BrewDog boss issues warning over £27.50 pint

The boss of brewery and pub chain owner BrewDog has claimed that if rising energy costs were accurately passed on to customers, the price of a pint would spike to astronomical levels.

What you pay now for a pint probably depends quite a bit on where you live, as in some parts of the UK you could buy a whole night's worth of beer for the cost of one pint in another spot.

Unsurprisingly, London is the most expensive spot and experts were predicting that the cost of a pint could climb to almost £14 in the capital by 2025.

Going broke selling beer to Brits is something that simply shouldn't be possible, but the already difficult economic pressures which have caused many pubs to close have been compounded by skyrocketing energy prices.

BrewDog boss James Watt has warned that if something isn't done soon it would be an 'utter disaster for the tens of thousands of businesses in the UK'.

To explain his point, he said the cost of one pint of his brewery's Punk IPA beer would have to go up to £27.50 if pubs were going to put their prices up in line with energy costs.

Simon Price / Alamy Stock Photo

Writing on LinkedIn, the BrewDog boss said anyone wanting to get a burger and fries to go with their pint could expect to fork over £48.75 for their meal if businesses accurately reflected how much rising energy costs had hit them.

Watt said Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt would 'make the situation worse' in April when support for businesses to deal with energy bills is expected to be rolled back.

He said: "Businesses all over the UK are facing the crippling combination of the worst cost inflation for decades and squeezed consumer spending power.

"The sad reality is that there are many great businesses that simply will not survive 2023. This climate is incredibly challenging for BrewDog. Fortunately, we have the scale and backing to survive.

"Many smaller businesses aren’t so lucky. If this means spending a bit more money to support business through this nightmare now, it’s better than spending the money on unemployment benefits if thousands of businesses go under."

Russell Hart / Alamy Stock Photo

Watt isn't the only person who's been sounding a warning that the cost of doing business is just too much for many places to bear.

The industry was not exactly doing brilliantly before all of the energy price rises, with pub after pub closing their doors for good before the crisis, and things getting even worse afterwards.

Last year Tom Stainer of the Campaign for Real Ale suggested many places would have to stick the price of a pint up to £15 or £20 to survive the cost of living crisis, and at those prices you'd probably scare off all your customers.

Things are looking very glum for a whole load of pubs.