Alcohol unit pricing

[tenbeech]

Just been reading that the government want to introduce a minimum price for alcohol 45 pence per unit is the proposed price .
Obviously as home brewers this will not affect us ,unless we have a drink in a restaurant. Does anyone else think that this is a very bad idea , in trying to stop binge drinking by a very small minority they are punishing everyone . Even deals like two dine for £10 will be a thing of the past . Surely not a vote winner

 

[calumscott]

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=32441 :thumb:

 

[Moley]

Thanks tenbeech, I haven't been online for a while, hadn't read that other topic and hadn't yet seen any mention of what the unit price might be.

So let me work this out for a Wurzel's Orange:

1 litre white grape juice, 85p
1 litre orange juice, 65p
800g sugar, 64p
GP yeast, nutrient, pectolase, sorbate, finings, let's say 75p
Total, £2.89 a gallon at 13% abv.

4.5 litres @ 13% abv = 585ml of pure alcohol, = 58.5 units.

£2.89 / 58.5 is just a shade under 5p per unit :lol: : :drunk:

Let's see them taxing sugar and UHT fruit juices


Would anyone care to cost an AG session bitter?

Brew your own, you know it makes sense.

 

[tonyhibbett]

It is claimed to target the 20p-a-can lager, but a 13% bottle of wine with 9.1 units would cost £4 at the minimum rate of 45p per unit. Since the drinks trade are opposed, I assume this extra levy is just another excuse to raise taxes, thereby cashing in on the phenomenon of the hysterical scenes to be witnessed should one be foolish enough to venture into the local town centre on a weekend evening. Legalising (and taxing) opium dens would quieten things down and eliminate social disorder far more effectively. I recall, many years ago, time spent in Morocco, where the sale of alcohol was forbidden but kif dens were the equivalent of pubs. They were quiet places full of contented souls!

 

[wezil]

Hmm 45p!! not going to stop anyone that!!! Lets see publicans and bar/club owners obey the Licensing Act and stop serving obviously drunk people!!! Oh sorry no profit in that!! or votes!! silly me

 

[calumscott]

Hmm 45p!! not going to stop anyone that!!! Lets see publicans and bar/club owners obey the Licensing Act and stop serving obviously drunk people!!! Oh sorry no profit in that!! or votes!! silly me

Quite! If all these people are getting wasted on cheap strong pish then going out, then they shouldn't be able to get into licenced premises! Therefore if they want to go to the pubs and clubs they shouldn't get battered before they go, therefore the publican has the responsibility to make sure they remain the sensible side of stotious. Problem solved, well actually no, not in the short term. You'll just have a lot of ****** up, ****** off people for a month or so wandering the streets and getting arrested. Should be better after that...

 

[oldbloke]

I assume this extra levy is just another excuse to raise taxes

I heard, and it may be wrong, that any extra dosh goes to the retailer.
If it went to the producer it'd level the playing field between the cheapcrap brewers and the better ones, at least a bit.
But if it goes to the retailer, they're still gonna buy whatever's cheapest from the producers, to max out profits.

 

[GeorgeSalt]

It is claimed to target the 20p-a-can lager, but a 13% bottle of wine with 9.1 units would cost £4 at the minimum rate of 45p per unit.

Sorry, I must be a bit slow today. But I don't see how 45p/unit affects the price of a bottle of wine. There's precious little under £4/bottle these days that qualifies for term "wine".

It will affect cheap cider.. Tesco Crofters Apple Cider 5% 2 Litres for £2.09, contains 10 units.. that more than doubles to £4.50.

I predict that sales of value apple juice will increase.. ..

 

[tonyhibbett]

I can see the logic about the retailer, who sells cheap as a loss leader. I know a bit about the very low prices supermarkets pay for farm produce and alcohol is a processed agricultural product. It's not just supermarkets encouraging excessive drinking. I just received some wine kits from Amazon, containing vouchers worth a total of £160 off wine purchases!
As for landlords, I can't see anyone other than binge drinkers drinking in a pub used by binge drinkers and most of the trouble seems to occur outside in the street.
My main concern is the apparant rise in interest in high strength home brew. If cheap booze were no longer available...

 

[PD]

As long as they keep their hands of adding costs to my grains and hops they can charge £20 a bottle for supermarket and or pub prices I don't give a damn.
As a norm I have stopped visiting the plastic music blarring pubs as a place of recreation and entertainment. Much prefer it when my mates drop into my garage on an evening..... One even brought 6 packets of crisps the othernight he hee.

 

[Crastney]

not serving drunk people works in Australia. There if you're too drunk and you get served alcohol, you get fined for being drunk, the person serving you gets fined, and the landlord/publican gets fined - and they're big fines too, so enough of an incentive to make the landlords a lot more rigorous on this. They also, by law, must have tap water available for free, readily available (this is usually in a jug on the bar with glasses - which anyone can help themselves to). it's a system that works, and should, imo, be introduced over here.

minimum pricing on units of alcohol is a ridiculous idea, and will not have the consequences that they are promoting it to have. People who want to drink, will continue to drink, but they'll have to pay more. Cheap alcohol will still be available somehow (what forum are we on again?!) - which 'they' can't regulate, unless they bring in in licencing like they're supposed to have for (shhh) distillation. Far too many people home brew for this to be effective, unless they'd have bought it in originally (like the TV licence, which almost every single person willingly pays without thinking too much about it!).

it is a problem that'll take a few generations to work it's way out of the system. what's needed is to bring in tough legislation, (like about about not serving drunk people) and enforce it rigidly (this is the important bit) - tough times for a few months while people get the idea, then everything calms down and sorts itself out.

 

[wezil]

I tend to agree about the legislation, but the way of the world is to introduce MORE laws (which get ignored like the previous law) to pander to the vocal minority. Rather than enforce the perfectly good laws we already have!! How about this for a new law NO ONE UNDER THE AGE OF 30 TO DRINK ALCOHOL OR BE UNDER THE INFLUENCE IN A PUBLIC PLACE!!! (he says, never to see 40 again)lol!

 

[Archtronics]

They need to change the culture of drinking in this country to have any effect.

 

[GeorgeSalt]

They need to change the culture of drinking in this country to have any effect.

Suggestions as to how?

Because "they" includes you, me and everyone else when it comes down to changing culture.. ..

 

[Ken L]

Sounds like good news for the pubs because it narrows the price difference between drinking in a pub and drinking at home.
Good news for the home brewing industry.
Good news for artisan breweries who currently struggle to compete with with cheap supermarket beers at £10 per slab.
Good news for anyone who uses the country's perks and canal towpaths and is sick of the litter and pi55 heads.
Apart from the sudden price hikes associated with buying a slab or two of beer for a summer BBQ, I'm struggling to see the downside.

 

[tenbeech]

Hi Ken L I'm with you in what you say , but the only possible downside I can see is that this could be the start of other " health " measures There could be a calorie tax , this could be a tax on " unhealthy " fish & chips , Kebabs or burgers or confectionery loaded with sugar and cream . Don't laugh It may happen

 

[Ken L]

You mean like the supermarkets and other retailers selling any type of hot takeaway food being forced to start paying 20% of the sale price to the exchequer as VAT ?
They already did that one. It came into force in October.

Looking a bit more widely, it seems that there are indeed plans for a "fat tax" on top of the recent widening of the VAT net and they have already implemented such a plan in places like Denmark.
I confess I'm not sure how I feel about that. I often grab a pastie from Greggs for lunch but I almost never use takeaways. I had a fish and chip supper on the day i moved house three years ago and I think the only once since then was a late night kebab on the way home one night this year.
So long as the taxman keeps his eye off my brewing sugar, I'll be OK.

 

[Charlotte]

I also agree that 45p isn't going to stop anyone. I hope this doesn't blow out of proportion - I wouldn't put it past them with the fat tax. I don't normally order takeaways, but after a particular heavy night the other day I ordered a takeaway pizza and the price the restaurant charged was enough in itself nevermind with extra tax added to it, ahhh! Was tasty though!

 

[stu9000]

As a teacher it feels like many policies these days, whatever the party, are there to make them look busy and effective. At a time when we face global over population, an energy crisis, climate change and food shortages they pick on booze, education and nursing.
We do face a health time bomb in this country but both the major parties continue to sell of school sports fields etc etc etc. Feels like we are fiddling while Rome burns. Pass me the corkscrew.