Do you want some words as well? OK, I'll throw you a few. The 1970s weren't a great time in many ways. Especially when it came to inflation. In the ten years 1973 to 1982 the price of Bitter more than quadrupled. While in the following ten years it merely doubled.
I was surprised to see how much the price differential between Bitter and Lager varied. Starting at a massive 30% - incredibly poor value given that Bitter was stronger than Lager - it fell to just 8% in 1983, after which it rose again. Not sure why that was. Perhaps the introduction of stronger Lagers was behind the trend.
This is all very different from pre-WW II. Between the wars beer prices were very stable, with just a blip 1931-1933. Pre-WW I, prices were even more stable, not really changing at all for around 50 years. Which is why WW I, with its big price increases, must have come as a huge shock to drinkers.
Funnily enough, the table just about exactly covers my drinking years. Unlike Victorian drinkers, I was used to frequent increases in the price of a pint.
| Average UK draught beer prices 1973 - 2017 | |||
| Year | Bitter | Lager | % difference |
| 1973 | 13 | 17 | 30.77% |
| 1974 | 15 | 19 | 26.67% |
| 1975 | 20 | 23 | 15.00% |
| 1976 | 23 | 28 | 21.74% |
| 1977 | 27 | 32 | 18.52% |
| 1978 | 29 | 35 | 20.69% |
| 1979 | 34 | 40 | 17.65% |
| 1980 | 41 | 47 | 14.63% |
| 1981 | 49 | 57 | 16.33% |
| 1982 | 54 | 63 | 16.67% |
| 1983 | 62 | 67 | 8.06% |
| 1984 | 66 | 73 | 10.61% |
| 1985 | 72 | 80 | 11.11% |
| 1986 | 76 | 86 | 13.16% |
| 1987 | 82 | 92 | 12.20% |
| 1988 | 88 | 99 | 12.50% |
| 1989 | 96 | 108 | 12.50% |
| 1990 | 110 | 123 | 11.82% |
| 1991 | 126 | 140 | 11.11% |
| 1992 | 131 | 147 | 12.21% |
| 1993 | 137 | 154 | 12.41% |
| 1994 | 142 | 159 | 11.97% |
| 1995 | 148 | 167 | 12.84% |
| 1996 | 156 | 174 | 11.54% |
| 1997 | 165 | 183 | 10.91% |
| 1998 | 170 | 190 | 11.76% |
| 1999 | 174 | 195 | 12.07% |
| 2000 | 178 | 200 | 12.36% |
| 2001 | 182 | 204 | 12.09% |
| 2002 | 185 | 210 | 13.51% |
| 2003 | 195 | 228 | 16.92% |
| 2004 | 203 | 234 | 15.27% |
| 2005 | 213 | 242 | 13.62% |
| 2006 | 221 | 252 | 14.03% |
| 2007 | 231 | 263 | 13.85% |
| 2008 | 241 | 276 | 14.52% |
| 2009 | 249 | 281 | 12.85% |
| 2010 | 258 | 295 | 14.34% |
| 2011 | 269 | 308 | 14.50% |
| 2012 | 280 | 319 | 13.93% |
| 2013 | 287 | 330 | 14.98% |
| 2014 | 294 | 337 | 14.63% |
| 2015 | 296 | 345 | 16.55% |
| 2016 | 299 | 348 | 16.39% |
| 2017 | 305 | 358 | 17.38% |
| Sources: | |||
| Statistical Handbook of the British Beer & Pub Association 2003, p. 44. | |||
| Statistical Handbook of the British Beer & Pub Association 2017, p. 45. | |||
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20 comments:
Yes, it is easy to forget how cheap beer was a few years ago. But my wages were even lower so I find it easier to afford now.
Back in 1973 my wife and I were regulars at the Red Lion in Stathern where Home Bitter was 12 1/2 p a pint. My wife drank halves and the landlord charged 6 1/2 p but then scrupulously charged 6p for the next half. Despite the pub being busy he also knew what to charge.
How different from the present practice of "rounding up" halves.
Couldn't resist graphing this data, combined with RPI over that period:
https://goo.gl/LpQXCQ
Unsurprisingly, beer inflation is higher than RPI most years.
Incredible to think you could get pretty much legless in 1973 for £1.50.
I remember when beer went up to 29p in 1978, me and my mate drunk Mild for a while because it was 1p cheaper
Re the rounding up of 1/2 pences. In the early seventies the Young's pub that I used regularly (the Windmill on Clapham Common) decided to stop using the 1/2 penny and round up. I wrote a letter of complaint to Young's and they were re-introduced. This was when John Young was still in charge, what a gent he was.
And I did many times
David,
that's an interesting comparison. As you say, no surprise that beer comes out higher.
Indeed. As a gen z it's now £150 to get legless
I came across an old receipt where a can of 500ml carling was 0.65p does anyone know when this may have been? There’s no date just curious
1978, se London, 17p for a pint of bitter. The milk snatcher arrived and everything was doubled.
I can haz cheep beer?
'' Anonymous said...
Incredible to think you could get pretty much legless in 1973 for £1.50.
29 December 2022 at 09:14''
Many of us did 😁😁😁😁😁
So a pint in 1979 in todays money would of been £2.60 today...whats went wrong also I womdefr if that list of prices in London ? how much was Mild and Stout back then.
Pint of lager in 1977 was 23 pence in working mens clubs and 25 pence in most pubs in North east England!
ahh good one so the chart must be based on London prices ;)
Are thy sure this is right, this seems way out from my memory. Bitter was 38p in 1982 when my father was sending me to the bar to fetch drinks, when it went over a quid that was around 92-93, that I very much remember because no one was happy, I think it was Norman Lamonts picture on the dart board for a month.
Mid 90s ish, might be earlier maybe 1993
This is certainly not Yorkshire prices, might be prices for a pint in the Savoy hotel in London, or maybe at the Cherry Tree at Ingoldmells, I remember my dad complaining a lot about their prices but he never complained about the quality of the beer, they kept a good pint!
When I started supping in 1990 I used to go out with ten quid, that was enough to do a gallon and get fish n chips for walk home, you were wasted after 8 pints.
It clearly says in the heading of the chart: "average UK prices". Obviously a pint didn't cost the same everywhere. As an average fir the whole country, clearly the average will be higher than in places like Nottingham where beer was relatively cheap.
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