Beer prices at festivals

Possibly because it can be very dependent on what your bank will give in the way of change.

The token system massively reduces the need for change in the festival and change on an all cash bar can be a nightmare - even for pubs.

Personally I hate using tokens but see the benefits to the organisers.

I don't think anyone said most festival organisers prefered them. A few people have commented on their particular reasons for using them, thats all. I, for one, am definitely on your side in the cash v tokens debate. My earlier posts were basically pleas that, if you must use a token scheme, please keep it simple. However, from a customer point of view, cash is best. I recently spent an afternoon trying to convince a member of SSM Camra not to go all token for next years festival. The last thing I want to be doing is trying to work out how much I've got left off some scratch card.

We used cash this year because at £1 a throw as it is very simple and easy to operate , and of course it represented the price we wanted to charge overall. If £2 a pint becomes uneconomic in the future and we wish to keep the keep it simple approach , we will have to look at tokens . But even at £1 a time we ran out of £1 coins one night! Change is a real nightmare , particularly with the lighting levels we had this year where we were hard pressed to see the difference between coins! I can see little point in using tokens plus change - it seems to be the worst of both worlds.

I don't think there is much point in discussing this further, after all your real beef is with tokens at beer festivals not pubs, so let's move on...

I don't think they are *so* much better but they they have their advantages from both the organaisers and customers perspective.

In my opinion the key advantage for the customer is speed of service. Let's face it most folk hand over a £20 or £10 note rather than hand over correct change. All of which causes delays. With a token you are far more likely to get the right money. Ripping a token is also quicker than having to return to the till with cash.

Yes I agree totally, though most locals get used to whatever system is in use. Therefore this is a case for status quo.

True but most businesses aren't run by volunteers.

The range of products and price differentials make tokens a non starter except for something like casinos. There you are another "business" that uses tokens.

Different strokes...

We all have to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages based upon our own circumstances (eg security/venue, history of use, staff preference etc etc). A one size fits all model isn't going to work.

Again I don't think it is a point convincing anyone, you just have to consider the pros and cons FOR YOUR festival.

Or a further discussion on the camra beer festival mailing list?

In message , Brett... writes

My experience is that any saved time is more than countered by the delay buying the damn tokens in the first place or trying to get refunds.

Throw in +-5p version and all that hypothetical saving slips away waiting for or trying to find exact change.

I'm grateful that so many organisers actively resist the pressure to use tokens.

In message , Paul Shirley wrote

At a properly run festival it's the same place where you rent your glass and get a the refund on the same. I wonder why at some festival you queue to pay to get in and then have to join another long queue to get a glass?

I once attended a festival (not CAMRA) where I had to pay to get into the venue and then again to gain entrance to the beer festival. The _only_ thing on at the venue was the beer festival!

Festivals should have a glass policy the same as pubs? No deposits on the glass and a clean glass for every pint. While some CAMRA festivals will exchange a used glass for a clean glass it's not done at the bar and you have to join another queue :(

Something must be wrong. When I started this thread by suggesting charging a quid a throw for simplicity and ease of operation, I was soon told this couldn't work at beer festivals because I don't insist on rounding grocery bills at Sainsbury's! :-)

Charging a simple price seems a lot simpler than tokens (which I've never seen, but then I don't go to many festivals), or counting out lots of small change at every transaction.

Couldn't agee more. Being forced to buy the compulsory glass at a beer festival is a pet hate.

John B

"Being forced to buy"?

I believe you know perfectly well that the policy is that the glass payment is simply a deposit as security against breakage. The deposit level is set at a price that ensures that the festival does not lose money if the (hopefully pretty) glass is taken away by the customer.

Further to this most festivals try to ensure that the glass is interesting enough that most customers will want to collect it.

But then you already knew all that and my only real reason for saying it was so that other people were properly informed.

In message , Steven Pampling writes

But then you already knew about the festivals that don't offer glass refunds, didn't you. At least Nottingham allows me to bring my own. Newark sells me one regardless and I'm tired of having to persuade staff at others I don't need or want their souvenir glass, something the general public aren't likely to try.

Just because HQ think something doesn't make it true.

Being forced to buy a glass and keep it is very different to paying a DEPOSIT for a glass.

What 'policy is this? Do all festivals abide by it? I don't think so. Where deposits are returnable I agree. And of course I know that. In those cases one is not 'forced to buy'. No problem. However there are some festivals I have attended where there is no refund of the so-called' deposit because the glass is included within the entry ticket price or less frequently it is an additional purchase.

I recall one pub beer festival I attended that required a payment of £2 for a plain pint straight with a paper sticker saying 'Beer Festival Glass' with no return at the end - they were in effect selling the glasses and you didn't even get a 'hopefully pretty' one.

Fine, but you missed out the situation where there is no refund or where the cost of the glass has to be paid for by the customer within the ticket entry or as an addition. "Other people" should be properly informed that that happens too.

And anyway, my glass shelf is full ;-)

John B

Yep. You're right. replace with: I couldn't agree more that festivals should have a glass policy the same as pubs. Being forced to buy the compulsory glass at a beer festival is a pet hate.

John B

I know about them, and I've been complaining that they are at the very least bending policy and at worst breaking it for some years.

The person that really needs to follow this up is almost certainly reading this and will probably contact people privately.

I've no knowledge of what HQ do or don't think on the subject, and to be honest it isn't actually their concern - the National Executive and Regional Directors do carry out a fair bit of work and HQ assist. Queries on the subject should be addressed to the appropriate director (see Wot's Bruin) [1]

Great British Beer Festival would "sell" you one, but part of the need to do that is down to differentiating between public and staff glasses since the staff have the use of theirs for free.

My local festival would "sell" you one, and even offer the possibility of collecting one of a number of back-issues. Some of which were very nice designs, if I do say so myself.

Just a shelf? The old kitchen cupboards in the garage contain the "surplus stock" the main run is in display cupboards etc. Suffice to say any time I've had guests we didn't need to wash glasses or re-use during the evening. For a party I'd be in the "surplus stock"

For the last two years you've been able to take your own to Newark and get a pound off admission if you want, although it's not as well advertised as it could be.

In message , Rick Pickup writes

Then why was I told last year I didn't have to have the glass but would still have to pay for it? The alternative suggestion was roughly 'if you don't want to take it home just throw it in the bin', no pound off option was offered. Apparently it wasn't even advertised to your own staff.

We saw no sign of this new glass policy being publicly displayed this year either.

Can't answer this as it isn't my branch, I just go as a punter. And I can't remember what I paid to get in either, but it was suposed to be.

But I completely agree with the point that forced purchasing of a glass in wrong.

Indeed no, although I don't describe that as a mild either.

I've drunk loads of milds and loads of Porters, and IMHO it definitely falls into the Porter category.

I understand that because of its low strength, and the rather strange and ambiguous CBOB criteria, it was eligible for the mild category in the CBoB a few years ago, and in the event did very well, so they continued to market it as a really flavoursome mild thereafter.

They're not the first brewer to rebadge a porter as a mild either. Ever since the pointless and lower-profile CWBoB took over the stouts'n'porters category, it's been far better to call something a mild, and get a shot at the CBOB, rather than call it a porter and miss out.

I'm not that fussed about these Northern regional milds, tbh. Lees, Hydes, Thwaites... none of them do that much for me.

BTN