Beer, the drink of the people
Beer, the drink of the people!
Yep thats right, Beer is about one step up from Council Pop and a Yorkshire brewed Cup of Tea, you have the God-given right to swill beer down your throat to wash away the soot and coal dust from the days toil.
Pete Brown has been writing about why some beers cost more. And he’s right.
Did you ever see a Wine, maybe even Cider, drinker go to the bar and ask for a members discount?
I seem to be constantly reminded at the moment that SBR (Small Brewers Relief) is under treat and in all honesty we should levy the complete and full Beer Duty rate on all our beers, so instead of a hoppy 4% beer costing £85 a Cask it should cost £100+vat a Cask. We pay about £15 in Beer Duty on a 72 Pint Cask, the Full Duty rate is double that at £30 and that extra £15 is meant for the small brewer to keep to help them grow to a sustainable level.
Then look at all the pubs out there, some closing, some new Micropubs opening, some scraping by and indeed there are some that are thriving…. different areas of the country have different average earnings / levels of employment so it isn’t unexpected to find local boozers selling beer for a lot less than the average price of a pint.
No Pub’s *prices are actually wrong, the prices will be what their customers will pay or can afford to pay, some pubs even set prices so that certain people are put off drinking there.
*Though honestly speaking some pubs buy cheap beer and then sell it an inflated, disproportionate price that would make drinkers question why its not £1 or so cheaper… thats another story! Btw most Industrial-made lager is Cheap Beer.
I realise that is a very brief synopsis of the beer industry, but anyway, back to your God-Given-Right to drink beer to wash away the grime of the day!
Why do people see the value in Wine or a Gin & Tonic more so than a Pint of beer?
You might pay £8+ for a G&T (little bit of Theatre presented in a Fish bowl?) thats a about 35ml of Gin, slice of Lime /Cucumber, Ice and a small measure of tonic water, then there is Wine and you could be charged a Bottle-price for a Large Glass of the stuff and no one even flinches!
Put the price of a Pint of beer up by 10p and everyone bemoans it!
Its a bit like devaluing our national pride and heritage, British-brewed beer is something our country can be massively proud of, what we do in this country is world-leading and YES that does mean Cask beer, its part of our National Identity FFS! We should all, including Government be fully behind British Brewed Beer and its distinct and illustrious history, Value what we do in the UK (especially the small producers).
I may add to / edit this later….
