A hunt for London’s cheapest pints

The average UK pint has risen from £4.47 to a whopping £6.75 in the last two years. And if you're anything like me, you too will complain profusely about how expensive a drink is and buy one anyway, because it is better to sulk with a pint than without one.

So, with those figures in tow, I’m counting anything under £6 as relatively cheap. Even though it's not really, but that's London for you. On average, Peroni comes out on top as the most expensive beer. If payday is looking a bit out of reach, it may have to be a Fosters.

The Anchor & Hope

For a small pub, this proper old-fashioned boozer has a big reputation and draws an eclectic mix of regular locals, thirsty cyclists, salty canal dogs, and actual canines.

Inside, you’ll find just one bar. It's no-frills and remains untouched by Fuller's corporate image. Outside are a few tables, often fully packed, that overlook the barge-lined River Lea onto Hackney marshes.

Cheap pints are on tap to ensure a sub-ten-pound round. So you can spend your newly saved pennies at Angel’s Delights Jerk Joint, a Jamaican food van on the pub's doorstep.

Clapton, E5 | anchor-and-hope-clapton.co.uk

Avenida Brasil

It's hard to miss this Brazilian restaurant with its canary yellow front.

Despite being better known for its authentic Picanha na Chapa and Frango á Parmigiana, its happy hour ensures an ice-cold Brahma beer for a refreshing £2.50 a pint. That’s not a typo. It really is £2.50.

Smugly sip sat firmly plonked on the terrace, surrounded by enough green foliage to ensnare Monty Don or head inside, where live musicians take turns strumming the samba. You may as well have a bite to eat too. After all, you’ve paid peanuts.

Stockwell, SW8 | Avenida Brasil Instagram

Pretty Decent

The name is fairly self-deprecating. As is the title of their Session IPA: I could get better at T*sco for a quid, fondly quoted from an early Google review. It’s fair to say, that online hater was just a bit salty as the drink is now a customer favourite.

This Walthamstow brewery marks its spot on the Blackhorse Beer Mile with 20 taps on offer for a fresh pint. It's industrial in decor with long wooden benches stretching outdoors for drinkers to perch on while Its No Big Dough slings Neapolitans at hungry drinkers.

Thursday’s £4 pints and taproom tours may interest fans of the hops and those with empty wallets. However, both may be horrified at the beer slushy.

Walthamstow, E17 | prettydecentbeer.co

Camden Road Arms

Across from Camden Road Station, you’ll find the aptly named Camden Road Arms, a Victorian ex-Draft House now owned by Brewdog.

It’s still spacious despite the dark wood floors, leather sofas and teal ceilings that could make a smaller pub feel like Harry Potter’s cupboard. Its central horseshoe bar is big on serving Beavertown, Siren and the like - so maybe not one for the traditionalists.

But the pièce de résistance is their daily happy hour. Four hours until 9 p.m., seven days a week. That equals 2-4-1 cocktails and a load of cheap pints for you to sink your teeth into.

Camden, NW1 | drink.brewdog.com

The Globe

Despite being one of seven Globe pubs within a two-mile radius, this Morning Lane drinking hole is a favourite to Hackney locals. A quick lick of paint in a recent refurbishment cleaned up the 1891 spot, but its clientele remains the same.

It's big on live sports screenings, darts, pool and midweek karaoke. Monday nights are the ones to watch, or join, the regulars jam out and sing the blues.

Beer selection is fairly limited, but it's worth it for the sweet prices. Deals on shot bundles or cheap spirits might entice you to have a bigger night than originally planned.

E9 residents use this pub as an unchanged refuge from Hackney’s gentrification, and the prices reflect that.

Hackney, E9 | craftunionpubs.com

Five Points Brewery & Taproom

Hop on over from Broadway Market to Five Points Taproom, an independently-owned brewery with no less than 18 taps ready to be poured and guzzled. Drinkers can sit and sip in the mezzanine viewing gallery or try a tour to learn what's in their glass by sampling the suds straight from the tanks.

For al fresco drinking, Five Points Courtyard is just around the bend. An expansive olive tree-heavy space with permanent resident From the Ashes smokehouse flipping smash burgers and a shaded pergola area for when the weather just won't chill.

Thursdays and Fridays are the time to go because, from 5-7 p.m., pints are only £3.99. So, you can have all the beer without the fear (of the next day's bank statement).

Hackney, E8 | fivepointsbrewing.co.uk

The Pride of Spitalfields

This old-school drinking den is a traditional London pub, without the London prices. Sat in a cobblestoned corner of Brick Lane, the Pride is located in Jack the Ripper's old neighbourhood. One of the pub's original patrons is said to have been the last person to see the Ripper’s final victim, back in 1888.

Inside, cosy red upholstery and wooden panelling are accompanied by tinny tunes spun on an old record player. There are no screens, no fruit machines, no frills.

A large selection of ales and lagers are on offer, with a Staropramen at just £4.80 and a Guinness at £5.50. However, you’d struggle to sniff out a craft beer or cocktail. For a bit of a walk, you can find a drink that is £2 cheaper than the pubs further up the road.

Spitalfields, E1 | Pride of Spitalfields Instagram

The Clapton Hart

Formally the White Hart, this East End pub sits on the Lea Bridge roundabout, on what used to be the epicentre of Hackney’s murder mile. No longer blessed with that terrifying title (a testament to gentrification), the Clapton Hart draws a broad mix of drinkers.

Despite keeping many of its original 18th-century features, the Clapton Hart boasts a fairly recent large pub garden that is often swamped. The menu features the usual pub grub – burgers, a Sunday roast and even a deep-fried Mars bar for the Scottish among you.

It has a scrappy, sort of shabby chic, reclaimed feel. Inside reigns of multicoloured bunting line the walls and bric-a-brac is scattered for decor. Eight taps serve a range of ales from those easy to find anywhere to those niche local brewery types. Both sport fairly reasonable prices that keep every kind of drinker content.

Clapton, E5 | claptonhart.com

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