Each year the editors of the Good Pub Guide carry out a national survey of beer prices. This year their findings are that there has been a considerable increase in the cost of the average pint of beer in Britain – it’s now £3.79, a substantial 10p increase from last year.
And there’s a whopping £1.11-a-pint difference between Shropshire the cheapest county at £3.46, and the most expensive at £4.57 in London. Also, there are now four counties where the average price is over the £4 mark – Sussex (£4.02), Scotland (£4.03), Surrey £4.06) and London £4.57). Previously it’s only been London that was over £4. And there’s a massive 51p difference between London and the next most pricey county, Surrey.
Here’s a breakdown, in average price order:
Bargain Beer
Shropshire (£3.46), Herefordshire (£3.48), Northumbria (£3.52), Yorkshire (£3.53), Staffordshire (£3.54).
Fair-priced beer
Worcestershire (£3.56), Northamptonshire (£3.58), Derbyshire (£3.58), Leicestershire (£3.60), Wales (£3.62), Cheshire (£3.63), Cumbria (£3.64), Dorset (£3.64).
Average-priced beer
Lincolnshire (£3.65), Cambridgeshire (£3.65), Lancashire £3.65), Suffolk (£3.70), Bedfordshire £3.70), Somerset (£3.71), Devon (£3.74), Wiltshire (£3.76), Cornwall (£3.79), Isle of Wight (£3.79), Norfolk (£3.82), Gloucestershire £3.83), Essex £3.83), Warwickshire (£3.88), Hampshire (£3.89).
Expensive beer
Buckinghamshire (£3.91), Oxfordshire (£3.93), Berkshire (£3.95), Nottinghamshire (£3.95), Kent (£3.96), Hertfordshire (£3.97), Sussex (£4.02), Scotland (£4.03).
Top Whack beer
Surrey (£4.06), London (£4.57)