed. Before you could go out drinking, and then leave 10 minutes early to get a few cans. Now, you go out, you get cans, and go where?

Pub? No: they won't let you in with the booze.

Home? Sure, but once you get home, you have cans, why go back to the pub?

IMO, changing the offie hours killed off the pubs is up there with smoking. Why go out for an hour, get cans and go home? Why not just stay at home. IMO, this is the one reason why pubs are dying.

username123 wrote: »

TV screens should be banned in a pub - horrendous..

Reminds me of that Guinness ad where they throw the TV out

Darando

First off - Dublin located.

People have to understand that pubs cannot stock every beer that an off-licence can, but perhaps they can have some more- rather than fridges with 2 shelves of Miller - stock a few others and PROMOTE them like special offers - CHASE business - don't just sit by and watch things be the same old same old. (This doesn't mean using illuminous green/pink/yellow paper stars

)

Some pubs think by having different beers is all they need in the fridge - Thats no use unless people know about them- fridges are usually at the back where it is hard to see!!! try having printed selections on the tables - blackboards etc....

Never undestood the small bottles of Coke rather than cans - think of a vodka and coke. A can lasts for 2 vodkas - is the supplier cost of a can much cheaper than the bottles? You may say it doesn't make much difference but now everything counts to people - EVERYTHING - even if its 50 cent. Sometimes its the appearance of a savings rather than the actual saving!!!

As regards Coca-Cola reps advise - thats like asking AIB what you should do with your money - they aren't going to say you can get a better deal in Bank of Ireland!!!

Saruman

Personally it is the mundane choice of beer in every pub. With a few very notable exceptions around the country, every pub serves exactly the same beer as the pub next door. Tasteless mass produced lager or stout that has been pasteurised, nitrogenated and filtered to a shadow of its former self.

If my local served proper craft beer, especially from the Irish micro breweries I would spend a lot more time there than I do at my home bar where I always have two beers on tap that are far superior than anything most pubs serve and costs me a lot less to produce too.

rubadub

ardinn wrote: »

For those of you who have left the pub scene and taken up home-drinking, what were your reasons?

The price differential is too great to turn down. People moan that pints are dearer but I have seen a page showing the price of guinness since the 70's comparing it to an average wage. It was pretty much in line with it. Cheap off licences are what are different. When I started drinking 15-16years ago the cheapest cans were £1, which is €1.27, bottles were £1.30 or so, they can be got for half that now. It used to cost roughly twice the price for drink in a pub compared to an offie. Now it can be up to 8 times the price, a mate of mine drinks bottles of heineken which could be €5.60 yet are readily available for €1 a bottle and I have got them for 63cent before.

If mcdonalds charged 8 times the price for a burger that I could buy at home I would have them at home instead. Its a no-brainer really.

ardinn wrote: »

What would you like to see happen in your local that would get you out again?

An actual choice of beers, its astonishing how limited they are, it would be like going to restaurants and all of them serving up nothing but 5 big brands of food like kelloggs cornflakes & heinz beans.

I would like things like free food, I have experienced free nuts, sausages, chips etc in just a few bars and everybody was well impressed with it, even though it costs the pub next to nothing.

A pint of coke in my local is €8.40, in a local rugby club they have 2L bottles and pour out glasses for a fraction of that, great for kids and drivers. I can never understand why bars do not have other options like cans & 2L bottles. I was in a chinese restaurant and 2 of us wanted cokes, they offered a full 2L bottle.

ardinn wrote: »

We have 2 pubs and both are struggling.

Compared to many other leisure activities I strongly believe it is one of the best value.

Cinema Ticket for 2 - €20 + Snacks could come close to €50 (yes it does, I often go and usually in the €45 range for me and the missus)

Business must be OK if you are willing to pay €25-30 on snacks. I got 6 longnecks of stella and a large chicago town pizza in tesco for €6. In my local I would expect to have paid maybe €30 for those bottles and €20 for a pizza of that size. Obviously I have to cook it myself but you can see the difference in price is far more than what you are trying to let on.

Your cinema comment shows another trade which has lost lots of business to the home market. People have big flat screens and are wondering why bother with the cinema when they can buy the dvd for the price of a single ticket and eat their own food or get a takeaway for the price of a can of coke & large popcorn.

ardinn wrote: »

O.K. Forgetting the taxi the most your going to spend is €15.00 for three hours (or whatever)..

If you go into an off licence, Even only to get 2 cans for yourself for the night or a bottle of wine, Your going to spend a tenner. Not much difference really...

ardinn wrote: »

None! But if I go into an offie ill get a few cans maybe some crisps etc and be left with very little out of a tenner,

Then compare like with like, your comparison is very unfair. If your 2 cans are €1-2 then you are spending €6-8 on snacks in the offlicence. So I take it you like your snacks while drinking, so how much would €6-8 worth of snacks cost in a pub? I would be thinking €20-25, you are spending that in cinemas.

ardinn wrote: »

A) I very much doubt they are selling the same lager in the off-licence for €1 as they are on tab in the bar, Maybe im wrong but i very much doubt

WOW, this is an astonishing comment, how a publican could be so ignorant about the price of beer in an offie is just unbelievable. Maybe this is your problem, you just do not make a genuine comparison so really do not see the massive difference.

ardinn wrote: »

I am unable to buy miller at the price dunnes sell it at

You can buy it in dunnes yourself. The publican in our local was seen buying loads of spirits in tesco.

You should check out bargain alerts, 12x330ml heineken is €9 at the moment, that would cost about €60 in my local. 2L of pepsi is €1, it would be €28 for 2L of soft drinks in my local.

I also do not follow the logic of having cheap cans in pubs, in most pubs the longneck equivalent costs the same or more than a pint, in an offie the can costs more, so it should follow that cans would cost a lot more than pints in a pub.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Saruman

ardinn wrote: »

1. Bottles of craft beer have about 6 months on them before they expire, You would be suprised at how long it takes to sell 24 bottles of a new product into a local community, Making a menu with even 5 new bottles of beer would results in expired bottles, For smaller pubs anyway. But it is an option im probably going to try.

2. A price list is legally required on display at the entrance to every Pub.

.

Just to pick you up on these two items.

1. An expiry date on a bottle conditioned craft beer is only there because it is legally required. In actual fact a bottle conditioned beer ages and usually gets better with time, depending on the beer type anyway.
A filtered craft beer does expire yes.
The problem with getting in different beers is that if they just sit in the fridge without the bar trying to push them then they will just sit in the fridge until someone like me walks in and sees them.

2. A price list is not the point. A drinks menu on every table listing all your beers with descriptions is what is needed. Go to the Bull and Castle or Porterhouse in Dublin to see how its done.

koHd

On the pricing issue; is there a thread where we can all contribute the prices we pay for our beer in our preferred offos and bars?

For example I would get eight cans of bavaria for E8.99 out of my offo. And if I went out and had eight pints of lager (usually can't find Bavaria in the ones I go to) at E4.50, that's E36. That's exactly four times more pricey to drink in a pub for me. That's what we're getting at.

As mentioned by someone, it used to be just two times more expensive to drink a pint in a pub vs a can at home.

It needs to be seriously looked at by the industry to bring this ratio back down to about double the cost to drink out vs drink in, and you'll find a lot more people opting for drinking out.

Gaunty

rubadub wrote: »

You can buy it in dunnes yourself. The publican in our local was seen buying loads of spirits in tesco.

You should check out bargain alerts, 12x330ml heineken is €9 at the moment, that would cost about €60 in my local. 2L of pepsi is €1, it would be €28 for 2L of soft drinks in my local.

Actually it is illegal for a publican to buy his spirits or bottles of beer in a supermarket and then put them up for resale.

Heroditas

I'm going out later and usually after a few pints I'll swap over to Vodka or Whiskey sodas.
Now a few weeks ago I was in a pub in Galway and the guys served them in nice big tumblers and allowed me to fill up the glass from a bottle of soda water and charged me next to nothing for this.
I assume that tonight I'll be served one of those pathetic one-shot "mixers" and get charged €2.70 or €2.80 for this.
Ridiculous.
Why can't pubs have bottles of mixers on the counter and allow people to pour the "splash" themselves and charge 50c for it instead of €2.70?

Gaunty

Heroditas wrote: »

Why can't pubs have bottles of mixers on the counter and allow people to pour the "splash" themselves and charge 50c for it instead of €2.70?

Some pubs do already. In fact in my pub we don't even charge for the mixers like white/red lemonade, orange, blackcurrent, lime etc. The cost of those is covered fairly easily by the cost of the spirit itself at €3.50. It pays to 'shop around' so to speak when it comes to pubs. You'd do it if you were grocery shopping, why let yourself be ripped off when it comes to your drinking.

Saruman

koHd wrote: »

On the pricing issue; is there a thread where we can all contribute the prices we pay for our beer in our preferred offos and bars?

For example I would get eight cans of bavaria for E8.99 out of my offo. And if I went out and had eight pints of lager (usually can't find Bavaria in the ones I go to) at E4.50, that's E36. That's exactly four times more pricey to drink in a pub for me. That's what we're getting at.

As mentioned by someone, it used to be just two times more expensive to drink a pint in a pub vs a can at home.

It needs to be seriously looked at by the industry to bring this ratio back down to about double the cost to drink out vs drink in, and you'll find a lot more people opting for drinking out.

I suppose this is where drinking micro brewed beer comes in to its own. Micro's can't keep the cost down as much as Massive Macro-Breweries for a number of reasons. The ingredients they use are premium so cost more. Also they don't mass produce so the unit cost is more.

As a result of this buying a bottle of craft beer in Ireland is between €2.50 to €3.50 in an off license or supermarket. Compare that to a pub price of about €4.15 to €5 and you have a much smaller mark up for drinking in the pub.

So we are almost as likely to go to a pub to drink than drink at home, even those of us who brew our own will often go to a pub if there is one local that serves beer from Irish or foreign Micro's.

I don't have a local like that, Mullingar is the closest and it costs more for me to get a taxi there than to get the bus in to Dublin and go to The Porterhouse, Bull and Castle, Messrs or any of the other bars/pubs serving craft beer. Even the Lucan County serves Irish craft beer and for a very reasonable price.

I suppose the more expensive off license cost of craft beer V Megabrewery beer is a plus when it comes to weighing the cost of going to the pub. I love going to the Bull and Castle, eating their great food and drinking their great food and chatting to other like minded people.

shawnee

It is my belief that the pub needs to go back to basics again, like many businesses. Pubs have never been used to marketing, a guy/girl walks in the pub takes their money and they leave. The pubs in my area that are doing business are the ones that have a fun atmosphere , are usually managed or run by the owner and acknowledege and appreciate the customers. They may also arrange an event be it a charity event, a party , or something to attract a group of customers together for a night. The idea of expecting twenty or thirty people to turn up at random is gone. ! People will come if there is a sing along or something that makes it an enjoyable night.:p It will not be as it was years ago but it can certainly be improved immensely with a bit of thought:):)
The pub is part of Ireland !!

Paparazzo

Saruman wrote: »

2. A price list is not the point. A drinks menu on every table listing all your beers with descriptions is what is needed. Go to the Bull and Castle or Porterhouse in Dublin to see how its done.

Yes, they do that in belgium too. Well, the pubs I've been to. They have beer name, the bottle size (or weather it's draft) , alcohol content and price. Nothing better than walking into a bar there and looking at a menu with about 100 beers! All have their own glass!

rubadub

Gaunty wrote: »

Actually it is illegal for a publican to buy his spirits or bottles of beer in a supermarket and then put them up for resale.

Really? under what law?

I have no doubt the wholesalers, vitners and breweries might frown up it, but cannot think of any reason why it would be illegal.

k99_64

rubadub wrote: »

Really? under what law?

I have no doubt the wholesalers, vitners and breweries might frown up it, but cannot think of any reason why it would be illegal.

Usually the 'not for individual resale' on the bottle shows that they were purchased from the whole-seller for cheaper as they were going to be sold in multi-packs.

Spanish Eyes

A great thread OP.

I don't know the average age of those posting so far, but would guess 25-30 ish?

Me, am little + 40 and we are a forgotten race in the pub scene altogether! Everywhere I go there is LOUD music, LOUD telly, LOUD feckin everything. All geared up for the 20 somethings. I know, I know, there are lots of pubs with no music, but they ALL, and I mean ALL have a load of flatscreen tellys with chewing gum for the eyes on. It's so distracting and bloody boring. If I want to watch tv I'll watch it at home thanks. No problem with the big matches, some don't have the Sky to watch it (how gracious am I???).

But honestly, what would drag me to the pub usually? A few friends want to meet up, and the pub is the central point, handy for taxis etc. Usually enjoy it, if the music is at a pitch so I can hear a conversation. Oh yeah, talk, that used to be a great bit of craic in the pub, but you can't hear yourself much anymore.

Price? If I find a nice pub I really don't mind paying for my drink, but that would be a rare event. It's the mixers that do my head in. No point in asking the barman, he rarely cares, just doing his job and all that. Cans of mixers/2litre bottles should be the norm. Most people would be delighted, and would spread the word. Those little bottles of mixers are crazy.

There is a cartel out there folks.... same beers, same spirits, same size mixers, no extras. Get out and fight!!

I'm going to a local hotel tonight, where in fairness they have a good band on Sat nights. I think I might just complain about the price of mixers, and the lack of choice. What are my chances of being listened to?

ardinn

rubadub wrote: »

WOW, this is an astonishing comment, how a publican could be so ignorant about the price of beer in an offie is just unbelievable. Maybe this is your problem, you just do not make a genuine comparison so really do not see the massive difference.

I have an off licence - But is isnt a tesco or a dunnes - soooo what I was saying was that with branded beers such as your Buds Heinekens etc, Bar a special offer they usually come in over the €2 mark. I know this varies as at the moment im selling 6 cans of bud/hein for €10 coming in at €1.66 but usually I have to sell it at around €2.15. All these offers by the way are coming from England at the moment - Not saying there is anything wrong with it but id rather be buying the irish stuff - It's like shopping in the north but I have to buy them as the price differential is to great. So I would like to point out I am far from ignorant on the price of beer in an off licence.

rubadub wrote: »

You can buy it in dunnes yourself. The publican in our local was seen buying loads of spirits in tesco.

True, I Can. But a) They have limited quantities one person can purchase these days and b) Im not going to support the below cost selling of alcohol from a corporation determined to close every pub/offie/local shop/newsagent/etc etc within 10 miles of its location.

rubadub wrote: »

I also do not follow the logic of having cheap cans in pubs, in most pubs the longneck equivalent costs the same or more than a pint, in an offie the can costs more, so it should follow that cans would cost a lot more than pints in a pub.

Cans cost less than bottles to purchase, and with offers such as the english stuff mentioned above it would be cheaper to sell cans.

Just for anyone wondering about the english bud or heineken. It will be 5% Vol compared with the irish 4.7% (varies) Just if you are interested in knowing where it's coming from

ardinn

rubadub wrote: »

Then compare like with like, your comparison is very unfair. If your 2 cans are €1-2 then you are spending €6-8 on snacks in the offlicence. So I take it you like your snacks while drinking, so how much would €6-8 worth of snacks cost in a pub? I would be thinking €20-25, you are spending that in cinemas.

I corrected and explained this comment soon after it was made, please read whole thread, Im not trying to be bitchy but I am trying to get through as many questions as possible without repeating myself. And snacks costing €20 - €25 in a pub - please tell me you are joking!!