A MAN has paid over €60,000 for a beer at a hotel in Manchester, quite possibly making it the most expensive beer in the history of mankind.
Australian cricket journalist Peter Lalor, who was in the UK covering The Ashes, claims he wasn't wearing his glasses when the bill was brought over to him for his single pint of Deuchars IPA.
He willingly handed over his bank card to a member of staff at the Malmaison Hotel on Sunday, and thought nothing of it, until a few hours later, his wife got in touch in a panic.
She alerted him to the fact that 99,983.64 Australian dollars (€61,500/£55,000) had just come out of the couple's joint account, but not only that, an extra 2,500 Australian dollars was lost as a transaction fee.
Lalor took to Twitter to recount his story.
"See this beer? That is the most expensive beer in history. I paid $99,983.64 for it in the Malmasion Hotel, Manchester the other night. Seriously," he wrote.
See this beer? That is the most expensive beer in history.
I paid $99,983.64 for it in the Malmaison Hotel, Manchester the other night.
Seriously.
Contd. pic.twitter.com/Q54SoBB7wu— Peter Lalor (@plalor) September 5, 2019
After bringing the issue up with the hotel, it was explained to that £55,000 had been accidentally entered on the card-machine given to Lalor by the member of staff, instead of £5.50 - the actual price of the drink.
The funds are reportedly in the process of being refunded, and while the transaction fee has been returned to Lalor's account, the €60,000 cost of the beer will likely take a few days to be refunded.
The Malmaison Hotel haven't made a statement, but are reportedly investigating the issue.
