TOPIC:

If they're intent on continuing to not sell them by the pint then they should probably get a better explanation queued up than one that relates to strength. Otherwise they should stop selling 750ml bottles of strong beer too... And maybe better cut back on double measures of spirits too.

To be honest the schooner thing was ok by me when it was rare guest beers or whatever, I took it as a quirk, but if it's an Irish craft beer then it's not so much the price that bothers me, it's the lack of an *option* to order a pint, if I really wanted to.

I see a full-on Beoir campaign, placards, collective action, lobbying our elected representatives etc

"We demand the right to pints"

Who's with me?

[i:1fi7s2as]Obviously not this evening. It's far to damp and chilly. [/i:1fi7s2as]

My wife alerted me to this post on broadsheet.ie about the 'dog tap takeover' in Farringdon's. The hook: "Would you pay 9 euros for a pint?"

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="www.broadsheet.ie/2013/11/22/would-you-pay-e9-for-a-pint/">www.broadsheet.ie/2013/11/22/wou ... or-a-pint/

The comments section are nothing like what I would have expected, although possibly that says more about the readers of broadsheet.ie than anything else. Surprisingly sensible, some people arguing that they would pay it for the high ABV beers but not the Doggie style at 5.5%, other people comparing pricing in London, someone else mentioning that Farringdon's likely adds on the 'Temple Bar premium' that seems almost inevitable down there.

Putting aside the pint pricing, even the schooner price would seem to pip what the likes of Against The Grain have been charging.

I'm pretty sure the last time that pricing came up I argued that fundamentally it was up to people to vote with their feet, and argued that I would pay a premium for an unusual draft beer in a comfortable pub setting. That said, there is a tipping point and this reaches it (for me, at least).

Every now and again I come up against contemporary Dublin pricing that suggests someone along the chain is really, really, really nostalgic for prices paid during the good old Celtic Tiger days...

I had a pint of Brewdog Mashtag on draft in WJ Kavanagh's a couple of months ago (they had Jackhammer on around the same time IIRC), and I'm pretty sure I paid less than 7 euro for the pint...

I have to say that I agree with serving strong beers in 2/3 pint or 33cl stemmed glasses. The reason is not that there is anything inherently wrong with drinking strong beer by the pint, it's that a lot of people tend to forget themselves and drink a pint of beer at, more or less, the same rate regardless of the strength of the beer. That can get messy. The stemmed glass is there to remind you that you have a strong beer in your hand and that it deserves respect.

The price is a bit steep, but what would you pay for a Belgian beer of similar strength?

Something to bear in mind is that not only do strong beers require more malt (and this one obviously has a shitload of hops in it too) but also attract more tax as it is charged by the %ABV.

For some perspective, a keg of Bay Ale would net the state €47.36 in excise alone (not getting into VAT here) while a keg of Of Foam and Fury would require the payment of €95.84.

Whether all of this adds up to €5.75 for 2/3 pint, I don't know.

What is important when it comes to any product is whether people are willing to pay the price they are asking. If beers priced like that shift then they will continue to sell them at that price. If they doesn't sell well they will either have to lower the price, or if that isn't economically viable, stop doing beers that are this expensive to make.

Now in bottles at €6.70 for 500ml[/url:bywrbv7m].

Not the most expensive Irish craft beer ml for ml - BA'd Leann Folláin comes out a bit higher - but almost twice the price of O'Hara's DIPA at similar ABV and hop levels.

No value judgements; numbers don't lie.