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BARFLY PINT-FLATION Nowhere else do folks lose th
eir marbles over the price of a pint quite like us. We regularly read articles chronicling the price of a pint across Dublin. @DublinByPub even keeps a running tab of the price of pints in all of Dublin’s haunts in his notes app. When the price of a pint changes here, it makes front-page headlines. We are the home of the black stuff so it grinds our gears that it’s cheaper in other countries than it is in the city where it’s made literally down the road. Journalists can say, ‘They can’t do this to us’. But they can, and they do. On Tuesday, March 26, Diageo announced its third price hike in eighteen months. Publicans are expected to cough up 6c extra for ‘the usual’ and 9c more for Guinness 0.0. Blaming rising costs, the feeling is that Diageo is throwing pub owners under the bus, forcing them to decide whether to pass on the hike or take the hit themselves. According to Deadcentre Brewery, this 6c is added to the wholesale price. Then you have to add VAT and apply margin. @TheAngryBartender notes the margin on Guinness is ‘insanely low’. That’s why Guinness is ‘consistently the cheapest pint in the country’; publicans accept a lower margin for it. Running the numbers, a 6c increase plus VAT @ 23% through a pub with a 60% margin means the customer will be lumped with an 18.4c increase. Most pubs will add 20c to Guinness and 30c to 0.0 (rounded from 27.68c). This may push the price of the average pint in Dublin over €6.50. The hike has predictably set social discourse alight. It’ll start burning a hole in people’s wallets on April 15. Online, people have called to nationalise Guinness. This obsession with pint prices is as much a part of our culture as praying to St Anthony when we’ve lost something. A new book about just this will be published in May. From 9 Bean Rows, ‘A Compendium of Irish Pints’ by Ali Dunworth celebrates the cultural significance of a few scoops. Dunworth explains how we’ve been griping about the price of pints since taxes were first imposed in 1188. The Vintners Federation of Ireland aren’t having this one. Calling this the final straw for struggling pubs. They’re asking for lower excise, a return to the 9% VAT rate, and relief on employer’s PRSI. With wages up, sick days now part of the package, and pensions looming, pubs are drowning in their own rising expenses. Now, a pint of plain is a legitimate barometer for the economy thanks to the Raisin Bank’s index. This measures how many pints of Guinness the median national salary can buy at the median national price. We’ve been doing this casually for years. We measure things in pints. “Ah no, sure, going to the cinema is the same price as three pints” is a conversation I’ve actually had. I know a reformed smoker who, every time they want to buy a pack of cigarettes, tries to remind themselves how many pints they can buy with the €25 a box of rollies would cost them. Governments, publicans, and punters have been at this for generations. There’ve been Guinness boycotts, legal battles, governmentenforced price freezes, and protests. Every price bump gets labelled the proverbial final nail. Yet there’s a peculiarly Irish acceptance that settles over us every time we dance this particular tango. “Sure, what can you do?” Because the allure of the pub is largely undiminished. We all have strange rules about what we will and won’t splash out on. Blame the way we were brought up. Many concepts of value are locked down in childhood, so it’s safe to say we will always spend whatever portion of our wages a pint makes up. For Diageo, the rationale might be clear: rising costs = hike. Yet, it’s about more than the bottom line for patrons. It’s about identity and nurturing a sense of community while raising a glass. Only in Ireland could the economy be measured in the laughter that echoes through the snug over a shared pint. 40 Penny Wise: Pints According to the CSO, the average cost of a pint of Guinness is now €5.64, but hold onto your lucky charms because in Dublin, it’s closer to €6.50, or so the tales go. If you’re on a quest to find Guinness for €5 or less now the prices are set to rise, we have scoured the city and come up with the cheapest pints we could find amidst the chaos. First up, we’ve got The Auld Triangle on Dorset Street, selling pints of the black stuff for a sweet €4.50. Could this be the holy grail of cheap pints in the city? Then there’s Downey’s Bar in Cabra, where you can snag a pint of plain ol’ Guinness for just a fiver. Plus, they’ve got other nightly specials to keep your spirits high. Padraig Pearse on Pearse Street is keeping it real with their €5 pints, offering a friendly atmosphere and a budgetfriendly buzz. Feeling the Liberties vibe? Head over to The Lark Inn on Meath Street, where they boast “€5 for a pint of pure deliciousness.” Can’t argue with that! Up in Phibsboro, McGowan’s is your Thursday and Sunday saviour, offering all pints for a fiver. Cheers to that! Craving something a bit fancier? J.T Pims on George’s Street has been dishing out €5 Guinness specials every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for over a year. Classy and affordable! And if you’re up for a seaside adventure, trek on over to Skerries and hit up Gladstone for that €5 pint after a day of beach bumming. So there you go… Guinness galore without breaking the bank can be done in our fair city.