Butcombe Brewery defends £17-cost for a pint and glass of wine at country pub near Bristol

A major brewery near Bristol has issued a defence of its drink prices at one of its popular country pubs, claiming they are ‘very competitively priced’ compared to other premium pubs in the area.

Butcombe’s Ring O Bells pub in the village of Compton Martin, next to Chew Valley Lake, was the end-stop of a 2.5 mile ramble, one of our weekly pub walk features.

The 16th Century village local is certainly full of character with dark wooden beams, wooden flooring and stone walls. Outside there is a large garden with a newly-built play area - and the grub looked good too. It’s also famous for secret gigs from the likes of Coldplay in 2013, and Kyle Minogue in 2021.

But the price of drinks could not be described as cheap. We purchased a pint of the brewery’s own Butcombe Original, brewed just six miles away in Wrington, along with a large glass of Malbec. The total cost was £17.05, with the pint costing £5.05 and the 250ml measure of wine £12.

The cost of the beer might surprise some with the same drink costing less at pubs not owned by Butcombe in Bristol. At the London Inn in Bedminster, a pint costs just £3, albeit in rather different surroudings.

We put the cost for the drinks to the brewery, which also manages The Bowl Inn in Almondsbury, The Cottage Inn in Baltic Wharf and The Ostrich in Redcliffe.

In response, a spokesperson for Butcombe Pubs & Inns said: “Like all industries across the UK, we’ve had to increase some prices very slightly due to supplier costs and this includes wine - these costs are merely passed on without any additional mark-up.

“Our own beer prices, however, have not increased for some time. Compared to other premium pubs in the area we’re very competitively priced. A large glass of Merlot equates to a third of a bottle, so the price reflects that.”