Greene King: Free pints available in pubs next week if it rains in Manchester

A free pint is offer for drinkers across the nation - provided it rains in Manchester next week.

Research by pub company and brewer Greene King to mark the first day of spring revealed that despite over eight in ten Brits (81%) believing rain is quintessentially British, almost three quarters (74%) claim that it puts them off going out and socialising. Those least likely to go out are Gen Z, with 85% citing they’re less likely to go out if it’s wet.  To encourage the nation to step outdoors and into the showers and to mark March 2023 being the wettest March on record for 40 years, this year, Greene King is celebrating the rain with its biggest ever free beer giveaway.

 Manchester has been designated the UK’s wettest city, so a 9ft tall pint glass will be installed in the city centre - and if rain falls from midnight on Monday to 11.59 on Wednesday, the raindrop detector will light up and the free pints deal will be activated in pubs up and down the country.

Keen viewers can watch the action unfold via a livestream of the Rain Drop Detector from the 25th March: https://www.greeneking.co.uk/we-pour

Greene King enlisted former England footballer and pub lover Peter Crouch to launch its free pint offer. He said: “Having experienced playing football at the highest level for England, I know how much the nation loves their sport and hates the weather, so it’s no surprise to see that’s what people chat about at the pub most.

“I’ve also had my fair share of playing in wet conditions and seen first-hand how it can impact sport, and with my height, when it rains, I feel it before most people do. There’s no better place to go on a rainy day than a cosy pub to enjoy a well-earned drink, I’ll be on tenterhooks looking out for the rain on Monday, with 100,000 free pints up for grabs, there’s only one place I’ll be heading when the rain drops start to fall.”

Despite the Great British weather being stereotypically wet and miserable, over four in ten (44%) Brits admit they still don’t like the rain and over three quarters of the UK (75%) reveal weather as the most typically ‘British’ topic of conversation.

Clair Preston-Beer, managing director for Greene King Pubs, said: “Since March 2023 was the wettest March on record, we decided to mark the beginning of spring by offering the nation 100,000 free pints in our Greene King pubs nationwide to celebrate rather than commiserate the first drops of rain, because let’s face it, it won’t be the last of the wet weather! 

“With over four in 10 (41%) saying a free pint would cheer them up on a rainy day, it was a no-brainer for us to announce our biggest ever pint giveaway, as we all love a freebie, but the stats show not all of us love the wet weather!

Find a participating Greene King pub here: https://www.greeneking.co.uk/we-pour “While we can’t control the weather we can make up for it with a free pint at one of our pubs up and down the country. We can’t wait to welcome customers into our pubs to claim a free drink on us, so keep an eye on the sky and our rain drop detector!”