What do you believe is a reasonable price to pay for a schooner or pint of beer or a glass of wine at your local watering hole in Douglas?

Since the last time Newsport did an article on beer prices locally (Editor Michael Warren last reported on this topic of high public interest in August 2023), we’ve received all sorts of ripping yarns, and possibly ‘ripping off’ stories, and we’d like to hear more.

This time we started out at The Courthouse Hotel, one of the busiest pubs in town, where the price of a schooner of ‘regular’ beer (like Great Northern or VB) is $10.50, or if you prefer a ‘craft’ or ‘imported’ brew, you’ll be paying $13.00 per schooner.

Referring to the same venue, local public transport advocate and mayoral candidate at the March council election, David Haratsis commented on Facebook about our previous story: “2 pints of Balter XPA at the Courthouse recently cost me $35.50. I’ll just leave that there.” 

But if you catch happy hour (there are actually two separate happy hours) up the street at Rattle n Hum, a pint of tap beer can be got for a bargain $7.50 and a jug for $15.

We’ve seen and heard reviews and reports, which seem to indicate that locals and travellers alike think some Douglas public bar prices are a little on the high side.

Without naming the pub, this was a recent review on Tripadvisor: “Drinks were expensive for a hotel at $22 for a beer and standard vodka lime and soda.” 

Publicans across the region and a lot of other places in Queensland have pointed to ever-increasing government excises on beer (although the last increase happened in February) and other factors like freight and packaging cost rises, penalty rates and public holiday loadings.

Yet, this writer can also report that there are pubs and hotels to the south of Cairns that offer a schooner of regular beer all hours for $6-$8, and even less during happy hour.