not all beer and skittles

If you say that something isn't all beer and skittles, you mean that it is not always as enjoyable or as easy as other people think it is. This expression is used in British English.

Others are keen to make clear that City life is not all beer and skittles.

Living on your own isn't all beer and skittles. It can be lonely too.

It's not all beer and skittles when you get to be famous.

small beer

If you say that something is small beer, you mean that it is insignificant compared with another thing. This expression is used in British English.

cost ￡6 million to make, small beer compared to the ￡43 million splashed out on the making of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator II.

The present of royal scandals makes the 1936 abdication look like pretty small beer.

Black films remain small beer; they are doing little to shape the movie business.