The incentive to do that can backfire on people at all you can eat places, too. It’s not a healthy way to eat (or drink).
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Came to post the obligatory Ferguson; glad to see the gang is already on it.
This would probably not work for my 3D space social circle and I as we all tend toward the stay one or two hours and get one or two drinks model before leaving, so at best we’d break even. Perhaps the proprietors are counting on that being the norm, which it may depending on the tenor of the place.
While this is an interesting concept, it seems ripe for abuse. OTOH, most establishments have policies that customers who are perilously drunk can be kicked out at the floor staff’s discretion. And the normal conflict of interest, keeping customers around to spend more money and possibly leave more tips, may be counteracted by the in-built time limit. OTOOH, I could easily see people getting plastered and then surly when told their time was up, or maybe the bar just tacks the extra time onto their tab.
I have no problem with people getting piss-drunk if they don’t harass people, but many will drive afterward, and that’s a major problem.
If they want an appointment, then they probably want a credit card, and logging a credit card with a bar is IMHO an imprudent idea unless it’s a pre-paid debit card one can load up only as needed.
So, neat concept, but I agree it could go very wrong.
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The only way I can see this working for them financially, is that as you said there will be a few batched drinks that will emphasize quantity over quality. Batched drinks can be great when done right but people going to all you can drink per hour bars are not going to care that the Vieux Carré in a bucket is off due to excessive substitutions.
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100% true, i’m concerned that with drinking the consequences are not something i would want anything to do with (fights, drunk driving, sexual assaults, etc). Then again i’m not much of a bar scene kind of guy so nothing about this appeals to me on any level.
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Agreed. I’m still mystified by the popularity of birthday shots and binge drinking. 
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Poor quality, overpriced, intentionally mis-labeled, liquor?
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oh my.
This is a stupidly bad idea when implemented in the UK.
We are not capable of doing that responsibly.
I’m speaking for myself obviously.
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Gee, I can’t think of a single downside to this idea.
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They don’t serve food.
…aaaaand it’s on Cherokee St., a weird street in south St. Louis with a defunct brewery (Lemp) now in use as a haunted mansion, a series of hipster-toned bars, cafes, record shops, tattoo parlors, mini-breweries, upscale vintage boutiques, and then a stretch of immigrant Mexican taquerias, bakeries, carnicerias, and bodegas – and now, a pay-by-the-hour bar – all mixed with the usual grab bag of corner bars, hardware stores, churches and vape shops, within a one-mile stretch of city blocks. Love it!
Binge drinking is easy to understand. Basically, there’s 2 types of people who get into it. Stupid people, and people who realize deep down, but can’t bring themselves to admit it, that their lives are utterly empty, meaningless, and pointless, they’ll never accomplish anything worth speaking of out loud, so they may as well destroy what little brain they have because they’ll never use it for anything that matters - not even to them.
Liquor laws vary between states. In some this will be illegal and in others it will fly perfectly. And in any case, most liquor laws are more concerned with the money, the taxes. As long as the bar pays the necessary amount per bottle or per night or however it’s figured, the state won’t care much.
The writeup shows clearly the owners’ main legal worry is liability, the chance of getting charges or lawsuits because of overserving someone. That’s why they have things set up to consider the height and weight of the drinkers.
I’d also note that Kölsch is served that way because it is naturally lightly carbonated. If you serve it in litres or half litres it will tend to go flat before you’ve finished your drink.-hence the 200ml Stange and frequent refills.
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Some of us just enjoy getting drunk with like-minded friends.
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What? No salty bar snacks guaranteed to get patrons to uh, drink more stay longer?
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These people would hate me, I have a high tolerance to alcohol from years of drinking cask-strength scotch and bourbon.
I, on the other hand, might enjoy this 
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Ditto for Australia.
For historical evidence why, google “6 oclock swill”
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Cleveland Indians did a promo once featuring cheap beer, the result was pretty scary.
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That sounds like a baseball game I would go to as a pretense to watching a riot with cheap beer, that’s what’s called a party where I’m from
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I don’t think this would work in Boston MA, USA. We had a kind of similar establishment back in the 80s that called itself a juice bar but it was really diluted wine. You’d pa for a one night membership and could drink and dance all night until sunrise. It was called “The Loft” and was right next to Boston Police Headquarters. You’d literally be able to look out the window and see detectives in their offices. There was never any violence associated with it but it wasn’t technically a bar.
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