Ridiculous Prices...

Prices in the USA seem extremely cheap. A 330ml bottle of St Bernardus ABT 12 is commonly over £4.00 here ($6.00?) in shops. Some Barrel Aged Narwhal that came here went for £35.00 ($52.00). I can't understand why Belgian and German beer is so cheap over there, and yet so expensive here (even allowing for high taxes). One gets the impression that Americans are rather spoilt...

 

By the way, $24.95 for six bottles of St Bernadus sounds outrageously cheap. How can anyone think that that is expensive?

 

Just noticed at one my local Wegmans: Brooklyn Black Ops for $22, Founders Big Lushious and Blushing Monk for $14.

Didn't pick them up. Should I?

 

Buy it in Belgium at the grocery store and you'll cry. It's like <$2 a bottle, even better now with the strong dollar =/

Speaking of Belgium, there's a Kroger in Athens, GA that's just really confused about Belgian beer prices. They have a 75 cl bottle of Chimay blue for $18, same size St. Bernardus abt 12 fo $10, and same size Dupont for $4. I even found a 33 cl of Hanssens Experimental Cassis for $5. I just don't understand.

 

Yes, I'm weeping as I type...And I can't understand how European beer can be sold so cheaply in America with shipping costs etc.

 

Ridiculous to you, not ridiculous to others obviously. Plus, as it's been stated none of these prices are too high otherwise these beers wouldn't sell. You could say they aren't charging enough.

 

A store near me was charging $3.99 for singles of Zombie Dust. That's some of the worst I've seen.

 

Troegs had a brewery only release of barrel aged flying mouflan in 375ml bottles for $12 a piece! You could by up to a case with no discount.....case was a little over $300 with tax!

 

@PorterPro125

Thanks for that input of less than 2 bucks for a bottle of St. Bernardus if you bought it in Belgium; I tried to solicit that information from BA jeffo.

So a 6-pack of St. Bernardus is less than 12 bucks in Belgium and more than double that amount in North America. Somebody(s) is making some good money (profit) here.

Cheers!

 

I have never seen Belgian beer here as cheap as it is in America, and as for American beer (Anchor Steam: $4.50 a bottle in my nearest shop)...I wouldn't complain too much. Overall, America seems to have the cheapest beer in the world.

 

Totally agree, if some people got out a bit and really see how good they got it, good brew in this country is pretty abundant and doesn't have to break your wallet.

 

There are a number of factors that influence beer pricing not the least of which is: what will the beer consumers be willing to pay.

One factor in beer pricing is taxes. Would you happen to know if there are ‘substantial’ taxes (or fees) in the UK for imported beer? Maybe these taxes (or fees) are in place to encourage domestic (British) production of beer?

Cheers!

 

Ethan. since you "get out a bit" could you please share with the BA community the price of beers in Germany for non-craft German beer.

Cheers!

 

British beer is (by American standards) outrageously expensive here, especially from smaller breweries. Single cans (of Beavertown, for example) can be between $5.00 and $6.00. I wonder how much American beer costs in Germany? I'm always shocked by how cheap European beer is in America. I doubt I'll ever see Bigfoot here again, but a 355ml bottle of it would be around $7.50. And it's not just taxes...Er, but I'm not sure what else it is.

 

Is it because the market is smaller here?

 

Hard to say... Berlin seemed to be much more expensive than rest of Germany compared to other areas, but certainly classic lagers were very inexpensive including very good ones. And that's about all I can say about Germany since that's the only place I spent a bit of time in the big country. Definitely the few times I did go outside of Berlin the prices for items were overall considerably cheaper no question.

I'd put them at about equal in price comparisons with USA, definitely great cheap beer in Germany.

Grabbed a "craft" German brew if you want to call it that while in Germany also, a take on imperial stout made by a Berlin brewery I'd probably say it was pretty much equal with an equal USA craft beer ( I am thinking a bottle of Schope Brau stout to say a bottle of Old Rasputin), in fact it might even be more expensive in terms of a 4 pack which you could get of raspy there...

There are definitely some places in Europe where the beer and wine flows cheap as water but there are also a lot of places outside of the US where the taxes on beer wine and spritis are just far higher overall.. then you add specialized "craft" brew on top of that... and it gets even a bit higher.

Exchange rates don't help either these days. Since the Euro is crashing of late against the US Dollar Makes me want to order another Belgian case...

 

Beer in the UK is almost never bought in six packs which, I suppose, doesn't help. But yes, I can't understand why I have to spend $5.00 on a small bottle of locally produced 4% beer...But of course, I haven't mentioned the price of cask ale here. I wonder how that compares...

 

I am able to purchase beers like Jever (German beer) for around 10 bucks a 6-pack. It has to cost the same to transport that beer across the Atlantic. It does make sense to me that transportation costs explain a 6-pack for less than 12 bucks in Belgium to 25 bucks in North America. To use a British term: the sums do not add up.

Cheers!

 

$10.00 for a six pack? It's around $5.00 for a single bottle here! Lord Crabapple isn't happy!