5 Aug 2016, 10:00 am: There’s never a wrong time to be in London, but today for me would’ve been an exactly right time.
England’s not my favorite country in which to quaff beer— that title would be fought over by Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Croatia— but as we speak it’s certainly got my favorite price point.
It’s International Beer Day, and in celebration this one bar is selling suds for only 14p a pint. In case you’re not up on your currency abbreviations, the lowercase “p” isn’t for “pounds.” It’s for “pence.” And 14 pence comes out to 18 cents.
If you had a beer right now you’d have just understandably wasted a fourth of it with a gigantic spit take, but you read that right. Eighteen American cents for a pint of British beer.
Notice, though, that they’re only going to sell two hundred beers at that massively discounted rate. And you just know every brew addict within Tubing distance is going to queue up before the Coin Laundry’s doors open. Their 14p celebration might as well be called the forty-one second special. That’s how long it’ll take to move two hundred pints.
Still, I think it’s a brilliant business ploy. With an average beer in London costing between 4.25 and 5.50 pounds (in my recent experience), they’re giving away about a thousand pounds. But most people who show up at that bar this afternoon are going to miss out on the heavy discount. They’re already there. Their taste buds are primed for at least one round. Are they going to walk out empty-bellied? No. They’re going to have a pint, anyway. So each extra patron— lured by the hope of a practically free beer— is gonna pay full price. And there will be a LOT of extra patrons today. Safely more than two hundred, I’ll wager.
This is the first year I’ve heard about any such International Beer Day giveaway. In case it becomes a Brit tradition, who wants to start talking now about a Matt Epic Journey to London in early August next year? As you’ve read, I’m already leading a group party to England (and some combination of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) next May or June. I could go again in August, if I’ve got the clients to come with me. Toss back another few beers and think about it. Hope you get a great bargain on at least one round.