Your money, everyone wants it, the missus (or fella) your kids, your pets and most definitely your landlord!
Thirds of a pint then, with more and more brewers emerging and thusly selection on bars swelling around the country, the third of a pint is creeping into many pubs as an option to ‘try all the beers‘ sounds great doesn’t it? I can certainly see the appeal in pubs serving ale selections into double figures; though perhaps not so much when a whole pub range can be exhausted in 6 halves…
So what’s my beef? well right now I have no beef, but be warned such is the world we live in driven by pound notes that it’s not too difficult to predict what is going to happen here, and infact I’m afraid to say the profit wheels are already in motion.
Halves aka 284ml. The classic size to try a beer.
How? What could possibly go wrong with all this? I hear you ask, well for many many years in any good pub you the consumer can ask for a sample of beer before commiting to a purchase, it seems perfectly reasonable and a system that works for both sides of the bar, you end up with a beer you like, they end up with a happy customer. Then along comes the game changer Mr Third O’tpoint, you see to me this all looks like a very sharp double edged sword, I mentioned earlier that the profit wheels where already in motion, alas they are with the announcement that the Nottingham Beer festival will be politely refusing samples, citing that third of a pint options where now available. Of course the organisers have absolutely every right to do this at such a massively busy festival as enough people waste bar peoples time and frankly take the mickey walking round getting tanked off samples! But how long before this is seen elsewhere? how long will it be until pubs slowly begin to flat out refuse to give you a sample citing thirds are now available?
It all just seems like a way to charge you for a taster to me, maybe I’m wide off the mark with all this but I’d bet you a pint that this taster charging behaviour slowly creeps in over the next couple of years. So, don’t forget to ask for a sample at your favourite pub whilst you can, and if you like it buy it!
You may suggest I’m missing the point of the ⅓rd, I do ‘get it’ but a sample allows you to make an informed decision on your purchase, and comes free at the cost of a normal half, or a pint.
I’m not really sure who the third of a pint is aimed at, generally. It’s not as if a half pint is ‘too much’, whereas a third just seems pointless. In terms of the Beer Festival, it does seem harsh that samples are not available – you can get them in any decent ale-serving pub, and at pretty much every other beer festival across the country, unless this sets the precedent. Just because the festival is getting bigger every year, doesn’t mean that the actual experience and core aspect of being a beer festival should be forgotten or diluted. It’s already badly organised in most aspects, now there’s something else to add to the list.
I was a great ale drinker and loved every drop of it. One day I just had to stop. My gout was getting unbearable. I have since almost given up hope of enjoying beer again. But help was at hand. I have discovered that instead of drinking four pints in a session with my mates, I can have four thirds of a pint. My toes haven’t protested so far, and I can also enjoy four different thirds in a session. I am keeping my CAMRA membership, as all is not lost! A third a poinless measure? Absolutely not for me!