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Sydney pub slammed over $15.70 schooners: 'Criminal'

A patron couldn't believe the price of a beer at the Merivale venue on Good Friday.

A Sydney pub has been accused of "criminal" prices after a customer says he was hit with a bill of over $30 for two schooners of beer.

The patron said he'd ordered two schooners at the Merivale-owned El Loco at Slip Inn in the CBD, which cost $31.55.

Being Good Friday, the price was elevated by Merivale's 15 per cent surcharge for public holidays, meaning each schooner was pushed up to more than $15.70.

The man said he was shocked by the price and only realised the amount after he'd tapped his card. It's no surprise he only stayed for one.

The patron says he paid more than $30 for the two beers. Source: Reddit/ slawted
The patron says he paid more than $30 for the two beers. Source: Reddit/ slawted

Sharing his experience to Reddit, a host of users slammed the price of the two beers.

"I'd be to embarrassed to admit to paying that. That's criminal," one person said.

"$10 each is expensive but not outrageous. But anything over that is obscene," another said.

"If it’s over $10 I assume the glass is included," one user joked.

Not everyone was sympathetic with the customer, saying it was to be expected going to an "expensive" bar on a public holiday. Yet the patron argued the venue "definitely didn't look like an expensive venue".

Others noted Merivale venues are often on the pricier end. The Merivale empire, led by CEO Justin Hemmes, has more than 80 venues in its portfolio including famous venues The Coogee Pavilion and Ivy.

Yahoo News Australia has contacted Merivale for their response to the criticism of the price.

It's not the first time a pub has come under fire for their beer prices, with a receipt from Byron Bay's Beach Hotel showing a patron paid $58.40 for three pints of Peroni, coming in at $19.40 each.

Beer prices continue to rise

Beer prices continue to rise in a troubling cost of living crisis, and the pain has partly been inflicted by a rising beer excise.

Brewers Association of Australia CEO John Preston said Australia now had some of the highest beer taxes in the world.

“Australia now has the fourth-highest beer tax in the world and, in October this year, we will overtake Japan and go up to the third-highest,” Preston told Yahoo Finance in February.

Preston predicted prices of most schooners could hit $12 this year if the tax increases don't end.

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