Where is the cheapest pint of Guinness in Northern Ireland?

Where is the cheapest pint of Guinness in Northern Ireland?

With the price of Guinness creeping above £6 in some bars, we go looking for bargains in Belfast and further afield

Christopher Woodhouse
Today at 07:00

How much would you be willing to pay for a pint before saying enough is enough?
If that figure is £6, you may wish to reconsider what you drink and where because that’s what some bars in Belfast are asking for — and more.

That makes certain establishments in the city not only almost £3 dearer than some of their counterparts, but also puts them ahead of a number of Dublin’s better-known pubs.

But in a sample survey of bars last week, Sunday Life found the price varied widely within walking distance of the city centre and dropped more further afield.

Excluding hotels, where alcohol can be a lot pricier than ordinary pubs, and social clubs, where it can be considerably cheaper, we used the price of a pint of Guinness as a yardstick.

Top of the list last week was the cosy Spaniard, on Skipper Street in the tourist trap Cathedral Quarter, where £6.20 is required for a pint of the black stuff.

A stone’s throw away, The National, an upmarket, trendy spot on High Street, is charging £6.15.

Around the corner at the Duke of York, arguably one of the best known bars in Northern Ireland, the price drops to £6.

Staying on that side of the city centre, it dips under that mark at The Morning Star on Pottinger’s Entry, which charges £5.95, the same as the nearby White’s Tavern.

The price falls again if you cross Victoria Street and hit McHugh’s, one of the city’s oldest bars, sitting in the shadow of the Albert Clock, where it’s £5.70.

At the unmistakeable Bittles Bar, on the corner of Victoria Street and Upper Church Lane, the price is £5.60.

But if you put a good pace on, a 10-minute walk across town will have you at The Hercules, a long-established boozer on Castle Street which asks a more modest £4.60 for its Guinness.

From there, a two-minute dander down Chapel Lane, and hanging a left onto Berry Street, you’ll find Madden’s, where the price is just 20p dearer.

If you are willing to take a stroll down the riverside and head to Sailortown, you’ll find The American Bar, where a Guinness will set you back £4.50.

The neighbouring McKenna’s recently dropped some of their prices to as low as £3.50, but that did not include Guinness.

A study earlier this year found students at Queen’s University had it best, with the bar in the students’ union charging as little as £2.80 for a pint of Carling — the cheapest of any university pub in the UK.

Heading out of the city, the price does drop but stays reasonably consistent at points between £4 and £4.80.

One standout is the Whistler’s Inn in the Tyrone village of Sixmilecross, which charges just £3.70 for a pint of stout.

Another cheaper option is the Master McGrath Arms in Lurgan, which recently announced all its draught pints would be sold at £3.80.

The Bridge End Tavern, in the Co Antrim seaside village of Glenarm, has its Guinness priced at £4 on the nose.

In Fermanagh, the Linnet Inn in Boho, which claims to be the last thatched pub in the county, charges £4.20 for a Guinness, following an increase in the price of a keg of stout earlier this year.

The Kilbroney in the Co Down village of Rostrevor, meanwhile, is asking £4.30.

Pubs at the £4.40 mark include The Tower Bar in Ballymoney, the historic Crosskeys Inn in Toome — a former coaching stop dating back to the 1650s — and the Taphouse in the Tyrone village of Bellaghy.

Heading back towards Belfast prices, Teddy’s Bar in Bangor, Co Down, charges £4.50, while Tinney’s Bar in Derry is currently asking £4.60.

The well-known Sandinos, a fellow Derry establishment, is charging £4.70, as is Devlin’s in Armagh, which told Sunday Life it still offered a pensioners’ rate of £4.40.

Bars priced at £4.80 include the Poets Pub in the Tyrone village of Fintona, Charlie’s in Enniskillen, Quinn’s in Newcastle and Madden’s in Antrim town.

In April this year, the Guinness brewer Diageo increased the wholesale price of its kegs by the equivalent of 13p per pint, citing higher manufacturing costs as the reason. A second price increase of €0.04 per pint imposed in the Republic in July has not yet been applied to Diageo products sold in Northern Ireland.

The price of a keg of Guinness is the same for all customers, regardless of the size of the business or volume of trade.

Pedro Donald, owner of The American Bar, said there was a balance to be struck between turning a profit and charging high prices.

“There’s no simple answer to it, but obviously anybody in the Cathedral Quarter has way bigger rates than I have at The American,” he added.

“So, they do maybe need to charge more in general, not just for a pint of Guinness, because their overheads are bigger.

“But then there is also some taking the p***, so I don’t think it needs to be that (£6 or more).

“Obviously a business needs to turn a profit or it ceases to exist, and as long as I turn a profit, I’m happy.

“If I was charging £6 or £7, nobody is going to go down there (to The American bar), but in the Cathedral Quarter, they have guaranteed footfall.

“They could charge you £7, give you a slap in the face and people would still turn up.”

Colin Neill, of the Hospitality Ulster lobby group, told Sunday Life there were number of economic factors affecting the price of a pint.

He explained: “Pubs in Great Britain are often part of big chains. Wetherspoons, for example, has 900 pubs, whereas there are 1,100 pubs in the entire of Northern Ireland, and most are independents.

“So, when you buy at (the big chains’ volume), you probably get certain products below cost price, and you can average that out across your product ranges to bring the cost down.

“When it comes to rates, hotel and pub rates are based on their turnover, not the property value, and some councils charge rates in excess of those in the City of London, for example.”

Mr Neill also pointed out that some publicans were concerned about the prices they are having to charge, given the lower level of disposable income in Northern Ireland as compared to elsewhere.

by Food_Crazed_Maniac