Pint of beer? That will be £13.40, please

A LONDON bar has attracted criticism after selling a pint of beer for £13.40 – over three times the average price.

The Rake, in Borough Market, charges the amount for its Cloudwater North West Double IPA, brewed in Manchester.

Drinkers complained on Twitter, with one user posting: “Seven quid is a very expensive pint of beer. £13.40 is bonkers; stark, raving bonkers.”

But the bar’s bosses insisted customers were not being ripped off, saying the nine per cent ABV craft beer was expensive for them to buy.

Utobeer, which runs the bar, said: “We are not making ‘vast profits’, we work to a margin like all businesses and if we stopped we’d start losing money and eventually go out of business.”

The firm said there was an increased cost because it had to buy through a distributor, as Cloudwater would only sell direct to it if it ordered a whole pallet – which it did not have space for. But it added: “Being charged £130+ for a 20l keg by the distributor, we’re always going to struggle to keep the price down but we love Cloudwater beers, most of you know they are some of the best in the country right now and we want to showcase them and spread the love.”

Euroboozer, the supplier, also waded into the row, saying the beer probably cost three to four times more to make than a standard beer. The group said it was only making £22.39 profit on each keg sold to The Rake, adding: “No one is making anyone buy any beer, but if you can afford it and want to then go ahead.”

The average price of a pint in the capital is £4.08, according to the Good Pub Guide’s most recent survey.