What was on sale in a 1970s pub?

We've had a look at some of the draught and bottled beers available in the 1970s. But it didn't include every type of beer. For example, there were no Stouts. The aim here is to take a look at what was on sale in a pub. And through what better means than a contemporary price list.

Whilst looking for something completely different, I tripped over a series of images for pub price lists from the 1970s. The first thing that struck me was how short some of them were. A couple of draught beers and half a dozen bottled ones. A far narrower offering than in pubs today.

The price list we're looking at today is from John Smith. It doesn't say that on it, but it's pretty obvious from the beers. One word of caution. This looks like a generic list, rather than from a specific pub. Not every pub would have sold the full selection of draught beers in the list. Many would have had just a Bitter, Mild, Lager and a Keg Bitter.

This is before John Smith discontinued cask beer and I assume that's what the "draught beers" are. Or possibly bright or tank beer. Light and XXX look like Pale and Dark Mild, respectively. The other two beers being Bitter and Best Bitter.

The presence of draught Guinness also has be thinking this is a generic list. While every single pub sold bottled Guinness, the draught version was much rarer. I can't remember seeing it on the bar vert often. None of the Leeds pubs I regularly drank in stocked it. Not even the Irish pubs.

Domino has got me scratching my head. Given the price, the first thing that comes to mind is Keg Mild. Golden I know was a Keg Bitter. A reasonably strong one at 1039º.

Moving on to the bottled beers, I was surprised to see the Pale Ale for the Belgian market listed. I didn't realise it was ever sold in the UK. It was a reasonably strong beer of 5.5% ABV.

You may be asking yourself "Why are there both draught and bottled versions of Magnet and Harp?" Probably because this is a generic list. I'm guessing that pubs sold either one or the other of them. This is a point when draught Lager was by no means universal.

Double Brown is an interesting one. It's of the rare type of stronger Brown Ales. While Con Nut looks like the more common watery version of the style. Magnet Old Ale was, as you might expect, a strong dark beer. That's why it's in nips. Milk Maid Stout? Well, that's what my Mum drank. As the name implies, it was a Milk Stout.

Note how short the list of other drinks is. A few basic spirits along with port, sherry and vermouth. But look at the price differential between spirits and draught beer. The prices are for one sixth of a gill (quarter pint). Or about 2.4 cl. A double whisky was more triple the price of a pint of Mild, and contained a similar amount of alcohol. 

Public bar price list
Draught Beers
	Pint	Half Pint
Light	10p	5p
XXX	10p	5p
Bitter	11.5p	6p
Magnet	12.5p	6.5p
Keg Beers
	Pint	Half Pint
Domino	11.5p	6p
Golden	14p	7p
Guinness	16p	8p
Harp	16.5p	8.5p
Bottled Beers
	Large	Small	Nip
Belgium Export	-	10p	-
Magnet Pale Ale	15p	8.5p	-
Milk Maid Stout	14p	7.5p	-
Double Brown	14p	8p	-
Magnet Old Ale	-	-	8.5p
Lght Ale	13p	7p	-
Cob Nut	13p	7p	-
Guinness	17.5p	9.5p	-
Harp Lager	-	11p	-
Carlsberg	-	11p	-
Spirits and Wines
	Per Measure
Whisky	16p
Gin	16p
Rum	16p
Vodka	16p
Brandy	19p
Port	12p
Sherry	12p
Cream Sherry	13.5p
Vermouths	12.5p