Sad reason you pay $20 for a pint at Aussie pubs

You might have noticed the cost of a beer rising more than usual lately. An industry head says pubs are being squeezed from all sides.

It’s becoming common to pay up to $20 for a pint of craft beer at Aussie pubs, according to an industry expert who says the industry is being “squeezed” by rising operating costs.

“If you’re looking at a high-end craft beer you’re probably looking around the $20 mark,” the head of the Australian Hoteliers Association’s South Australia branch, Anna Moeller, told ABC Radio this week.

“But if you’re looking at something more standard you’re probably down around the $12, $13 (mark).”

The discussion brewed after media personality Andrew ‘Cosi’ Costello posted an image of two drinks at an undisclosed bar to his Instagram account: “A rose and a pint was $42.50 at a bar tonight.”

“You have to feel for bars competing with wage increases, product increases, and taxes … but $42.50?” the travel and lifestyle TV host wrote.

Generic imagery of beer pour at Hotel Darwin. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Ms Moeller said the high cost of Mr Costello’s order might have been due to public holiday rates, but added it was an unfortunate fact that hotels needed to increase prices to keep their heads above water in an under-pressure industry.

“I think there’s a cost of living crisis and business isn’t immune to that,” she said.

“We know that hotels are being squeezed at the moment, their profit margins are being squeezed.”

Rising costs for insurance, wages, energy, and products were making all contributing to stress in the hospitality sector, Ms Moeller said.

“And we’ve seen that from the number of closures as well.”

Pubs and clubs also have to contend with excise taxes for beer and spirits, which increase every six months “like clockwork”.

Andrew 'Cosi' Costello’s post got a lot of attention.

Anna Moeller said pubs were trying to keep costs low. Picture: Supplied.

Australia’s excise tax is among the highest in the world, behind only Iceland and Norway.

The estimated cost of a pint of beer tipped over $15 after a the tax rose about 90 cents on February 5.

Ms Moeller said because the tax was linked to CPI there had been dramatic spikes in recent years “because inflation has been so high”.

But she said pubs were trying to keep the prices as low as they can.

“Because they want patrons to come to then,” she said.

“So they try not to pass on the full costs and they’re not passing on the full costs.”

Brewers Association of Australia chief executive John Preston told news.com.au earlier this year that recent increases to taxes had seen a slab of beer rise by $20.

“While the Treasurer inherited these automatic half-yearly beer tax increases, we’re calling on the Government to step in and take some action before a trip to the pub or a dinner out with the family becomes an unaffordable luxury for most Australians”.

Several independent breweries have gone into administration in the past year including Brisbane-based Ballistic Beer Company, Adelaide business Big Shed Brewing, Melbourne-based Hawkers Brewery and the Wayward brand and Akasha Brewery, both from Sydney.