The cost of a pint has passed £10 in London as the price of beer continues to soar.
A number of high-end bars are now charging £10 or more for draught or bottled beer. Stanley’s rooftop bar in Mayfair is one of many establishments that has hiked the cost of its beer.
A pint of Moretti or Heineken is sold at £11, while a half pint is going for £8. Guinness is sold at £10 a pint, according to the menu for the bar, attached to the Chesterfield hotel.
The cost of bottled beer is even steeper; the Connaught Grill in Mayfair is charging £12.50 for a 330ml bottle of Noam lager or Curious IPA.
It comes months after Guinness makers Diageo revealed draught prices would surge by 5.2 per cent in April as operational costs continue to rise for the business. Pub owners told the Morning Advertiser that Diageo seemed “hell-bent on having the first £10 a pint beer.”
London is one of the most expensive places in the country to buy a pint, with the Morning Advertiser putting the average price at £6.50, below Oxford at £6.75.
As the £7 pint becomes commonplace in the capital, industry experts are warning that the government needed to do more to keep prices affordable.
Ash Corbett-Collins, Camra’s chair, told The Telegraph: “It’s not surprising pint prices are rising across London and the UK, but our pubs and breweries should not be blamed. Extreme financial pressures from the Government are forcing publicans to either raise their prices or consider closing for good.
“The Government must recognise pubs for the essential wellbeing benefits their community spaces provide, and their essential contributions to the economy.
“They must recognise increased employer National Insurance contributions are adding to cost pressures, commit to a fairer business rates system, lower VAT on food and drink for hospitality businesses as well as alcohol duties so publicans can keep their doors open and pub-going becomes affordable again.”
The average pint price in the UK is £4.52, according to the British Beer and Pub Association, with lager costing £4.82. Meanwhile, the number of pubs continues to go down across the country.
Pub landlords welcomed the news in January that the government planned to U-turn business-rate relief for the hospitality industry.
Rachel Reeves had previously announced plans to scale back the business-rate discount that has been in force since the pandemic, from 75 per cent to 40 per cent.
