The BBC spent some £27,000 on alcohol last year, drinking its way through an enormous list of free refreshments at hospitality events.
The Corporation bought up 3,096 bottles of wine – costing up to £24 a go – as well as 5,398 beers for thirsty guests and staff.
Data obtained under the Freedom of Information act shows the bill for the alcoholic drinks, many of which were paid for directly from licence fee revenue.
The itemised bills also offer an insight into the tastes of the BBC, showing a preponderance of imported beers and a taste of white and sparkling wine.
Around half the beers bought in, at preferential rates, were Italian Peroni lagers, followed by Japanese beer Asahi and and Mexican Coronas.
Perhaps appropriately, London Pride ale languished near the bottom of the table, along with Aspall’s Suffolk cider and Spitfire ale. Beer cost £6,110 in total.
Wine took the lion’s share of spending, with the bottles setting the Corporation back £21,481. Most wine was white or sparkling. The priciest bottles were a haul of 42 sparkling English wines bottled in Sussex, costing a total of just over £1,000.
A BBC spokesman noted that the overall drinks spend was on a downward trajectory – 40% less than the £38,700 bill in 2014.
Some of the cost was borne by the BBC’s profit-making commercial subsidiaries, but much of it was covered by the licence fee. The BBC did not provide precise figures.
A spokesman for the Corporation said: “We have clear policies that drinks may only purchased where there is an appropriate business purpose such as production hospitality for guests and costs have come down by 40% compared to this time last year.”
