We are thinking about getting some real ale from a local brewery as quite a few of our friends like it. As our venue doesn't have any real ales they told us, if we buy the barrels, they will serve it for a charge of £3.50 per pint. I have never heard of a venue charging a 'corkage' fee on beer before and wondered if anyone else had come across one and how the price compares?
CommentAuthorInDreamland
Whoa! Never come across it but then we're going to use the venue's bar. That's pricey though! You can get a pint in the pub for that money!
Married the love of my life on Saturday 11th May 2013 xxx
Had our dream perfect honeymoon in Hawaii!
CommentAuthorlala "mod" bunni
so you are buying the barrels and they are making the money serving it ?
Yes. We double checked with the venue that they would keep all the money and we wouldn't be reimbursed for paying for the barrels first. I can understand that they would need some money for using the pump, bar man to serve it and to use and wash glasses but thought that £3.50 per pint was quite a lot.
CommentAuthor*KelBel*
Sounds a bit steep to me... Mind u if we bought our own wine,the corkage was £9 a bottle! I do think that them getting u to buy the barrels then them charging £3.50 a pint is well over the odds,since they charge £3.50 odd for their own beers and get the barrels cheaper!
Velcro...my wedding day twinny! The Two Kel's!
Got engaged 14/10/12 in Central Park NYC!
Became Mrs Macdonald 13th September 2014
Mummy to 4 girlies and baby blue boy Due 10/05/2016
Yeah, I think that's quite a lot. As InDreamland said, you can get a pint in a pub for that much! We've just got back from a couple of days in York and went to the brewery there (great beer, just to add) and they have their own bar and charged just £2.60 a pint!
Vegas baby!
Moderator
CommentAuthorInDreamland
Sorry, London pint prices lol xx
Married the love of my life on Saturday 11th May 2013 xxx
Had our dream perfect honeymoon in Hawaii!
CommentAuthorInDreamland
Just calculated, we have approx. 20 guys coming to the wedding who can each easily drink 5 or 6 pints on a night out. If each if these guys does have 5 pints each that works out at £350 just for the "corkage"!
Married the love of my life on Saturday 11th May 2013 xxx
Had our dream perfect honeymoon in Hawaii!
CommentAuthorbarbie86
I think that's expensive.
I live in London, which is pricey, and our Berkshire venue is very pricey; however, they charge £4.50 a pint. £3.50 corkage is ridiculous, as you still have the cost of the barrels on top of that, which will mean it will likely work out at over £4 a pint; extremely pricey when you're providing your own!
CommentAuthorLindsey
Just looked at prices for the barrels. It is £55 for a barrel of 36 pints. So adding the corkage fee on top thats £181 per barrel. We would probably need 2 barrels as I don't think one will go very far. Plus then we've already paid for the arrivals drinks, toast drinks and wine for the tables. That's a total spend of £1618 just on drinks not including soft drinks for children and drivers!!
CommentAuthorInDreamland
PHEW!!! That's a lot! Reason why we're having a pay bar in the evening and all the drinks for the drinks reception and during the wedding breakfast are included in our package.
xx
Married the love of my life on Saturday 11th May 2013 xxx
Had our dream perfect honeymoon in Hawaii!
CommentAuthorMrsGemmaHanner
Our venue was good with this - there are quite a few friends/family who liked certain beers/real ale & my dad phoned the venue asked what they could do and the bar manager got a barrel & some other bottles & charged reasonable (pub) prices for it. I think they were happy to know they were selling something that a lot of people liked and would sell quite a lot of.
I think the price they are charging you seems very expensive, but i imagine you don't have a lot of other options if you want to serve it?
CommentAuthor*KelBel*
I think u should ask them to get the ales in on the promise that they will sell a lot of it
Velcro...my wedding day twinny! The Two Kel's!
Got engaged 14/10/12 in Central Park NYC!
Became Mrs Macdonald 13th September 2014
Mummy to 4 girlies and baby blue boy Due 10/05/2016
CommentAuthorLauraM9144
we had exactly same idea for our wedding one venue we looked at refused point blank to have our own beer and the next one said if we only had one barrel they would allow it and corkage would be £1 which to me seemed very reasonable . however we found a different venue and will be using our local football club for the reception so it didnt happen as thy have the beer we wanted anyway. £3.50 sounds ridiculous!! if they wont budge on that price have you tried asking if they can stock it? that way they ger profit but you dont have to pay out.
One BIG day will lead to lots of little happy days !!
CommentAuthor*KelBel*
Or put in the contract that if u buy it and it all sells,they reimburse u the price u paid for the barrels since they're gonna make a profit anyway
Velcro...my wedding day twinny! The Two Kel's!
Got engaged 14/10/12 in Central Park NYC!
Became Mrs Macdonald 13th September 2014
Mummy to 4 girlies and baby blue boy Due 10/05/2016
CommentAuthorbarbie86
Wow that's steep for the beer, works out at £5.03 a pint! Even posh central London venues we looked at didn't charge over £5!
Have you tried negotiating with the venue? If so, and they won't budge, I'd probably scrap the real ale. While it would be nice, I don't think it's necessary. Or, if you do do it, have you considered serving it as a welcome drink? (eg 2 half-pints per guest who drinks it). That way, you can control and also limit how much you spend, and it will still be a nice touch.
