Wetherspoons announced its latest quarterly results this week, with sales up 5.1% over the 12 week period. Meanwhile Brewdog announced the imminent closure of 10 bars.
Wetherspoons has 794 pubs in the UK and Ireland, while Brewdog has around 100. However there is a point of direct comparison.
Brewdog’s flagship beer is Punk IPA. As with most pub chains the price can vary and short of a personal visit its difficult to find out what they are. Brewdog posts pub beerlists on Untapped but not prices. When its Waterloo bar, in the Sidings underneath the old Eurostar terminal, opened in 2022 Punk IPA was £7.10 a pint. I can’t reliably report its current price but its likely to be above £8 a pint at that location.
Wetherspoons also sells Punk IPA in its pubs and last autumn opened a new outlet, the Lion and Unicorn(Tim Martin is a George Orwell fan), also in the Sidings at Waterloo. It takes less than a minute to walk from the Brewdog to the Spoons.
The Wetherspoons App publishes the prices of all drinks. Hence on 24th July 2025 Punk IPA is retailing at £6.63 a pint. Spoons in central London is more expensive than elsewhere but for the location that is still keenly priced.
There is a cost of living crisis and if those that like Punk prefer to drink it in Spoons rather than Brewdog should we be surprised. Alternatively down the main steps at Waterloo Station and just over the road is the independent Waterloo Tap that sells an excellent range of cask and keg beers at prudent prices.
Good to know!