What's your local charging for a pint now?

Black Sheep · 12-06-2021 12:54pm

I was at a community sports event last night, kind of a family thing, that has seen people bringing their own beers and wines the last few weeks and drinking them on blankets and so on. It's been very civilised.

The club bar is now open again, however, but they're requiring people to sit at designated tables for the table service.

The "BYOB" crowd were allowed to go ahead with it last night. I only had two beers with me, and gave one away, so a bit of a non issue for me. But I can see that going forward it's likely that it's going to start to be policed as normal i.e if you are consuming your own drink on the grounds you'd be asked to leave.

I know people continue to drink on beaches and seafronts at the moment, but the enforcement of by laws is likely to accelerate now that there are other options available.

On the whole I can't say I will be sorry to see and end to piles of cans and bottles discarded on the seafront, in parks, in laneways and so on. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the lack of public toilet facilities I also won't be sorry to see the back of all the lads pissing and even ****ting in public. Took a walk down the back lane at the rear of our house a few weeks ago and there was 'dog****' there where some savant 'dog' had actually managed to wipe its own arse with some pocket tissues and leave them in a neat pile next to their poo. The laneway backs onto a field near a pub that serves takeaway drinks. I would hazard a guess the 'dog' got caught short in a #2 situation.

I know it might be cheaper to drink al fresco, and potentially the setting might even be nicer, but funnelling people into a licensed premises environment where someone is cleaning up after them, where there are toilet facilities, and where someone is accountable for the safety of the patrons is probably for the best.

Adyx · 12-06-2021 2:04pm

We haven't put up our prices since last year and even then it was the first time in a couple of years. I wish we were getting a 60/70/80% gp on draught. If I had my own pub I'd be seriously considering doing away with it.

zefer · 12-06-2021 2:18pm

garrettod wrote: »

Was that yesterday?

... I didn't think they were serving outdoors

It'll be interesting to see what Harry Byrnes and The Yacht are charging, given they've both converted their car parks (although I suspect that both got heavy sponsorhip)

€5.90 for carlsberg and same for Heineken and then €5.50 for Guinness the other night in Harry's

Strumms · 12-06-2021 6:52pm

L1011 wrote: »

MUP is a publican and standalone off licence led measure to force convenience stores and supermarkets to charge a price acceptable to publicans and stand alone off licences. So it's entirely about forcing the competition to become dearer.

Its not a public health measure of any kind and it won't work as one - but it's pushers don't expect or want it to

I’d believe it...

My local went very expensive for, well everything over the last 4/5 years... the owners just bought their fifth pub in the city... asking price 3 million..go figure...their off license was always a rip off and it became known in the area as such....6 Guinness was about 12 euros when in my local supermarket it was 9.00... they stopped stocking 6 Carlsberg in favor of the 8 pack...

Pints now are extortionate... over 6 euros for a lager in the lounge and 5.80 a Guinness.

In the recession the place barring the weekend was a ghost town. Even at the weekend there was a notable drop off in trade..

Now the pricks are getting in behind this minimum pricing to try get people back into the pubs..zilch to do with health...

An alcoholic / heavy / regular drinker will get alcohol, the pricing structure or regs will not be a deterrent...zero deterrent... anybody who thinks otherwise doesn’t understand addiction/dependency.

This is a shady deal for the public.... publicans and politicians have always been intrinsically linked...crowd who own my local boast an ex Taoiseach as a best friend and regular...

Geuze · 17-06-2021 12:27am

4.40 for Guinness before COVID.

4.40 tonight.

sligojoek · 17-06-2021 2:05am

Austie's in Rosses Point at the weekend.

Golf and plenty of people around.

€4.60 for Guinness.

It's a good location and he could be charging more.

Geuze · 17-06-2021 9:26am

sligojoek wrote: »

Austie's in Rosses Point at the weekend.

Golf and plenty of people around.

€4.60 for Guinness.

It's a good location and he could be charging more.

Sligo town is mainly 4.40, isn't it?

sligojoek · 17-06-2021 9:46am

Geuze wrote: »

Sligo town is mainly 4.40, isn't it?

I'd say it's more than that. Pre lockdown was about 4.60. I haven't been in a pub in town since before lockdown

Geuze · 17-06-2021 4:34pm

sligojoek wrote: »

I'd say it's more than that. Pre lockdown was about 4.60. I haven't been in a pub in town since before lockdown

I suppose I'm referring to Foley's / Shoots / Swagman.

I'd swear Foleys and Shoots were 4.40 in 2019?

sligojoek · 17-06-2021 9:09pm

Geuze wrote: »

I suppose I'm referring to Foley's / Shoots / Swagman.

I'd swear Foleys and Shoots were 4.40 in 2019?

You'd be right about Shoots. I'd very rarely be in Foley's or the Swag.

As far as I remember Connolly's was 4.70

In Rosses Point this evening again. 2 Guinness and 2 Heineken 18.80
Guinness 4.60
Heineken 4.80.

enda1 · 18-06-2021 11:05am

I'll never quite understand people saying that a pint is expensive in Ireland, and then comparing the price with Poland or something as proof.

Average prices from this thread look to be for a pint of Guinness let's say €4.50 country price and €5.50 city price.
Price needs normalisation to 500ml for comparison with the continent so that comes to
Country €3.96, City €4.84

Countries with a similar standing to Ireland in terms of income and wealth are Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, France, England, Italy (and probably others)

I've lived in 4 of these other countries.

Italy price for a "pint" which is from 400 to 500ml is usually around €5
France in the countryside, a demi (250ml) is from €2.2 to €2.4 with a "pint" being the double so like €4.60. No big difference in most city prices (though the choice in beer grows massively from the maybe 2 you'll find on draught in the country) compared to this with in-fact it being more likely that you can find an offer from 6-8pm or whatever for a pint at €4 maybe (more often €5). Then prices go back to €5/6/7
Belgium is cheaper to be fair than Dublin with a Jupiler being €4.00 to €4.50 a pint (no one buys pints though, the 250ml serving size is perfect).
England varies a lot from very cheep ****holes at £2 to standard London prices more like £5 (€2.05 to €5.13 / 500ml)

Denmark and Sweden are way more expensive. The lad talking about Irish prices being in the realm of Oslo/Copenhagen/Stockholm prices etc. is talking out of his hoop. Also their servings are usually 400ml so dont forget to multiply the price by 1.42 to get to an equivalent pint price.

jakiah · 18-06-2021 11:21am

Great post. Im having a right chuckle at the lads saying they'll abandon the pub becuase pints are nearly a fiver.

Geuze · 18-06-2021 11:22am

All reasonable points.

I will add that in Franconia in the last few years I have found 50cl for 2.10-2.30.

I have paid 3.50/3.75 in Paris at maybe 9pm in Happy Hour.

500m away, at 11pm, I have paid 8.00.

Davexirl · 18-06-2021 11:26am

I was in Grogans last week, €5.80 a Guinness and €6.20 a Heineken.

jakiah · 18-06-2021 11:30am

I dont get the fixation on the price of the liquid, thats not what you are buying when drinking a beer in the pub. If its only the liquid you want buy cans and drink them at home. If a pint is 5 quid and you drink 4 or 5 of them over the course of a couple of hours, your bill will come to 20-25 quid, which is good value for an evening out and compares favourably with other entertainment options.

Geuze · 18-06-2021 11:32am

Spoons on Camden street will be open in two months, great to have the option of 3 euro pints in that area.

jakiah · 18-06-2021 11:33am

I will be giving that Brexit loving freaks establishments a miss myself.

Allinall · 18-06-2021 11:35am

Geuze wrote: »

Spoons on Camden street will be open in two months, great to have the option of 3 euro pints in that area.

Don't think you'll have a hope of €3 pints there.

jakiah · 18-06-2021 11:38am

Allinall wrote: »

Don't think you'll have a hope of €3 pints there.

Why wouldnt you?

Allinall · 18-06-2021 11:59am

jakiah wrote: »

Why wouldnt you?

They'll sell all the pints they can pull at a higher price point.

Once they're cheaper than their cheapest neighbour, that's all that counts.

It's their well honed model.

jakiah · 18-06-2021 12:02pm

But sure they are already selling €3 pints elsewhere in the city

machaseh · 18-06-2021 12:11pm

Allinall wrote: »

They'll sell all the pints they can pull at a higher price point.

Once they're cheaper than their cheapest neighbour, that's all that counts.

It's their well honed model.

I would seriously doubt that. I don't think whetherspoons is going to charge a fiver for a pint that you cna get for 3 quid at the Silver Penny wetherspoons in abbey street.

jakiah · 18-06-2021 12:13pm

machaseh wrote: »

I would seriously doubt that. I don't think whetherspoons is going to charge a fiver for a pint that you cna get for 3 quid at the Silver Penny wetherspoons in abbey street.

Judging by this thread some lads would walk to Abbey St on hot coals to save a euro or two per pint

Panthro · 18-06-2021 12:25pm

jakiah wrote: »

Judging by this thread some lads would walk to Abbey St on hot coals to save a euro or two per pint

Cos after 6 pints you'd be saving up to 12quid.
Beans on toast.

BeerNut · 18-06-2021 12:38pm

Allinall wrote: »

They'll sell all the pints they can pull at a higher price point.

Once they're cheaper than their cheapest neighbour, that's all that counts.

It's their well honed model.

It's absolutely not their model. JDW is run like a supermarket, not a pub. They'll charge similar prices for Camden Street pints as elsewhere in Dublin the same way that Tesco charges similar prices in its Camden Street branch as elsewhere in Dublin.

Allinall · 18-06-2021 1:43pm

BeerNut wrote: »

It's absolutely not their model. JDW is run like a supermarket, not a pub. They'll charge similar prices for Camden Street pints as elsewhere in Dublin the same way that Tesco charges similar prices in its Camden Street branch as elsewhere in Dublin.

Supermarkets have different price points depending on the location of the store.

Pints in Wetherspoon's, Leicester Square are significantly higher than Wetherspoon's in Tottenham.

BeerNut · 18-06-2021 1:47pm

Allinall wrote: »

Supermarkets have different price points depending on the location of the store.

Pints in Wetherspoon's, Leicester Square are significantly higher than Wetherspoon's in Tottenham.

"Significantly" is doing quite a bit of heavy lifting there. My point is that the pints in Keavon's Port will be priced based on the Wetherspoon pint-pricing scale, not benchmarked against other pubs on Camden Street. There was a similar discussion here before JDW opened in Blackrock and Dún Laogaire too.

Allinall · 18-06-2021 1:55pm

BeerNut wrote: »

"Significantly" is doing quite a bit of heavy lifting there. My point is that the pints in Keavon's Port will be priced based on the Wetherspoon pint-pricing scale, not benchmarked against other pubs on Camden Street. There was a similar discussion here before JDW opened in Blackrock and Dún Laogaire too.

Because JDW buy centrally, their selling price is based on two criteria:

a) Income of their target customers
b) Prices of local competition.

This is from working with them in the UK.

L1011 · 18-06-2021 2:13pm

Local competition on Camden Street would include The Snug if it reopens, the second cheapest pints I've ever had in Dublin outside JDW

jakiah · 18-06-2021 2:15pm

Allinall wrote: »

Supermarkets have different price points depending on the location of the store.

Pints in Wetherspoon's, Leicester Square are significantly higher than Wetherspoon's in Tottenham.

Those are probably what, an hour away from each other on the tube? Central Dublin is too small for price differences like that given how price sensitive Irish drinkers appear to be

Geuze · 18-06-2021 11:02pm

jakiah wrote: »

I will be giving that Brexit loving freaks establishments a miss myself.

I don't agree with Tim Martin on Brexit, but I do like his business model.

Buy in bulk, and pass the savings on to customers.

Offer basic food at reasonable prices.

Good value tea and coffee, with free refills.

2021 prices Carlow/Cork: tea/coffee = 1.25 plus free refills

afatbollix · 18-06-2021 11:21pm

Anyone complaining over a 5er extra spent after 6 pints over a night reminds me of my father in law who drives 40 miles to save 3p a litre on petrol.

Be free lads you saved enough over the past year to enjoy yourselves a few pints with mates in the pub.

tayto lover · 19-06-2021 12:31am

Publicans are a very greedy breed of people.

L1011 · 19-06-2021 10:39am

Geuze wrote: »

I don't agree with Tim Martin on Brexit, but I do like his business model.

Including:

Pay staff buttons

Campaign to destroy your countries economy based on the idea that it might benefit you

Cry to the media when it turns out it won't

?

Black Sheep · 19-06-2021 12:31pm

L1011 wrote: »

Including:

Pay staff buttons

Campaign to destroy your countries economy based on the idea that it might benefit you

Cry to the media when it turns out it won't

?

Lots of trendy Irish cafes, restaurants and bars have better reputations than Weatherspoons but are also paying their (mainly immigrant) staff minimum wage. I was a little shocked in some instances, where to read some of them in the Irish Times you’d assume they were really progressive in their in-house practices.

One popular third wave coffee company recently advertised for a managerial role paying a princely 13 euro an hour. Honestly, Weatherspoons probably offers a better career trajectory for a hard worker...

Totally agree with your other points though.

sligojoek · 20-06-2021 11:14am

In a pub in Nenagh yesterday evening.
Guinness 5.20

Lager 5.80

A lad came in and ordered a large bottle of cider. The owner asked him for 6.50. he was told to shove it up his hole.

Geuze · 20-06-2021 2:39pm

sligojoek wrote: »

In a pub in Nenagh yesterday evening.
Guinness 5.20

Lager 5.80

Are you sure about this?

I don't know Nenagh, but I presume it is a typical medium sized town.

So Guinness should be 4.30-4.60?

My father paid 4.90 for Coors lager in a town in Leinster last night.

sligojoek · 20-06-2021 3:48pm

Geuze wrote: »

Are you sure about this?

I don't know Nenagh, but I presume it is a typical medium sized town.

So Guinness should be 4.30-4.60?

My father paid 4.90 for Coors lager in a town in Leinster last night.

That was just one pub in particular.
Guinness and smithwicks were both 4.50 anywhere else we went

Geuze · 24-06-2021 4:03pm

L1011 wrote: »

Including:

Pay staff buttons

Campaign to destroy your countries economy based on the idea that it might benefit you

Cry to the media when it turns out it won't

?

See page 100.

https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/~/media/files/pdf-documents/wetherspoon-news/wetherspoon-news-summer-2021-sp.pdf

GBP 428 million in free shares and bonuses paid to employees since 2006
83% paid to pub staff

"It’s probably true to say that no one earns a vast fortune from these
schemes. However, as far as the company is aware, Wetherspoon
consistently pays a bigger percentage of its profits to its employees,
by way of bonuses and free shares, than any other large pub/
restaurant company or retailer – more even, in the last five years,
than John Lewis – a company owned by its employees."

"Since the share scheme was introduced, Wetherspoon has awarded
20.6 million shares to employees – approximately 16 per cent of all
shares in existence today."

I am not here to defend this company, and no doubt they may well pay min wage to new staff at the lowest grade.

Geuze · 24-06-2021 4:04pm

Anyways, back on topic.

I paid 4.40 last night for Smithwick's.

Same price as 18 months ago.

Powers = 4.50.

irish_goat · 24-06-2021 4:06pm

My cousin took his ma and da to the Grand Central Hotel for a drink while they were up visiting in Belfast last weekend. A pint of Whitewater IPA was £10 (€11.65). Surely the priciest pint on the island by quite a margin.

Geuze · 24-06-2021 5:52pm

irish_goat wrote: »

My cousin took his ma and da to the Grand Central Hotel for a drink while they were up visiting in Belfast last weekend. A pint of Whitewater IPA was £10 (€11.65). Surely the priciest pint on the island by quite a margin.

That's odd, the website says 5.00 for three different draught pints, and 5.50 for bottles

https://www.grandcentralhotelbelfast.com/grand-cafe/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/07/GCH-Grand-Cafe_A4-Drinks-Menu-Jun-19_HR2.pdf

Maybe they were in this observatory?

https://www.grandcentralhotelbelfast.com/observatory/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/05/HH-OBSERVATORY-BAR-MENU-MAY-2021.pdf

Beer 500ml there is GBP 8.00

thegills · 24-06-2021 6:11pm

Ballina Killaloe. Local bars rounded all pints to â‚¬5 when it was takeway only. Now Guinness @â;‚¬5, Lagers @ â‚¬5.50 & Crafts @ â‚¬6+. Food went up 15-20% last summer and is still at that.

irish_goat · 25-06-2021 9:39am

Geuze wrote: »

Maybe they were in this observatory?

https://www.grandcentralhotelbelfast.com/observatory/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/05/HH-OBSERVATORY-BAR-MENU-MAY-2021.pdf

Beer 500ml there is GBP 8.00

I think it was the Observatory Pale Ale they had.

L1011 · 27-06-2021 8:52pm

3.90 Guinness 4.00 everything else on draught. Most craft cans 4.00. Extremely rural Donegal so not the most comparable pricing!

tayto lover · 28-06-2021 9:03pm

Dundalk publicans seem to have all got rid of Tuborg.
They probably got a good deal from Carlsberg or Heineken etc ie a certain number of free kegs to stop selling Tuborg.
Tuborg used to be around €3.80 to €4 and was very popular at 5 pints for €20 or less.
Just more greed from the publicans who used to have a Wailing Wall at the Market Square when closed.

BeerNut · 28-06-2021 11:52pm

Tuborg and Carlsberg are the same company, both sold here by Diageo, with Tuborg as the arbitrarily cheaper one and Carlsberg the more expensive "premium" beer. I would say the decision to remove it was Diageo's, not the pubs'.

sligojoek · 29-06-2021 12:12am

Before lockdown, my local had Tuborg and Carlsberg at 3.50 and 4.50 respectively. I drank both and failed to see why Carlsberg was worth a euro more. I normally drink Guinness so maybe I'm missing something.

I can see the cynical move by Diageo. "They'll be so glad to get a pint, they'll pay anything for it so let's cancel the Tuborg"

A lot of the cheapo drinkers won't be going to the pub as much any more now that they've changed habits.

FileNotFound · 29-06-2021 12:15am

I wonder has MUP made Tuborg just not worth carrying anymore.

The brand in can form will be finished by MUP so might be an executive decision to drop any impacted brands.

BeerNut · 29-06-2021 8:15am

sligojoek wrote: »

I drank both and failed to see why Carlsberg was worth a euro more.

Did you think Mads Mikkelsen makes TV ads for free?

What's your local charging for a pint now?

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