(The Daily Telegraph) 26 May 2006:

In recent years the Great British Pub has changed, from a rather gloomy, smoky, male-only preserve, to one that’s well-lit and offers food.  As a result, the British pub is a great deal more likely to have women in it.

The unexpected effect: the beer is becoming weaker. The major chains of pubs are seeing drops of 2% and 3% in the sales of the strongest beers and similar volume rises in weaker beers. So while the total volume of beer being drunk is staying the same, the amount of alcohol (and we would assume drunkeness) is going down. As one analyst delicately put it:

“Dare I say it, but it is partly a result of women playing a bigger part in decision making.”