WETHERSPOONS has launched a four-day sale with pints of real ale for just 99p – in a bid to get rid of stocks before the national lockdown.
The chain is offering the cut price deal to punters from today until Wednesday, with the batches due to go off while pub doors are closed.
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Spokesman Eddie Gershon confirmed: “All of our pubs in England will be serving their real ales at 99p a pint until the pubs close on Wednesday night.
“The reality is that any real ales not sold between now and lockdown will have to be thrown away, so it is better that customers can enjoy it at a great price while the pubs remain open.”
The offer comes ahead of the second lockdown coming into force for England on Thursday.
Yesterday evening, Boris Johnson announced the UK will be plunged back into lockdown from November 5 to December 2, to combat a surge in coronavirus infections.
Pubs and restaurants have to shut again, with only takeaways and deliveries on offer. And unlike the first lockdown, takeaway pints are not allowed.
To avoid losing entire stocks of booze, which would simply go out of date while under lock and key, Wetherspoons are offering up cheap pints.
A Wetherspoons source told The Sun strict safety measures will remain in place for customers visiting pubs for the deal.
She said: “Now Boris has shut the pubs and we are left with full cellars and the real ale will not last a month and we faced having to pour it all away.
“The only sensible option was to split the difference and ask our real ale fans to come to our rescue and offer them our beer at 99p a pint.
‘BEST BARGAIN IN BRITAIN’
“We will be doing them a huge favour and they will be doing us a huge one! Our doors close at 10pm on Wednesday so the challenge is thrown down.
“It has to be the best bargain in Britain and our customers will hopefully raise their pint glass and thank Boris for a pint that costs less than a quid.
“So we hope our customers have some fun before the doors are shut and the beer pumps turned off – it will be the cheapest beer in Britain.”
Cider and lager will stay the same price, as these stocks will survive lockdown.
The chain, with 900 pubs, made a loss for the first time in history this year, with coronavirus restrictions to blame.
Its chairman, Tim Martin, slammed confusion over the rules and the loss of business for pubs all over the country.
Mr Martin said his central London pubs had traded “the worst” through the pandemic, while venues in large city centres outside the capital were “variable”.
He said: “The truth is you certainly can catch Covid in a pub, but it is not the centre of transmission.”
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Last month he warned pubs and restaurants face being wiped out – with up to a million jobs on the line.
In May we told how pubs threw away 70million pints of spoilt beer during the first lockdown.
The figure is based on the nation’s 47,000 pubs having an average ten beer taps each.
Some unsaleable beer was donated to farmers to use to create organic fertiliser or animal feed, with brewers keen not to waste their product.
But many pubs struggled to dispose of so many pints during the closure period and ended up pouring it away, with fears this will happen again.
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CAMRA’s National Chairman, Nik Antona, said: “The second lockdown is a devastating blow for an industry that is already on its knees.
“Pubs across the country have already invested thousands to reopen COVID-safe environments despite facing seriously reduced incomes.”
“We also need a clear route map out of lockdown which is based on evidence, otherwise we will see many pubs and breweries close their doors forever.”
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Chairman of Wetherspoons, Tim Martin, says coronavirus restrictions introduced by the government show ‘they lack management experience’
