Jeremy Clarkson’s new pub, The Farmer’s Dog, officially opened to the public last week (23 August).
Fans of The Grand Tour star queued up for hours on opening day to be among the first to check out Clarkson’s latest venture, which is approximately 20 minutes away from Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire.
While visitors loved the pub itself, calling it ‘an absolute gem of a site,’ the price to get a round in has forced Clarkson to defend himself.
The price of a pint at The Farmer’s Dog ranges between £5.50 and £6 depending on which line of Clarkson’s own Hawkstone beer or cider you’re looking to buy.
Hawkstone IPA, Hawkstone Premium, Hawkstone Hedgerow Cider, and Hawkstone Cider are all £6, with a half pint coming in at £3.10.
The Hawkstone Session lager is £5.50 a pint, alongside the Hawkstone Pils, Hawkstone Breeze, and cask ale. For a half, you’re looking at £2.90.
Among a plethora of social media reviews since the pub’s opening, some have criticised the venue’s prices.
Some fans have criticised the prices at Jeremy Clarkson’s new pub The Farmer’s Dog (PA/Neil Robinson)
One critic wrote: “Really necessary to charge those prices? Absolutely ripping people off because it’s on TV, it’s sick.”
A second added: “Now you wonder why people go to the supermarket [for their beer].”
While a third claimed: “Prices are ridiculous!”
On the pub’s opening day, Clarkson told fans: “Everything you consume in there, every single thing, even the black pepper and the sugar, was grown or reared by British farmers. Everything.”
And, after an X user quipped: “I bet you’ll need to remortgage once you’ve bought a round,” he simply replied: “It’s £5.50 for a pint.”
A fan then went on to defend the pub’s prices, saying it’s unfair to compare them to other venues due to its homegrown ethos.
They wrote: “Please stop complaining about the prices. You can’t compare them to a ‘normal’ pub, where food is sourced by huge national wholesalers.”
Clarkson has since defended the pub which offers almost exclusively British produce (PA)
But, while most of The Farmer’s Dog’s offerings are local to the UK, Clarkson has revealed an exception to the rule, writing on the pub’s website about his one ‘failures’.
“I have tried my absolute hardest to make sure that every single thing you consume in The Farmer’s Dog was grown or reared by British farmers. And I have failed,” he wrote prior to its opening.
“Yes, the pork, the beef, the lamb and the venison are all British. And so is pretty much everything else.
“But there have been some problems like, for instance, the simple G&T. You can’t have a pub that doesn’t offer a gin and tonic. But there is quinine in tonic water, and you can’t grow that in Britain.”
He continued: “Sure, I could have served gin and water instead, but I didn’t think you’d enjoy it very much. Especially as, instead of a slice of lemon, you’d have been given a slice of turnip, or some potato peelings.”