LAGER AND LAME

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Jan 18, 2009 | by THOMAS SMITH

BREWING giant Tennent's is to hit drinkers with a 15p RISE in the cost of a pint - while WEAKENING its strength.

A pint of Scotland's favourite lager will be hiked by an average of 15 pence on February 2, taking the price to more than pounds 3 in many areas. But the amount of alcohol in each pint will be reduced.

Publicans claim the price rise will be a further nail in the coffin of bars and clubs struggling to survive in the credit crunch. The alcohol by volume level (ABV) of Tennent's is being lowered from 4.1 per cent to 4.0 per cent.

A brewing source said last night: "They're putting up the price - but cutting back on the alcohol. Punters are not going to be impressed. This is the second price rise in a year - at a time when people are really feeling the pinch.

"When supermarkets are throwing beer at customers for hugely discounted prices and pubs across the country are empty, this sounds like a disaster.

"Publicans all over the UK are screaming about empty bars and a collapse in trade, while superstores' alcohol sales go through the roof. They're putting the wholesale price up - saying they've got higher production costs - knowing licensees will have to pass on the rises."

The wholesale price of other beers made by Tennent's owners InBev will rise too - including Stella Artois, which will cost an average 20p more a pint in pubs.

Other UK brewers are expected to follow suit.

Martin O'Grady, of the British Institute of Innkeeping, said: "It's hard enough to get people into pubs for a drink without them having to pay an extra 15p a pint. It's not going to help."

Tennent's sales chief Gordon Bell refused to comment yesterday. The Sunday Mirror made repeated attempts to contact other InBev bosses - but they didn't return our calls.