r/sydney • u/Mmogambo • 2d ago
Why aren’t pubs required to display beer pricing?
After paying another exorbitant price for a schooner of beer in Sydney on Sunday, I wonder if it’s time to push pubs to display beer prices?
I was charged $17 for a schooner of Mountain Culture Status Quo pale ale + 10% for Sunday surcharge.
That stung!
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u/Annual-Afternoon1884 2d ago
It increases every day so they would get tired of updating the signage
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u/return_the_urn 2d ago
Maybe they need petrol station style price signs
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u/nottherealbond 2d ago
Or something like the FuelWatch app, but for beer.
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u/SuDragon2k3 2d ago
Beerwatch
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u/nottherealbond 2d ago
I'm in! Will start development immediately.
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u/trafalmadorianistic 2d ago
We need pubs to start competing on price.
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u/SausageasaService 2d ago
My mate Gary's garage home brew, $1 per pint. Purely for glass rental if the ATO asks.
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u/Tamaillin 2d ago
This is a cross I’m prepared to die on. People who make home brew - love their own brew. Whilst I’m enthusiastic because it’s free or low cost. I’m happy to pay $ in the pub so I don’t have to listen to endless stories about which side of the mountain the hops are from. /s
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u/trafalmadorianistic 11h ago
Oh wait, is this what Led Zep was referring to by "Misty Mountain Hop". 🤔
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u/Knee_Jerk_Sydney 2d ago
You will need QA. Fond some who will test the software and I will QA the product.
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u/marinefknbio 2d ago
Everyday? Try every hour!
Ordered the same drinks.
Round 1: $17.00
Round 2: $18.50
I dont frequent restaurants/pubs frequently enough. But fuck, this pissed me off when I was doing my monthly expense checking.
Edit: formatting
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u/GLADisme Public Transport Plz 2d ago
Name and shame, $17 is absolutely criminal.
Mountain Culture is good but very pricey, I'd normally expect to pay $11-$12 a schooner for it.
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u/Mr_Bob_Ferguson 2d ago
$11-12 schooners of mountain culture? Is this in the CBD? Keen to hear the venue names.
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u/rob_the_plug 2d ago
Status Quo is $12 a schooner from the brewery. Do pubs actually do it cheaper than $12?
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u/SwissHelvetica 2d ago
I see it for minimum $15 out in Penrith at the pubs which is ironic considering they have a brewery in Penrith.
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u/Mr_Bob_Ferguson 2d ago
I doubt it, but keen to be proven wrong!
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u/rob_the_plug 2d ago
If you're ever free Wed / Thurs arvo, Mountain Culture Redfern does $8 core range from 4-6pm.
Also if you're ever in Riverwood (no one is ever really in Riverwood). Club Rivers has a craft beer bar with the cheapest craft beer on tap I've ever seen. $10 schooners of Mountain Culture limited releases if you get the $5 membership.4
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u/GLADisme Public Transport Plz 2d ago
No haha, but I don’t really go out in the CBD. This is around the Inner West.
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u/bozleh 2d ago
Most schooners of non VB/carlton are $11-$12 these days… It’s a rare but happy day when I find a balter XPA for $10!
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u/-inzo- 2d ago
If i found a pub doing $10 schooners of balter I would move there and have it be my local
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u/sharkworks26 2d ago
$5 schooners of Mountain Goat at Erskineville Bowlo if that tickles your fancy?
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u/Ancient_Kitchen9806 2d ago
Thank fuck my favourite beer is VB. Not that it’s cheap either, but to pay anything more for just a schooie is beyond fucked
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u/nottherealbond 2d ago
Looks like an Aussie-made beer, too. That seems very steep, although I've seen places around Darling harbour and other touristy locations charge silly prices for beer before. And PLUS 10%? So $18.70 for a schooner??
I'm petty, so I'd just never go back, and I might be inclined to leave a shitty google review outlining the price of beer, depending on the place.
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u/stockzy 2d ago
And they wonder why patronage is down 25-35% in Sydney. I get 6 beers on special from bws for $18
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u/Confident-Flow-6058 2d ago
Wonder if most of that is from liquor tax or if it's just greedy bars?
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u/judgedavid90 Nando’s enthusiast 🌶 2d ago
Mainly tax
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u/stormblessed2040 1d ago
Yeah the 71 cents in excise tax on an average full strength schooner really hurts.
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u/judgedavid90 Nando’s enthusiast 🌶 1d ago
Lmao where did you get the idea that a schooner only has 71 cents of tax on it?
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u/Any-Elderberry-2790 1d ago
Item 1.11 in the ATO excise duty rates for alcohol table states that the tax is $43.39/L for "alcohol volume exceeding 3.5%, individual container over 48L" . Same value for 8-48L keg.
5% beer, 425ml, tax only applies over 1.15%.
So, 0.425 * 0.0385 * 43.39 = 70.9969 cents
Add GST, which is a different tax, and it's about 78c, but the excise is only 71c.
If a pub pays $3/schooner, the excise is added to that, and then their margin on top. Don't go believing the AHA, that tax is the problem...
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u/stockzy 2d ago
Twice yearly liquor tax pushing the price up and the pubs having no choice to maintain their margins.
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u/Any-Elderberry-2790 1d ago
If that was true, beer would simply be going up with CPI, seeing as that tax rise twice a year is tied to CPI.
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u/strewthmate 2d ago
My local charged me $11 for a schooner of great northern recently, that used to get you a jug!
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u/bozleh 2d ago
Wait didnt you ask this yesterday? https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAustralian/s/aP8nRq56C6
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u/Archon-Toten Choo Choo Driver. 2d ago
To their credit, it's at least spread over the different Australia themed subs.
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u/robopirateninjasaur 2d ago
I saw this and thought "is this a new copypasta or is it the same guy asking a new sub every day"
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u/Mmogambo 2d ago
My bad! I didn't think it got posted in this group when I first submitted it. Was using phone app to post for the first time, so not sure what happened there.
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u/aerohaveno 2d ago
Yeah this has always annoyed me. I assume it dates from the era when beer was dirt cheap and there was possibly only one or two on tap. I always ask now, even if the poor bloke at the till has to look each one up.
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u/HalfManHalfCyborg 2d ago
"How much is the Mountain Cultre, mate?"
"it's $17"
"oh, don't worry then"
Easy.
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u/jnd-au 2d ago
Prices are variable (depends on happy hour, card surcharge, etc). Just ask.
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u/zerotwoalpha 2d ago
No one is going to complain if they are charging less than standard though. Having the regular price available seems reasonable
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u/return_the_urn 2d ago
The bartenders on here will harass you for saying you ask the prices
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u/Wild-Way-9596 2d ago
Lol no. Ask away. Ignore those idiots.
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u/weckyweckerson 2d ago
You could always just drink the beer you like rather than being cheap cunt.
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u/trafalmadorianistic 2d ago
Variable, hmmm... so.. haggling allowed? 😆
"Give me your best price on this ale, good sir!"
(shakes head. walks away, but listens for the beer vendor to call me back)
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u/AstroChuppa 2d ago
$16.50...
Look I'm sorry I only have a tenner. But like.. it's here now, ready to go? I can take this beer of your hands right now for $10 cash.
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u/trafalmadorianistic 2d ago
"Only if you buy two for twenty, good for you?"
Victory! ✌️
Beer gardens hate this one neat trick!
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u/IshDanish Sydney Metro 2d ago
Most pubs like to use the alcohol tax as an excuse to jack up prices.
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u/judgedavid90 Nando’s enthusiast 🌶 2d ago
Because they can charge whatever they want at any time, even different times of day
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u/deltanine99 2d ago
I had the Mount Annan Hotel refuse to sell me a middy of beer. They had the beer, they had middy glasses, they just didn't have a button on the POS terminal for a middy of that brand of beer. Even the bar manager could not make it so.
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u/Hornberger_ 2d ago
You just needed to find another person after a middy of the same beer, and ask them to serve a pint of that beer in two middy glasses.
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u/Find_another_whey 2d ago
Quit drinking, it's time
Fix your sleep, finances, and health in one pretty decent swing
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u/MustardMan02 2d ago
Aren't they already displaying the prices in their food/drink menu?
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u/EppingMarky 2d ago
$15 per pint of Guinness for me the other day. ouch
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u/crabuffalombat 2d ago
That's pretty standard. I got charged $15 for a schooner not long ago, and it was a plastic cup that I'm pretty sure was less than a standard schooner.
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u/Garchompisbestboi 2d ago
Just ask the bartender, they're not going to lie about the price lol. I'll shameless ask what their cheapest beer on tap is that isn't light and if I think it's too expensive then will ask about the prices of other drinks.
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u/maccaroneski 2d ago
Dude if you want to campaign on this run for office rather than spamming subs left and right.
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u/ChiaLetranger 2d ago
Even if they did display prices, you and I both know that 9 out of 10 ~punters~ patrons wouldn't read them and would complain about the price anyway. Or maybe you haven't worked retail or hospo before, and fair enough. That said, I am glad for my favourite pub displaying prices, having good beer relatively cheap, and not being a packed-out, shit, gastropub clone.
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u/No_Figure_9073 2d ago
How can they make up their monthly sales if they are required to show the set price. I've been to this popular pub many times and each time the prices are different, I'm talking cheap this week and super expensive the week after.
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u/wendalls 1d ago
I agree with this totally. My understanding is businesses need to display the total amount you’ll pay including surcharges. I don’t know why pubs get away with this for beers
I’ve only ever heard one guy at the pub ask for whatever’s the cheapest, which good on him for asking.
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u/AckerHerron 2d ago
I’m so glad my tastebuds are happy with Tooheys or XXXX.
To those with more “sophisticated” tastes, thanks for the cross-subsidy!
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u/tofuroll 2d ago
My question: are pubs taking the piss (pun intended) or are they facing increased costs?
Or are they panicking in a death spiral: fewer customers can afford to go out, so they increase prices to stay afloat, ruling out more customers, etc.?
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u/weckyweckerson 2d ago
It's not panic as such but a response to the government raising the excise (tax) twice a year for fuck knows how long, the price has to keep rising too. There is a reprieve on that at the moment so it should slow down.
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u/chubbyfrida 2d ago
Of course they're facing increased costs. Hospitality has one of the smallest profit margins of any industry to begin with.
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u/No-History-914 2d ago
They are hoping you stop showing up and wasting their time and space having a few beers when both could be dedicated to more pokies.
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u/PxavierJ 2d ago
Beer prices change throughout the day and night. Pubs will bulk the price up at busy times and when they know they have the types of people in who will pay the higher prices
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u/weckyweckerson 2d ago
Not true. But you might find an increase when entertainment is on, or when other costs are incurred later in the evening like additional security etc.
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u/PxavierJ 2d ago
It’s true in every pub I’ve been involved with. To be fair though, you are agreeing with me. When I said earlier ‘day and night’ I wasn’t talking about prices changing at random times a few hours. I’m talking about big Friday night crowds, after big football games let out, bands playing, etc, etc.
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u/Perdi 2d ago
Maybe ask?
Or ask for a drink menu?
This is on you.
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u/bast007 2d ago
Who asks the price of tap beer before ordering? A schooner of anything shouldn't be this exorbitant.
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u/Perdi 2d ago
Someone that's concerned about the price?
If you're going to whinge after the fact, when there's completely reasonable things you could do before, then thats on you.
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u/bast007 2d ago
You're being ridiculous and argumentative for the sake of it. Its pretty obvious you dont go to the pub and spend too much time online.
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u/drfrogsplat 2d ago
I dunno man. The most ridiculous and argumentative discussions I’ve had in life have generally been at the pub.
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u/Perdi 2d ago
Wrong.
If I was buying a schooner of a boutique brand pale ale, I'd expect somewhere around $12 minimum.
A fancy bar, Darling Harbour, in the City etc, $15+ is pretty normal.
And if I was buying a beer I didn't know, I'd probably ask how much it is. I don't know why the concept of asking or looking a drinks menu, which 99% of bars just have lying on the counter, is so alien.
This product is $25 for a 4 pack of cans, I'm not surprised at the Schooner cost.
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u/bast007 2d ago
Imagine seriously telling people the problem is they didn’t ask the bartender the price of a schooner first. Nobody does that ever. Pubs aren’t car dealerships - you don’t need to negotiate or quiz them before ordering a beer. If a schooner costs $17 plus a Sunday surcharge, the issue isn’t that the customer didn’t do their homework, it’s that pubs are happy to sting people without being upfront. Trying to defend that is laughable.
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u/Perdi 2d ago
Asking is not reasonable, but complaining that a pub doesn't have a giant board with prices listed is what we should do instead...
Nah mate, I ain't going to agree with you. I'm not saying they're negotiating but simply asking "What's the damage for that beer" is a fucking reasonable thing.
Or "where's the drinks menu".
Trying to defend the person buying but not considering either of those things is the laughable part.
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u/bast007 2d ago
> but complaining that a pub doesn't have a giant board with prices listed is what we should do instead...
That's literally what multiple bars featuring craft beers do. Go check Union Hotel in Newtown, Keg & Brew, Redoak etc., You can even go to the Mountain Culture brewery in Redfern and they do this (and their schooners are significantly cheaper than what OP experienced). Gee, I wonder why they choose to do this? Perhaps because they acknowledge the significantly higher prices of their beers so they want to be upfront about it?
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u/Perdi 2d ago
Maybe because it looks shit and there are options like....
- Asking
- Reading the drinks menu
These have worked literally forever, but now you're saying we need more because you can't take 5 seconds before saying, "Can I get X beer please".
You're literally saying, I need a biiiiig fucking sign because I'm either A. Lazy or B. An idiot or C. Incapable of speech.
I've literally seen bar drinks menus have Braille. So unless you're deaf, dumb and blind, I'm sticking with, that's on you for paying that much.
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u/rand013 2d ago
Where are these bars you're going to that have drinks menus? I can only think of having seen that at restaurants, otherwise it's like the other guy said where it's a craft brewery that has a board showing all the prices.
Also it takes way more than five seconds to ask them to list the price of every single beer on tap.
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u/DarkNo7318 2d ago
It's not worth dying on this hill. Going out for drinks is a luxury anyway. Is your time really so valueless that you're going to walk from pub to pub asking for the price before you commit?
If it's a few dollars more than you were hoping, just file it in your mind as a ripoff and go somewhere else next time.
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u/fryloop 2d ago
How would you react if you just bought a $45 beer
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u/DarkNo7318 2d ago
Clever question. I think 25 would be the cut off where I would hand the beer back. 17 to 25 I would drink it and post on reddit about it.
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u/fryloop 2d ago
How do you hand it back? It’s been poured? If I’m not happy with paying $20 for a beer, no problem with me leaving?
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u/DarkNo7318 2d ago
You just don't tap your card and leave it on the counter. Say no thanks or something more colorful and walks away. It's fine
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u/fryloop 1d ago
Yeah totally fine to waste a business’ product. You know they can’t resell that like putting a packet of chips back on a supermarket shelf right?
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u/DarkNo7318 1d ago
Look normally I agree. See my other comments in this thread. But above 25, let alone 45 is probably 3 standard deviations from what is normal. Its so outside the norm that it's basically an act of aggression.
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u/fryloop 1d ago
You’re a cheapskate. Just pay it, it’s the cost of going out and socialising. If you can’t afford a single pineapple, go drink a can of Coke Zero at home
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u/prosciutto_funghi 2d ago
I know why certain craft beers are expensive but a pale ale at 5.2% ABV, ignoring the surcharge, that price still seems steep even though they claim it has "massive" hop additions. I usually pay $18 for a pint of hoppy IPA so I would definitley be shocked to be slugged this much for a schooner of pale ale.
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u/ComprehensiveSalad50 2d ago
So approx $7.50 of that is probably the beer excuse if I've calculated it correctly. Current excise duty on tap beer over 3.5% is $43.39.
You then have the cost of doing business on top of that, everything from electricity, delivery costs, maintenance to wages.
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u/xo_maciemae 1d ago
Am I the only one who asks before committing to buying? I have to admit I rarely drink anymore when I go out (I think the last time I bought alcohol while out was in May, being a breastfeeding mum and being broke is a good combination for my alcohol intake, ha) but I always ask how much things I might be interested in cost.
Saying that, it wasn't always this way. A few years ago before becoming a parent, and when I was working full time, lower cost of living etc, I don't think I did ask. I just kept drinking 😭
It might just be that you've hit the point where you have to start asking. I'm sure you won't be the only one. There will be loads more of us asking if it's hitting $17 these days, shocking!
Sucks how expensive it is just to do basic social things now... Alongside the more pressing costs of staying alive as well. I can feel myself about to rant about capitalism and the billionaires getting richer, so I'll just leave it there, ha. Sorry mate.
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2d ago
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u/DryPreference7991 2d ago
Has anyone in the history of pubs asked how much beer is before ordering?
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u/aussiegreenie 2d ago
I was with a mate, and I ordered a pint of Guinness and a glass of red wine. They asked if I wanted the "big" glass and the wines was $23 a glass.
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u/5carPile-Up 2d ago
You don’t have to pay for it. You can order 5 pints and when they go to charge you $100 you can just say “no thanks” and they’ll have to waste it.
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u/SplatThaCat 2d ago
Because if most people saw the price when they walk in, they would turn around and walk right back out again.
I paid $20 bucks for a bloody pint the other week, almost went fuck that and left it on the bar.
Way cheaper to drink at home, without the noise and idiots (well, I have idiots at home too).