What's your local charging for a pint now?

celticbest

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117899394#Comment_117899394

100% correct, cheapest pints outside it iwould be in one of the GAA Clubs, bars in the town are a rip-off...

head82

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117899304#Comment_117899304

What rob316 said! It's psychological! Once you have to break a €10 note for a single pint of beer and end up with a load of 'shrapnel' in your pocket.. it feels like you'e paid €10 for that pint.

Which will ultimately lead one to consider the value for money aspect. That €5 breaking point could make all the difference to how frequently someone visits their local or to how long they stay. Potentially detrimental to the pub owner in the long run.

jakiah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117899353#Comment_117899353

It was the same thing when I used to be able to go out and get five pints and a bag of chips from a £10 note. And yet here we are.

BeerNut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117899462#Comment_117899462

Or you could look at the same way from the publicans' point of view: a few years back, one group of pubs in Dublin rasied the price of their low-bracket pints from €4.90 to €5.10. When I asked the manager why not go for a round fiver he said they would then have a problem going up further: punters don't notice so much when €5.10 becomes €5.30 but would be outraged for a €5 pint to become €5.10.

head82

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117899718#Comment_117899718

Wow! That's just.. bizarre! Cute hoors these publicans.. 'psychological' price gouging. I doff my cap to them.

BeerNut

I don't quite understand what what "gouging" means in this context. Do people think that the price of a pint is somehow related to the cost of making and distributing it? Pubs will charge as much as they think people will pay, and they know from experience that there's no upper limit to what people will pay. I can't see where the line is drawn between "doing business" and "gouging". What criteria would you use to set a fair, non-gougey, price for a pint?

SteM

I agree at 'gouging' is the wrong term being used.

One thing I would say is that perhaps pubs thought there was no upper limit to what people would pay, but after being home for so long people might see the cost to go out drinking as excessive now. They may still go out but go out less and stay in a bit more. I guess it depends on whether they have gotten out of the habit or not.

BeerNut

They might indeed, but anyone who thinks that will lead to pubs lowering prices to lure them back has never been for pints with senior members of the LVA (I have, once; it was an eye-opener).

FlubberJones

I don't really know what my two locals are charging, I run a tab and then pay when I leave... I actually should check though and will when in there later (hopefully for a couple). In fairness I don't really mind paying about 6.50 / 6.80 for a pint of Moretti, it tastes great on draft and I've not had that many in a pub over the last 18 month (LOADS at home though)

DelmarODonnell

I was in Arva in Cavan at the weekend, every pub seemed to charge €4.50 for Guinness.

One of the fellas I was there with told me he had paid €6.50 for a Guinness in Searsons the week before, not good at all. They would rank up there with Peter's Pub for the highest prices outside Temple Bar.

Scoundrel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117899414#Comment_117899414

God bless wetherspoons the sooner there are hundreds of them in this rip off country the better force the robbing cartel bastards of the LVA down a few euro.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117900218#Comment_117900218

Hasn't happened anywhere they've opened yet.

Anonymou

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117898433#Comment_117898433

Where in gods name is Beamish 5.40? 😥 you are right on town though, you won't see much difference between Cork city centre and Dublin city centre on prices nowadays for majority of pints.

BeerNut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117900207#Comment_117900207

We might get somewhere if he had seen that a pint was €6.50 and then not paid it, but pint-drinkers don't seem wired that way.

Scoundrel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117900237#Comment_117900237

No it hasn't to be fair but there are very few wetherspoons in the country yet if there were hundreds it would either force them down or at least give a much larger amount of people a chance to drink pints at reasonable prices.

rob316

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117900242#Comment_117900242

Where else sure? Reardens. They were actually out of it, had to settle for a €6 guinness :(

head82

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117899951#Comment_117899951

I don't know what the dictionary definition of 'gouging' is.. I haven't bothered to look it up. But I reckon the general definition is something like 'an increase in price without justifiable reasons'. This would apply not just to public houses but anywhere.. price of a loaf of bread, a plane ticket, hotel residency etc.

Now, we know that there's always been establishments that have an inflated value on the price of their pint. For whatever reason.. exclude a certain aspect of the public or some such exclusivity nonsense. But if you're a frequenter of a particular public house, would you not feel 'gouged' by an unjustifiable increase?

Granted, we're in a capitalistic/free market society and businesses can charge pretty much what they like, you're not obliged to purchase their product. And nobody begrudges a business making a profit but are you comfortable being exploited like that?

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117900275#Comment_117900275

He'd made the effort to get there and presumably his friends were there, too.

Now maybe he went home early as a result, or went somewhere else after one or two, or just drank slower. Or just resolved not to go there next time.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117900566#Comment_117900566

The major drink distributors operate a cartel, that's no secret. It's no secret either that the LVA operate a cartel among Dublin publicans. So "can charge what they like" isn't really the case.

dobman88

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117899154#Comment_117899154

I dont think gouging is the correct term. Pubs, like any business, will charge what they think people will pay.

But for me a fiver, or less is acceptable. If I go somewhere and get charged more than a fiver I will either leave if I'm not in company or just never go back.

That list now seems to be getting longer post covid.

The whole "why a fiver"? Is purely psychological for me. I cant actually remember the last time I used cash but I do remember about 2 years ago going to a pub to watch a match with 20 quid in my pocket thinking I'd have 4 pints while watching the game. The price of the pint was 5.20 so meant I had only had 3 as I was with a friend and didnt want to cause hassle by moving pub.

Also, I just think a fiver is enough to charge. I get that you're paying for staff, light, heat, tables and chairs etc. But if a pub can turn a profit on a fiver a pint, they probably shouldn't be open.

But as I said, I've always voted with my feet and generally avoid places I know are expensive unless I'm meeting a group and location is out of my hands.

BeerNut

@head82 I think "justifiable" is the key word here. For the publicans, any price rise is justifiable if the beer still sells after it has been applied. The customer handing over their money is the only justification necessary. Am I right in thinking that, for you, there must be some external justification: an increase in the wholesale price, a tax increase, inflation, or some other overhead that raises the cost of providing the pint?

And if so: is a price increase only justified if it covers the extra cost and no more, or is it gouging for the pub to add a premium for themselves at the same time?

head82

I have absolutely no objection to a publican making a profit. Any objection would be idiotic. And I'm not suggesting profit should be solely based on overheads, production costs, distribution etc. (bearing in mind the current subsidies provided).

Proportionally though, it seems like it's getting out of hand to the exclusion of regular clientelle.

Can you honestly tell me that the current situation is not an ideal opportunity for publicans to exploit the situation?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117900869#Comment_117900869

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117900867#Comment_117900867

On the one hand you accept that the figure of €5 is psychological and therefore pretty arbitrary and with the other hand argue that this psychological price is also the somehow acceptable price. The reasonable and fair price.

BeerNut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117901015#Comment_117901015

"It seems like it's getting out of hand": my main argument against this is that people have been saying it constantly for decades, if not centuries. You'll find years of it on this forum alone. Nothing is being done differently now. Nothing has suddenly changed.

"Can you honestly tell me that the current situation is not an ideal opportunity for publicans to exploit the situation?" I can't. But I also know that exploiting a situation is a precise definition of the word "business". In the pub context, "gouging" doesn't seem to have any meaning beyond "somebody doing business in a way that I, personally, do not like."

dobman88

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117901036#Comment_117901036

Yeah. Doesn't make much sense, i know that. Its just my opinion on what a fair max price is and what I'm willing to pay.

DelmarODonnell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117900275#Comment_117900275

This guy is mid 60s, only drinks Guinness, the table had been booked by his son so he ended up staying there for a good few. Otherwise I'd have liked to think he'd have up and left.

I only drink Guinness when there is nothing else on tap of interest, but it would be interesting to hear from Guinness drinkers whether they would consider paying a premium to drink their pints in one of the supposedly 'best pint of Guinness pubs' in Dublin. How could it not be worth it to pay extra to bring a pint from a 5/10 to a 9/10??

1968

The Goose Tavern, D9

€5 - Guinness

Can't tell you any other prices but it was heartwarming to see so many people drinking large bottles of MacArdle's!

thesandeman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117921235#Comment_117921235

There must have been a load of Louths drinking in there.

Anonymou

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117900378#Comment_117900378

The new normal! Unbeknownst to myself I paid over 5 euro for a Beamish over the weekend as only checked when settling up the tab, 5.10 in Costigans which in fairness is a pub I do really like. It really is city centre prices though, have been in cissie youngs recently which was 4.10 for the same and only a 15min walk from Washington Street.

Ozvaldo

Got a pint of carling yesterday for 4 euro southside cork city-from what ive seen in cork city guinness is 5 euro and most lagers around 5 euro

Geuze

Galway city, September 2021

Killorans, Salthill: Guinness = 4.50

Lonergan's, Salthill: Guinness = 4.50

PJs, Lower Salthill: Guinness = 4.70