Last night, I paid the most I have ever paid for a pint of draught beer in a public house in the UK. Admittedly it was a pretty fancy beer, Kronenbourg Blanc, and it was in a rather poncy pub in a very poncy part of London, Castelnau, on the south side of the Thames just over Hammersmith Bridge.
The cost? £3.90. For you trans-Atlantics, that works out at about $7.15 at today’s exchange rate of £1=$1.83225. Please bear in mind that, over here, beer is served in proper Imperial pints of 0.568261 litres (approx.).
Elsewhere during my mini Odyssey by the Thames last night, the prices were rather closer to the average price for London, £2.50 ($4.60).
It would be very interesting to hear from other Dopers how that compares with the most expensive draught beer in your neck of the woods. I am particularly interested in ordinary pubs and bars rather than, say, nightclubs where the prices are generally higher.
In 1995 I was in Copenhagen, about to fly to London. I found I had the equivalent of $US 8.30 in Danish currency, and felt that purchasing a beer would be just the way to dispose of this. No deal - the minimum beer price worked out to be $8.50.
Around these parts, a decent beer is usually about $4 or $5 in the bar unless you go during happy hour or they have a special (our cheapo domestic beers like Miller, etc. are usually only about $3). We’re not as exacting about our measure of beer here in the U.S. as they are in the UK (we don’t generally have lines marked on our glasses like y’all do). That $4 or $5 will either get you a pint (16 oz., usually) on tap or a 12 oz. bottled beer.
The most I’ve ever paid was for a (bottled) Rodenbach Grand Cru at the Greenleafe Cafe in Williamsburg, VA. I can’t remember the exact price but it was closer to $10 than $5, and that was quite awhile ago now too. Lambics don’t tend to be cheap either. Currently Tyler’s, a local watering hole, has Lindeman’s Peche on tap for $5.50, but you only get 9 oz.
I can assure you that I’ve spent far more than $7.50 for a beer on numerous occasions. Sad to say really. Here’s a few.
[list]
[li]At Pure nightclub in Vegas, $8 for a 12 oz. bottle of Sam Adams IIRC.[/li][li]At The United Center in Chicago during the U2 concert, $7.50 for a 16 oz. pint of Goose Island Honkers Ale. ($7 for a Bud Light during the same event)[/li][li]Pretty much any time I’ve bought a uncommon import or micro brew at local Pubs, items like Lindemans Lambics, Barley Wines and Trappists. Ranging from $7 - 16, though the volumes can vary widely.[/li][li]At Gibsons, IIRC, a bottle of Samuel Smith’s Oatmal Stout ran me something on the order of $7.25.[/li][li]The prices at sporting events probably fall outside the OP. But they can hit $7.50 for a crappy Miller Light if it’s a 18 oz glass or more.[/li]
I’m sure there’s a frightening number of other placed which have gouged me too. Thank god I don’t keep track of what I spend on that stuff.
The most I’ve paid for beer was $9.00 for a “trappist” beer. I had no idea what I was getting into, but it was college graduation night and my sweetheart and I decided to go to the bar and get lit.
I think the brand was Chimay and I think it was a Belgian import. It was very…interesting. I had to pour it from a funky bottle into a small wineglass because of the yeast sediment in the bottle. The warmer it got, the better it got (or perhaps it was I who was getting warm). But yeah, $9.00. I think it was worth it. How often do you graduate college?
The only other expensive beer I’ve bought was an Arrogant ale. It was $7.00, but it also came in a HUGE bottle. Worth every penny.
It definitely was a Belgian…probably a 20 oz. Gulden Draak for $10. Of course, at the same place (the Sharp Edge in Pittsburgh) I paid $6 for a Victory pint, which is when I didn’t return to the place because the prices are astronomical (though if you want to set the record, tis a fine place to go!)
As far as a bottle, the most overall probably would have been a trade equivalent to about $45 worth of beer for a bottle of Cantillon St. Lamvinus, though VERY close and not 750 mL was $37 with S&H for a 1975 Thomas Hardy (but worth it as it was smooth as silk)
How much WOULD I pay? Well, if anyone has a Stone Vertical Epic 02.02.02 or a 1968 Thomas Hardy then you’d be likely to find out
Discounting lambics (which are priced more like wine than beer), most beers in this area sell for about $3.50 a pint for the good stuff. I suspect NC has relatively low alcohol taxes; that, combined with the fact that I mostly drink the product of our several spectacular local breweries (Highland, Green Man, and Asheville Brewing) may help me with the price.
My local charges £2.44 - and that’s for real local beer Elsewhere, for the same stuff, is £2.10 to £2.70. Stella, the ubiquitous benchmark, is £2.70 upwards.
The most I’ve ever paid for a real beer was US$7.50, in Bermuda. And it was a non-proper pint.
As for the fleecing of seosamh - serves you right for drinking overmarketed shite from Kronenbourg
I pay roughly $6-$8 for a pint of average to good beer here in Aus. Sometimes good deals of $5 for an ‘import’ like Heinken or Stella can be found at some pubs. $8 is about 3.30 pounds. Fair to me. I’d expect to pay upto $8.50-$9 for a real import and damn fine beer.
In most Australian cities, you’d be finding pints of your fancy beers like, say, Stella at around $7.00 - roughly 2 pounds 90. Less for your local product, natch.
Ah, yes. I admit it was my own fault. But in my defence I had only ever seen Kronenbourg Blanc twice before (so much for “overmarketed”!) and I quite liked the taste. I suspect the other beers on offer in the pub would have been just as overpriced. Incidentally, the pub was not the one I expected it to be: I was aiming for the Barnes branch of The Porterhouse, but it seems to have changed hands recently and is now called The Castelnau.
My previous highest was £3.75 for a pint of Hoegaarden in The Old Star, opposite St James’s Park Underground station.
Seeing as I don’t drink anymore, you’d think I’d have nothing to comment here. However, I recently went into a bar in London with some friends, and got a pint of lemonade (I not someone who can nurse a half all evening). It cost me £3.70. For the post-mix stuff. I nearly fell over.
When I worked in a bar, a colleague of mine got our price list out, and did some calculations, and decided that a pint of post-mix soft drink costs 3p for the syrup, plus a bit for keeping the machine refrigerated etc. Not £3.70.
The most expensive drink I ever bought was returning to Australia after 2 years in London. I was snowed in at Belgrade airport and couldn’t understand anyone and no-one could understand me. To buy anything at the food places you got in a queue, asked for what you wanted, handed over your money and wandered down the counter to receive your drink and your change. I ordered a bottle of coke and when I received it it had cost me 5 quid. Before leaving London I had been renting a flat 200 yards from Portobello Rd for 14 quid a week.
2 days later when the plane left Belgrade the Yugoslavian passengers drank all the coke in about an hour even though you could get free alcohol in those days.
As for beer I paid $7 each for a round of drinks at a snotty inner city pub a little while ago.
Back in April a pint of (their own) porter in the Porterhouse on Essex Street was about €3,80 (or £2.60), which was slightly more than the average pint in Dublin. I think I probably paid €3,60 for Murphy’s, Beamish or even Franciscan Well stout in Cork too.
Elsewhere, for the same stuff, is £2.10 to £2.70. Stella, the ubiquitous benchmark, is £2.70 upwards.