Why is cheap beer always seen as the problem?
Beer gets a lot of bad press. Its image is ritualistically abused by the British media. Is this fair? David Jesudason asks. The post Why is cheap beer always seen as the problem? appeared first on The Drinks Business.
Beer gets a lot of bad press. Its image is ritualistically abused by the British media. Is this fair? David Jesudason asks.
The scene was Hogarthian. It was the pub chain’s discount ale week and by 9am stag do after stag do were queuing up for Greene King IPAs at 99p. In fact, a new game of splitting the crown - est 1799 - was being discussed. At lunchtime, hoards of young men were fighting after pint after pint of the heritage beer. The sirens. The scuffles. The scandal.
Of course, this never happened. But whenever the media wants to focus on how pub chains sell cheap alcohol they focus on the price of a pint. In fact, in this interview Tim Martin, chairman of the Wetherspoon chain, practically rolls his eyes when he has to answer (again) why his beer is so cheap. And whenever there’s a worrying health story it’s a photo of a pint that’s used despite the sources quoted never mentioning beer. Hmm.
Maybe it’s worth having a pub quiz to explain the unfairness of this phenomenon. Question 1: what is the price of a 25ml Bells whisky in my local Spoons? Answer: £1.69. So let’s compare this to the very problematic GK IPA (ABV a whopping 3.4%). Answer: Also £1.69
The nearest in price whisky to Bells is Jameson (£4.44) is - 2.6 times the price. So you can see how reasonable the price of the fast-selling whisky is.
Whatever the maths, we can all agree it really makes no sense that we focus on beer being the heavily discounted line. I’ll admit I love an occasional pint of GK IPA - mainly because my dad drank it - and I’m happy to extol its virtues. Or to use another beer writer’s words, such as Pete Brown: “A few years ago, the original 1928 recipe for GK IPA was discovered, and it’s hardly changed in the almost century since.”
But with my honest hat on, most beer drinkers under retirement age know there’s better options at the bar. And I really wished that those who write about problematic drinking in the media showed the same discernment.
Because it isn’t sessionable pints that are the issue here but how pub chains profit from alcoholism. That substance abuse might be from excess beer drinking but it’s also more likely from much higher ABV drinks. Especially because I see morning drinkers drinking their Bells but I rarely see them ‘enjoying’ it.
David Jesudason is the author of Desi Pubs, A Guide to British-Indian Pubs, Food & Culture, and this month he has launched the Desi Food Guide. You can find out more about him here.
The scene was Hogarthian. It was the pub chain’s discount ale week and by 9am stag do after stag do were queuing up for Greene King IPAs at 99p. In fact, a new game of splitting the crown - est 1799 - was being discussed. At lunchtime, hoards of young men were fighting after pint after pint of the heritage beer. The sirens. The scuffles. The scandal.
Of course, this never happened. But whenever the media wants to focus on how pub chains sell cheap alcohol they focus on the price of a pint. In fact, in this interview Tim Martin, chairman of the Wetherspoon chain, practically rolls his eyes when he has to answer (again) why his beer is so cheap. And whenever there’s a worrying health story it’s a photo of a pint that’s used despite the sources quoted never mentioning beer. Hmm.
Maybe it’s worth having a pub quiz to explain the unfairness of this phenomenon. Question 1: what is the price of a 25ml Bells whisky in my local Spoons? Answer: £1.69. So let’s compare this to the very problematic GK IPA (ABV a whopping 3.4%). Answer: Also £1.69
The nearest in price whisky to Bells is Jameson (£4.44) is - 2.6 times the price. So you can see how reasonable the price of the fast-selling whisky is.
Whatever the maths, we can all agree it really makes no sense that we focus on beer being the heavily discounted line. I’ll admit I love an occasional pint of GK IPA - mainly because my dad drank it - and I’m happy to extol its virtues. Or to use another beer writer’s words, such as Pete Brown: “A few years ago, the original 1928 recipe for GK IPA was discovered, and it’s hardly changed in the almost century since.”
But with my honest hat on, most beer drinkers under retirement age know there’s better options at the bar. And I really wished that those who write about problematic drinking in the media showed the same discernment.
Because it isn’t sessionable pints that are the issue here but how pub chains profit from alcoholism. That substance abuse might be from excess beer drinking but it’s also more likely from much higher ABV drinks. Especially because I see morning drinkers drinking their Bells but I rarely see them ‘enjoying’ it.
David Jesudason is the author of Desi Pubs, A Guide to British-Indian Pubs, Food & Culture, and this month he has launched the Desi Food Guide. You can find out more about him here. 
