Greene King gives away pints for free after being told it can’t charge 6p

Pub chain Greene King has opted to give away pints of its own Greene King IPA for free, after being told that licensing laws prohibited it from selling the beer at the nominal price of 6p. 

Greene King had planned to sell pints of its IPA for 6p yesterday – a nod to the average price of a pint when Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952.

However, the pub chain and brewer was told that this was in contravention of alcohol licensing laws and subsequently abandoned the promotion. The good news for consumers is that the chain instead opted to give away a pint for free to each customer at one of its 400 eligible managed pubs.

“One of the ideas we had was for a promotion in 400 of our managed pubs where customers could buy one pint each of Greene King IPA for 6p today – the same price it was in 1952.” Greene King said.

“We thought this was a great way to celebrate this remarkable occasion and we’ve been thrilled at the response from customers.

“However, we have some good news for everyone, which is that we will now be giving the Jubilee first pint of Greene King IPA away free of charge today, as we now understand it’s not permissible under the licensing act to charge the 6p. “Just remember to use the keyword ‘1952’ and check whether your local pub is running the offer plus further details at greeneking-pubs.co.uk/my-local. Cheers everyone.”

If you’re looking for some inspiration for the best drinks with which to toast the Queen this weekend, you can find our 13 top pics here.