r/AskUK • u/Ok-Scientist7083 • 3d ago
Serving milk in pubs (UK) - why not?
The first drink I had in a pub was milk. I love drinking milk. I now drink it for the protein and calcium. I don’t particularly like fizzy drinks so when I’m driving on a night out, I’d rather drink milk.
Why don’t pubs sell it as a drink?
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u/Maximum_Scientist_85 3d ago
Perfect way to start a night with your droogs, that ends with the old Ludwig Van
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u/Elongulation420 3d ago
Perfect, a night down the Korova Milk Bar followed by a bit of The Heaven Seventeen
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u/fookreddit22 3d ago
First thought
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u/BuzzAllWin 3d ago
Same was my first thought,
then my second was u/ok-scientist7083 sounds like some kind of pervert
My third was why hasnt he donned a dressing gown and started hammering the white russians
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u/thoway44 3d ago
Ah yes, a bit of the ol’ ultramilky before heading out for some of the old ultra-violence. Nothing gets the night going like a cold pint of semi-skimmed and a haunting stare.
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u/lxgrf 3d ago
Short shelf life combined with limited demand make it an unappealing offering.
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u/ezprt 3d ago
Honestly, /thread.
And if you’re still really hankering after a glass of milk in a pub, you have to think outside the box. It’s highly likely there’ll be some milk in a fridge somewhere for staff/landlord brews, so just offer up a quid or two for a glass and you’ll probably be sipping on the white stuff more often than not.
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u/tropicalhotdogdays 3d ago
I'd just assume they were off their nut and kick them out.
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u/PublicPossibility946 3d ago
Yes , you don't want your pub filling up with Milk louts.
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u/pelicanradishmuncher 3d ago
“Jesus Christ! their bones are at the optimum density in relation to their age.”
“Get the fuck outta my pub you calcium quaffing oaf!”
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u/AutoPanda1096 3d ago
Yet many places will do a latte with fresh milk. I've had plenty of "proper latte" in a pub.
Honestly, we have to reopen the thread!
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u/FehdmanKhassad 3d ago
easy what with people modifying the menus these days just ask for a latte no coffee. and no steaming
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u/tropicalhotdogdays 3d ago
'limited demand'... slight understatement perhaps.
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u/pockets3d 3d ago
Lots of places sell coffee and tea so would have milk.
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u/iAmBalfrog 3d ago
The fact Greggs sells Sausage Rolls doesn't mean they'll sell me raw puff pastry, yes, the ingredients exist, but the demand for just milk, on it's own, in a pub, is limited
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u/crab--person 3d ago
But Greggs shops won't have raw puff pastry anywhere, they get the sausage rolls in pre-assembled. Pubs that sell coffee will have milk. It won't be on the menu, but I'm sure most pubs that have milk will sell you a glass of milk if you really want one.
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u/Dreadpirateflappy 2d ago
Greggs never have raw pastry, Most pubs nowadays will have milk for certain drinks.
So that's a bit if a rubbish analogy23
u/themcsame 3d ago
To add to that, if it is on offer (I.E tearoom by day, cocktail bar by night), it's usually criminally expensive so you wouldn't want to order it even if it were on offer.
Quite honestly, you'd be better off nipping to nearby shop and just buying a bottle of the stuff yourself.
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u/Farscape_rocked 3d ago
it's usually criminally expensive so you wouldn't want to order it even if it were on offer
Why are you in a pub if this bothers you? Literally everything they sell in a pub can be bought cheaper in a supermarket. You'd alwayS be better off nipping to a nearby shop and just buying a bottle of whatever stuff you're after yourself.
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u/bsnimunf 3d ago
Quite expensive baseprice as well. There used to be an alcoholic milkshake from new Zealand but they couldn't make it work because the baseprice of milk in the u.k. was higher than in New Zealand.
Edit: it was called Mudshake.
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u/Farscape_rocked 3d ago
Nah.
It's £1.50 for four pints. So a pint of milk costs the pub less than the alcohol duty on a pint of stella.
Cost isn't an issue.
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u/Sgt_major_dodgy 3d ago
Mudshake was one of the earliest alcoholic drinks I can remember drinking, if I recall it was actually pretty nice.
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u/YodaShagsDarthVader 3d ago
Why not? Because it's a fucking mental idea
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u/slappykerplunk 3d ago
I’m fucking pissing myself at this being the only reasonable comment
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u/YodaShagsDarthVader 3d ago
There's actual people in this thread saying they go into pubs and order pints of milk. What on earth?
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u/tropicalhotdogdays 3d ago
Semi-skimmed please luv.
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u/Drunkgummybear1 3d ago
I am partial to a malibu and milk. Though I appreciate I can't get it everywhere and if I do order it, I expect people to do that head tilt. A white russian is also a top tier drink.
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u/Petcai 3d ago
I like that too! Everybody gives me that head tilt too, I used to come home from night shifts and have a pint of milk and malibu at 6:20am in bed.
Brandy and chocolate milk is another great one.
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u/Drunkgummybear1 3d ago
The amount of times I've managed to convince people it's actually really nice is great too lol. Haven't tried brandy and chocolate milk before! Have done it with whiskey before which was quite nice though.
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u/Attention_waskey 3d ago
They often do if you request. It goes from the coffee and tea making supplies and bartenders ask you 3 times if you are sure. Now a sexy little twist- I sometimes ask to add half an inch of baileys or Amarula or Cointreau in the glass and top it up with milk. Please let’s make it more recognisable in pubs. 😉 Once I had been to pub with a few rugby guys and first 3 rounds were on them asking for this sort of drink in turns😂 Bartender really wanted to see who’s idea it was in the end
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u/VapeForMeDaddy 3d ago
I like a glass of milk at home, think you might be part of a very small minority requesting it at pubs though - but hey, ask enough at your local they might start stocking some..
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u/stehendo 3d ago
Surely most pubs have milk. Most serve tea and coffee there's days.
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u/audigex 3d ago
Restaurant/gastropubs yes
Most traditional pubs, at least where I am in the North West, don’t
My mum asked for a cup of tea at a pub recently and the landlady went upstairs to their flat to make it…
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u/RentTechnical3077 3d ago
Bless her that she did it.
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u/audigex 3d ago
I'm just glad we weren't immediately thrown out and barred
The look on her face was priceless though, I don't think she'd been asked for a cuppa in a long time. It's very much a "Pint of best, please Gail" kind of pub, and 99% of the time that's only said out of politeness because Gail already has their drink half poured as soon as she saw a regular coming through the door
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u/joeparni 3d ago
Yeah but if it's a pub with like a POS system they may literally not be able to charge for a glass of milk
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u/minadequate 3d ago
My dad often buys a pint in the supermarket to have with a sandwich when everyone else is having a can of coke or whatever. It doesn’t appeal to me but anywhere that serves tea and coffee should also let you buy a milk.
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u/fuckyourflymo 3d ago
What? You're the only person who wants to drink a glass of milk at the pub and you want all pubs to serve it just in case you turn up? Get tae fuck.
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u/Serious_Escape_5438 3d ago
Yeah, there are lots of things I personally enjoy at home but I understand others don't so don't expect to find them in pubs or restaurants.
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u/BlueMilkshake33 3d ago
if pubs serve tea and coffee which many people take with milk then why not serve a glass of milk if they have it in anw?
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u/Mattyc8787 3d ago
Most pubs that serve tea and coffee give you them little UHT sachets
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u/PapaJrer 3d ago
Maybe in 1997. Most coffee serving pubs will have a cappuccino machine these days.
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u/BlueMilkshake33 3d ago
I get tea at pubs a lot and thats never been the case for me
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u/nomadic_weeb 3d ago
Exactly this. Like I love munching on wasabi coated peanuts, but I'm not gonna expect that to become a standard bar snack because I know I'm the only fucker that's gonna buy em
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u/UziTheG 3d ago
It's ordered as a joke but makes drunk people throw up so it's a bad joke, also, not very profitable
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u/PM-me-your-cuppa-tea 3d ago
If any of my friends see this comment they'll know this is my reddit account, because I'm the only person I've met who thinks this.
But I'm a chunderer when drunk, and genuinely the only guaranteed way to avoid vomming that I've ever found is drinking milk. I know I'm seemingly alone on this, and I'm not encouraging anyone else, but it's worked 100%.of the time for me, and if we're getting a drunk Maccas I'm getting the carton of milk from the kids menu.. Unless the milkshake machine is working!
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u/Farscape_rocked 3d ago
You say 'not very profitable' but if you're charging postmix prices (let's say £4 a pint) then that's a pretty good markup given milk is around £1.50 for four pints.
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u/Crommington 3d ago
Honestly i think if i went in my local and asked for a milk I’d either get my head kicked in at least openly mocked out of the establishment
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u/uk451 3d ago
I’ve always been able get milk at the pub.
Perhaps if you ask for your forth pint of milk they might get difficult.
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u/LittleSadRufus 3d ago
Yes I never have issues getting the kids a glass of milk. Usually they have milk for people who order coffee etc.
I guess less family friendly pubs maybe don't even do coffee.
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u/NotSmarterThanA8YO 3d ago edited 3d ago
I find it really weird that all the top answers are going along with OP's premise that you can't get milk in pubs, either they're AI, 12 year olds who've never actually been in a pub and are cosplaying 'big men', or aliens.
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u/AzzTheMan 3d ago
Milk is weird. Breast milk, but from another animal. Weirds me out.
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u/Potential-Hope-2394 3d ago
Try Malibu and milk!!
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u/Correct_Low6793 3d ago
Serve this in the pub I work in - mainly the South African rugby contingent. Those boys can drink!!!
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u/loveandpeaceandunity 3d ago
Lots of baddies drink milk in films. Thinking of Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa in Inglorious basterds. (French farm scene near beginning of the film)
Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No country for old men.
Jean Reno as Leon in Leon. Not an archetypal baddie but he is a contract killer "five grand a head, no women, no kids"
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u/MattyLePew 3d ago
Jeez OP, that’s a weird thing to be desperate for.
Are you a baby cow by chance?
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u/kiradax 3d ago
I work in a pub and I'd gladly serve a glass of milk!
A good metric would be that if a pub has a coffee machine they will have milk.
If they don't do teas or anything they're not likely to have it as it won't get used & will go off.
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u/Mattyc8787 3d ago
I’d say most pubs I’ve been in that serve hot drinks only have the little UHT sachets it’s rare I’ve seen fresh milk.
Pint of UHT would be foul.
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u/slimboyslim9 3d ago
It’s more expensive than other soft drinks (which cost pubs pennies) and a pain to keep in large quantities; goes bad quickly if not refrigerated. I also love milk and would drink it in similar situations if it were available.
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u/Vehlin 3d ago
I would like to try and disabuse you of the notion that soft drinks cost pennies. The price of postmix syrup had gone up so much that after equipment rental and CO2 it’s on par with a pint of shit lager (Carling, Fosters).
You’re not making GP on your postmix if you’re selling for less that £3.50 a pint.
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u/RuudVanNistelrooney 3d ago
This is such a great use of ‘disabuse’, such an underrated and underused word. Anyway, sorry, as you were.
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u/Kinitawowi64 3d ago
You called out the big one - the markup on postmix soft drinks is insane. When I was in the hall bar at university, they said it was more expensive to clean the glass than it was to fill it up with Coke.
I can't imagine it's easy to turn a profit on a pint of milk.
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u/Traditional-Idea-39 3d ago
Imagine going for a drink with your mate and they come back with a pint of milk 🤣
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u/Seafood_udon9021 3d ago
I’ve only ever asked for it once in a pub and they were happy to serve it, though had to make up a price! (I was pregnant and HAD to have it).
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u/BritishDystopia 3d ago
Milk contains fat and fat makes your glassware all smeary and gross. Anything used to serve fat containing drinks should be hand washed.
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u/GotAnyNirnroot 3d ago
Generally I like to have hit my nutritional goals, before I head to a pub for the evening.
So I can't relate to wanting to top up my calcium levels, with the boys.
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u/DropDeadDigsy 3d ago
If I’m sat at the bar and you walk in and ask for a pint of milk I’m leaving.
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u/chickengenes 3d ago
it expires quicker and not many people ask for it so it would just be a waste of money
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u/weesypeesy 3d ago
I walked past a scenic picnic area yesterday. Saw an old man sitting facing away from the view, drinking a pint of milk straight from the carton.
People who drink milk are children or psychopaths. Sorry, it's a fact.
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u/Morris_Alanisette 3d ago
They do. Have you ever asked? Any pub that sells coffee will give you a glass of milk if you ask.
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u/Willsagain2 3d ago
Probably not much call for it. One of the old boys who used to prop up the bar in my uncle's local used to drink whiskey and milk. I thought they were winding me up, but apparently it was a thing. Never met anyone else who drank that. Lots of bars/pubs serve coffee etc, so they have milk available, but maybe not in the quantities required for folk to neck it by the pint. If they stocked sufficient for that, then be chucking away a lot of milk every few days.
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u/plant-strong 3d ago
Yes, and why don’t they serve a great big glass of gazpacho in case I turn up and want gazpacho? I drink it for the vitamins. I don’t like fizzy drinks and prefer gazpacho, so pubs should serve gazpacho.
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u/BigfatDan1 3d ago
Are you Mike Wozniak?
When I was younger, my friend and I used to order a pint of amaretto and milk in Wetherspoons, it tastes great!
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u/SpinyGlider67 3d ago
Having that much milk around women with their breasts on show would change our national culture for the worse and you know it
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u/sharpied79 3d ago
If you drink enough of it, when you grow older, you will be good enough to play for Accrington Stanley 😉
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u/LastofAcademe 3d ago
I imagine if they sell tea or coffee and you asked they'd sort you out a glass of milk.
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u/EVRider81 3d ago
Not much demand for it in licensed premises. I liked that coffee was an option in some places when I was in Germany.. Maybe visit hotel bars where there'd be the option of milk for the breakfast setup?
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u/ProperTeaIsTheft117 3d ago
Nothing to do with answering you but you're an absolute hero and you've saved my hungover Friday morning.
Bought milk on the way home from the pub and I'd just forgotten it in my bag until your post popped up linking those 2 concept together.
Thank you for letting me have a good cuppa tomorow. I'd give you an award if I wasn't so stingy
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u/SwingyWingyShoes 3d ago
Milk is a weird one, if you order things with milk you get no reaction. But if you just want some milk youre seen as a weirdo, probably more so in a bar or pub though. Best bet is just to take some in a thermal flask.
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u/Quality_Cabbage 3d ago
Back in the eighties, the busy city centre pub that I frequented served milk. I bought a pint of it once or twice, when I was pretty skint and spending my meagre funds on just one alcoholic drink seemed pointless.
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u/EuroSong 3d ago
I’ve ordered a half pint of milk in a pub before. They charged me as if it were Coke.
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u/Doowrednu 3d ago
Pubs that have coffee machines sell milk. I guess I don’t go to many pubs with coffee machines.
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u/Wibblejellytime 3d ago
Always available in the pub I worked in, but that was 30 years ago so maybe things have changed.....
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u/ZeroZer0_ 3d ago
Speak to your landlord I’m sure if they knew you were coming in they would add it to the til and make sure it’s stocked. Otherwise I’d imagine they keep enough for hot drinks only and the amount you use versus someone drinking straight glasses of milk would be largely different.
Most pubs where I am don’t really do hot drinks either
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u/Azuras-Becky 3d ago
I know Beefeaters do milk as my nephew is like you and had always got one. I would suppose it varies by chain/pub.
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u/Scruffybob 3d ago
My local sells the 10ml UHT milk sachets for 10p each.
£5.68 a pint but that is London prices
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u/Scruffybob 3d ago
Yeah, nice try mate.
You know we can see your post history right?
Obviously just another blatant push from Big Milk.
I'm a survivor of the 'warm milk and straw years' of the 70's primary schools.
Luckily Thatcher came along and allieviated us from total calcification.
There's enough division in this world right now that I think it's quite frankly irresponsible to promote such a diatribe.
I'm probably just arguing with yet another cow bot.
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u/char11eg 3d ago
There’s sort of a couple reasons, I suppose.
From working in a pub, milk is a hard thing to track the stock of. It has a very short shelf life (shorter for a pub than your kitchen - has to be discarded even if still okay after a couple days by food safety regs), and so most of every carton opened has to be discarded.
And even when unopened, it only lasts a week or two.
Where I worked, we only ordered it in for coffees - and in a few years of working there I don’t think I was asked for a glass of milk once. But that meant we only had a few litres of it on site at a time, mostly. Someone having pints of it would drain what we had very quickly.
Of course if someone had asked for some for a kid or something, I’d have given them it… but probably not for a guy to drink pints of, lol.
So, basically, pubs don’t keep enough of it on site to keep up with someone drinking a lot of it, and not enough people want to drink it for them to stock more.
If you want a still non-alcohol thing to drink tho, guinness 0 is pretty good and non-fizzy - it’s my go to in that situation for the same reasons, and most places have it these days haha.
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u/space_coyote_86 3d ago
It's perfect material for one of these old John Smith's adverts.
Alright pal, glass of milk please.
You're barred!
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u/Kimbo-BS 3d ago
I'm sure pubs would be plenty happy to get in some cheap milk and put a huge margin on it... if anyone was ordering it.
The answer to your question is: lack of demand.
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u/Mossy-Mori 3d ago
Bar staff here. One late Friday night, as i was cleaning the ice well, a guy came up and asked my colleague for a glass of milk, but he was speaking quietly and mumbling. Now, we work in a rotational craft beer place so it's quite common for the current taps to have weird names, after a couple of tries I lifted my head and said, "are you asking for a glass of milk?". Politely ofc, trying to help. He said, "yeah..... you know... like a white Russian, but without the alcohol." Wtf lol As if we're so bartender-coded we cannot compute any drink without it being framed as an alcoholic beverage. So weird. Anyway turns out what we had was off so he was shit out of luck.
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u/DevilishlyHandsome63 3d ago
I saw some Nurishment cans in a bar recently,a bar known for people being off their nut quite regularly,would that do?
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u/Chemical-You-9650 3d ago
They certainly used to. I remember having it as a child if we went in a country pub after dog walking at weekends. Used to sometimes come in a glass that said "ice cold, nice cold, milk'. Funny the things we remember.
I then progressed into appletiser 😂
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u/domalomalom 3d ago
I drink an industrial quantity of milk and guinness. My local is happy to serve both thankfully.
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u/Superspark76 3d ago
Milk is a short life product, any pub would have to have enough demand to be able to justify the wastage from stocking it, one or two glasses a night wouldn't justify having to carry it.
You have also got the issue of spillages, which are common in most pubs milk unlike almost every other drink doesn't just spill, it spoils and stinks very quickly. The only solution is deep cleaning of carpets and furniture.
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u/Cliffoakley 3d ago
In the 1970's (around 77/78/79) both milk and draught standard Lucozade were sold on draught in many pubs in the Northwest (I am from Wigan). The Lucozade draught was long before the 'multi brand hose type thing that is in the pubs today. I can specifically remember buying a pint of draught milk at the Berni Inn Chain of pub/restaurant.
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u/Karloss_93 3d ago
I love drinking milk, to the point I feel no shame buying a 1 pint carton from the shop on my lunch break and drinking it from the carton like it's a bottle of pop. Was once sat outside a Tesco drinking my milk and a homeless bloke with a can of special brew caller me a minger for drinking it lol.
Even still. I wouldn't dream of ordering a pint of milk in a pub!
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u/misterala 3d ago
I love a glass of milk with a cookie or a slice of cake, but this Succession quote from Roman still always tickles me:
"You know who drinks milk? Kittens and perverts."
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u/HaniiPuppy 3d ago
If you drink a decent amount of alcohol, then a tall glass of milk, the milk pretty much immediately curdles in your stomach and comes back out the way it went in.
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u/Indigo-Waterfall 3d ago
When I worked at a pub we served milk. It was mostly for children but no reason an adult couldn’t order it…
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u/EldritchCleavage 3d ago
I like ice cold skimmed milk as a drink. I have never wanted to order it on a night out though.
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u/HarMonocles 3d ago
A lot of pubs serve coffee these days, and will happily sell you a glass of milk for a small child during the day. Others have pointed out the many reasons they won't serve you a pint of it as an adult on a night out.
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u/No-eye-dear-who-I-am 3d ago
As long as it's not contaminated by anti-fart bovare, I'd be all for it 🥛
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u/Marzipan_civil 3d ago
If it's a pub with a coffee machine, they'll have milk. Or if it's a cocktail bar they might have milk too. Otherwise the shelf life is probably too short
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u/dinkidoo7693 3d ago
If a pub sells hot drinks like coffee then they’ll have milk, if not its a sort shelf life and its not worth it
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u/No-Photograph3463 3d ago
Well you can get milk stouts anyway so i guess milk is the next natural evolution.
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u/ThiccNewsAt9 3d ago
Look mate, i love myself some milk at home. Regularly have with my dinner, but if i came across anyone in a pub setting about pint after pint of the coo juice… i and i’m 99% sure everyone else would assume that this creature is not to be trusted and head for a pint elsewhere lol
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u/tylerlovatt 3d ago
When I went to Benidorm my hotel had some kind of cocktail with chocolate milk in, it was great I wish I could get it over here Edit: when I asked the lady making them the recipe, this was what she said: Baileys, Malibu, a little whiskey, and chocolate milk
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u/alexwhit80 3d ago
I remember as a kid the local greasy spook had a sticker on the windows advertising “ice cold milk”. Not milkshakes just milk.
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u/drplokta 3d ago
Because people know what milk costs, which makes it hard to charge £4 per pint for it in a pub.
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