THE price of a pint is set to increase with a CO2 shortage pushing up prices, a brewing chief has warned.
It comes as Brits across the country feel the pinch as the cost of living crisis continues to bite.
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William Lees-Jones, the boss of JW Lees Brewery in Manchester, which has 150 pubs around the North West and Wales said the CO2 needed for beer production was “becoming very, very expensive” due to a shortage.
It comes as other brewery costs, such as transport, are also on the rise.
Mr Lees-Jones told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Unfortunately, I think it is inevitable that the price of a pint will go up because we can’t just keep absorbing all these increases.
“It would be fantastic to have some sort of stability so that we don’t have to do that.”
However, he emphasised: “At JW Lees at the moment, there is no plan to increase the price of our pints.”
It comes after it was revealed last week some pubs have started charging as much as £8 for a pint.
Perhaps predictably, London boozers are selling the priciest pints.
The most expensive found in the city cost an eye-watering £8.06, the Financial Times reported.
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Lancashire has the cheapest. A drink at a pub in the county will cost punters £1.79.
Back in 2008, drinkers were paying an average £2.30 for a pint.
The rise in ingredient costs has pushed that to £3.95 in 2022, according to hospitality industry consultancy CGA – a 72 per cent increase.
Officials at CGA say it’s the first time the price of a pint has passed £8.
CALLS TO SLASH PETROL DUTY
The warning comes after Chancellor Rishi Sunak came under pressure from motoring groups to slash the duty on petrol as many petrol stations started charging £2 a litre or more.
It came after it was revealed the cost of filling the tank of a family-sized car hit £100 for the first time.
The average litre price of petrol has hit 182.3p while diesel was 188.1p. It put the cost of filling up a 55-litre family car at £100.27.
Writing in The Sun, senior Tory MP Robert Halfon states: “Prices have gone up so astronomically that more needs to be done.
“The Chancellor must make another significant cut in fuel duty — anywhere between ten and 20 pence — at least temporarily while this crisis is going on.”
The RAC called it a “truly dark day” for drivers while the AA demanded a 10p cut in duty.
FairFuelUK urged: “Wake up and smell the coffee, Rishi. Drivers are being crippled by unchecked, sky-rocketing pump prices.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused petrol providers of “profiteering” and failing to pass on the 5p a litre fuel duty cut announced in March.
Mr Johnson insisted that he was on the side of drivers and hinted a further duty cut may come soon.
He said: “What I want to see is those cuts in taxation not just swallowed up in one gulp, without touching the gullet of the fuel companies,
“I want to see those cuts having an impact at pumps. We’re watching very closely to see what happens.”
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said another duty cut or a temporary reduction in VAT would go a long way towards helping drivers, “especially those on lower incomes who have no choice other than to drive”.
He said March’s 5p fuel duty cut “now looks paltry” because wholesale petrol costs have already increased by 25p since the spring statement.
Mr Williams added that the £100-plus tank of petrol was “a truly dark day” for drivers.
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