A pint of Guinness is becoming a pint of pain for your wallet.

Pint prices will reach well over €6 – and beyond €7 in Dublin – when the fourth price hike in just two years kicks in next month.

Brewing giant Diageo – which owns Guinness, Harp, Smithwicks, Hophouse 13 and Harp – has written to publicans advising them that their costs will go up by around 6cent per pint on February 3.

But industry sources have warned that once VAT, duty and the pub margin are added it will mean 30c extra for a pint “at the tap”.

One consumer advocacy group called the move “off the wall”.

Michael Kilcoyne, of the Consumers’ Association of Ireland, said: “It’s savage. It would appear as if they’re trying to get people to stop drinking.

“They’re doing the HSE’s job for them.”

This is the fourth increase from Diageo since January 2023, adding almost a euro to the cost of a pint since then.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office show that prior to the January 2023 hike of 12c, the average nationwide price of a pint of lager was €5.70, while stout was €5.20.

The latest data for November 2024 show that lager had reached €6.25 while stout was €5.82, meaning the next round of hikes will see them hit €6.55 and €6.12 respectively.

That represents an increase of 85c for lager and 92c for stout in the space of two years.

The cost will be even heavier for drinkers in Dublin, where prices are likely to surpass €7.

And in the famous tourist haunt Temple Bar a pint already costs €9.95, so a 30c increase would push it well over €10.

A spokesman for brewer Diageo blamed “increased costs across our Irish operations”, adding: “In an effort to offset these costs and to maintain a sustainable business in Ireland, we have advised our on-trade customers that there will be an increase to the list prices on our full draught product range.

“This includes an increase equivalent of €0.06c per pint of Guinness, and €0.09c on Guinness 0.0 and will take effect from February 3.”

The no-alcohol version, Guinness 0.0, is going up by 3c more than a regular pint as the brewing process and removing the alcohol means it costs more to produce, the spokesman explained.

Diageo last increased its prices in July last year when it added 4c to a pint which, once VAT, duty and the publicans’ margin was added it meant 10c on a pint at the bar.

An industry source said: “Most publicans will have to increase their prices.

“Once you add VAT, duty and the publican’s margin it adds up to 30c.”

Consumer advocate Mr Kilcoyne questioned if Diageo was “trying to put people off the drink”.

He added: “It’s savage... The man that likes to go for his pint now is going to be rare because they won’t be able to afford it.

“They keep shoving up the price all the time. If you go to the pub with three friends and buy a round it’s the guts of 30 quid.

“And there’s no justification for it unless they’re just trying to put fellas off the drink.”

Rival brewing giant Heineken, which also produces Murphy’s and Beamish in Cork, said it did not “comment on commercial terms” when asked if it had any plans to raise its prices.

One brewing group reacted to the news by promising it will not raise its prices this year.

Ronan Lynch, of the Swan pub on Aungier Street, Dublin, is behind the Changing Times Brewery which is backed by some of the best known publican families in Dublin.

He said: “We thought it was important to make that clear, so that our customers know they will be paying the same prices today and tomorrow as they did when we launched last November.”