Sneaky pint-sized tricks in Perth are not smart business

The death of the traditional pint in pubs across Perth is becoming a fait accompli.

Sadly, new and refurbished venues are choosing to reject part of WA's identity, moving away from our standard middies and pints in favour of schooners.

But as publicans phase out the imperial 568ml pint glass in favour of the 425ml schooner that's common interstate, some are still advertising pints on their bar menus and, worse, charging patrons the same price for schooners as they did for traditional pints.

The deceptive practice was first uncovered last week when WAtoday visited The Wembley Hotel, currently undergoing a $1.5 million renovation, after rumours the ruse was rife at the popular suburban pub. We asked for a pint of Cascade Stout and were told "no problem" before it arrived in one of the pub's new 480ml mugs.

"What we're doing is trying to follow what's happening in Europe and in the eastern states, and that's beers being served in smaller glasses, like schooners," general manager Pierre Anglade said.

Schooners, at 425ml in NSW, Qld and NT, have been the norm there for years but are largely foreign vessels in WA ... until we went bar hopping around town last week and discovered otherwise.

The Wembley has since erected signs behind the bar informing patrons that pints are no longer served but the not-so-pint-sized problem reared its ugly head at several other pubs we visited, none more perplexing than at The Windsor, an institution for many Perth pub lovers south of the river.

The South Perth pub advertises middies and pints on its bar menu and website and when WAtoday visited and asked for a pint of Guinness, it came served in the traditional 568ml glass.

But, bizarrely, when we ordered a pint of Little Creatures Pale Ale, it was poured by the same bartender into a 425ml schooner glass without a word or whimper about the reduction in glass size by almost 145ml.

What the pint? Furthermore, the pale ale cost $11, with the cheapest 'pint' on tap at The Windsor being Carlton Dry at $10, but again served in a 425ml schooner.

The recently-renovated Subiaco Hotel is another hugely-popular watering hole that recently dumped the pint in favour of a 425ml schooner – the only size glass it serves beer in. A bar manager there said management reduced the price of draught beer when they reduced the glass size, with a 568ml pint of Asahi prevously $14 now coming in at $12 in the 425ml schooner glass.

What other venues are short-selling pints? And which ones still serve them properly? Email us or comment below

Australian Hotels Association WA chief executive Bradley Woods said on Radio 6PR last week that pubs who don't serve pints should inform patrons who ask for one that they aren't on offer.

"If someone asks for a pint, and they're given something that's not a pint, it's good customer service for the staff to say 'we don't have pints but we have this size'," he said.

"If it's misleading in some venues or circumstances, it's really up to the service staff to make sure the customer knows what they're getting… and buying."

He also revealed many venues were being pressured by law enforcement agencies to reduce their glass sizes to help curb the amount of alcohol being consumed by the public.

"There's a huge amount of pressure on venues by the health lobby, by the state government, the police, all the wowsers out there that don't want us drinking, to really put pressure on venues to reduce the amount of alcohol being consumed as well," he said.

"Some venues being constantly harassed by police to try and reduce the size of the drinks are feeling that pressure as well and the public are the ones that are suffering because they're the ones that are going to miss out."

Mr Woods would not reveal what pubs were being pressured by authorities to reduce glass sizes.

"We know that venues are under pressure to do that. It's very unfair, it's unreasonable… just because of the glass size, doesn't mean people are drinker faster or more alcohol, It's an unreasonable proposition," he said.

WA Police Licencing Enforcement Unit Superintendent James Migro refused to confirm if police were pressuring venues, nor whether a reduction in glass size would increase 'pre-loading', where people get drunk on cheap alcohol before entering venues.

"There is considerable research that has established pre-loading is an issue," was all Supt Migro would say on the matter.

WAtoday reader Leigh Wilcox summed it up best: "This is why young kids get loaded before they go out. Drop the prices to $8 pints and Australia would be better off, and kids wouldn't be getting loaded before they go out."

Another said: "While police and authorities may think it's safer for our pubs to serve patrons a maximum of 480ml, the reality is, drinkers, particularly younger ones with less disposable income, will stay home, buy a carton or whatever their liquid of choice is, and drink an amount that is much more dangerous than they would if they could drink pints."

Of course, there are several sizes of pints; in the USA it's 473ml, in the UK and Australia it's 568ml except in South Australia where it's 450ml. But the discrepancy doesn't excuse WA venues from advertising schooner glasses or smaller-sized ones as pints if they haven't properly informed patrons of the glass change, and especially if they haven't reduced the price, like the Subi Hotel has.

And while others argue about CPI and inflation increases, even blind Freddy, legless at his local corner pub, can see the price of beer has increased exponentially.

One WA brewer of a popular local draught, who wished to remain anonymous, said beer drinkers would froth if they knew what pubs paid for kegs of beer and still be disgusted even after overheads like rent and wages were factored in.

You only need look at other suburban pubs like The Greenwood, JB O'Reillys, Fibber McGees and The Carlisle Hotel, which manage to sell full-strength, 568ml pints of beer for $8 or less, sometimes instead of fancy makeovers or modern revamps that often render traditional pubs soulless.

And it's not just locals who can't fathom the increase in beer prices around Perth. Several visitors from interstate and overseas recently told me how horrified they were at the cost of eating and drinking at pubs and restaurants here.

In the UK, it's rare to pay more than the equivalent of $8 for a full pint, while in Sydney a 568ml pint of fancy American pale ale Sierra Nevada was only $10.

So while publicans think they're wise by taking pints away from Perth beer drinkers, one pub renovation at a time, as the mining boom ends, smart restaurateurs have seen the writing on the wall and lowering the price of items on their menus ... something WA publicans should consider.

THE PUBS WE VISITED:

• The Wembley Hotel: Recently switched from middies and pints to schooner-style small and large mugs at 480ml. Served WAtoday a 480ml beer last week when we asked for a pint but has since erected signs behind the bar informing patrons it no longer serves pints.
   
• The Subiaco Hotel: Changed its offering to middies and schooners, the traditional 425ml size, last year and dropped prices of tap beer accordingly. A pint of Asahi (568ml) cost $14, a schooner now costs $12.
   
• The Guildford Hotel: Now offers just one size beer in a schooner glass, but has not dropped prices accordingly since its much-publicised reopening last month.
   
• Publican Group: Owns The Aviary, The George and Public House in Perth, that offer just one size of beer, the schooner, but only The George advertises the size of the glass.
   
• The Windsor: Popular South Perth pub has switched to schooners in two sizes (285ml and 425ml) but its website still advertises that it sells tap beer in middies and pints, despite that not being true. WAtoday paid the pub a visit where things got weirder. We asked for a pint of Guinness and pleasantly surprised when it arrived in a traditional 568ml pint glass. We then looked at the bar menu to discover that draught beer came in two sizes: middies and pints. So we downed the Guinness and ordered a pint of Little Creatures Pale Ale… but astoundingly, it came in a 425ml glass, with not even a blink of an eye from the same bartender.
   
• The Federal: The old Rosie O'Grady's pub now sells not only middies and schooners but also jugs. When WAtoday visited and asked for a pint, we were told they only sold schooners.
   
• Other pint-less pubs we know of include a bunch of hip, inner-city small bars such as The Stables and The Bohemian and live music venue The Rosemount

• SHOUT-OUTS must go to the following venues that are among many keeping things real with traditional pints: The Boulevard, The Paddington, The Brisbane, The Oxford, The Balmoral, The Woodbridge, Stirling Arms, Rose & Crown and The Herdsman, which we hear is getting heaps of referred business from disgruntled Wembley Hotel patrons .