Editorial: It's enough to make you cry in your beer

For those who haven't bought a beer in downtown Auckland for a while, the news that a pint in most places costs as much as $15 would have come as a shock.

It is not as if you're shelling out for a craft drop produced with care by
a tiny brewery.

No, the wallet-emptying price which bars, cafes and restaurants in the CBD put on the tab is for brands which sell by the truckload.

An informal survey by the Herald found that Auckland waterfront prices - where bars doing a roaring trade - ranged from $12 to $15. In Christchurch, a pint could set drinkers back $8 or $9.

Auckland bar owners and managers defend the price of a pint on the basis that CBD rents are high and that good chefs don't come cheaply. In other words, beer drinkers help pay the wages of staff whose skills pull patrons through the door. If that is the case they should be rewarded, not punished.

Clearly when the drinks market talks in the CBD, it finds plenty of punters willing to engage for otherwise the charge would be unsustainable. But it would be interesting to know whether the hefty price of a downtown pint encourages pre-loading by revellers.

Beer drinkers have choices. They can continue to shell out for a costly drop, or perhaps head uptown to busy K Rd, where prices are more in line with Christchurch.

The downtown scene might be missing a trick with its ales. The Lonely Planet travel guide this week named Wellington as the country's beer capital. About the only prize Auckland could expect would be price capital.