What are you thoughts about Chimay?

My order of preference is White, Red then Blue.

 

I am very fond of their tripel, but not so much the other two...

 

As far as I can beer in Germany is cheaper than in Belgium. Beer is also taxed lower in Germany.

Chimay is very common in Belgium. It is always for sale at the supermarket, it is slightly cheaper than the average specialty beer if you buy a six pack. Its about 7.50 € without deposit for a 6 pack of the Blue Chimay. In a bar it is in the low range for specialty beer, other than Duvel you are not likely to find a cheaper specialty beer in most bars.

 

Thanks for the data point: “about 7.50 € without deposit for a 6 pack of the Blue Chimay”.

For today’s exchange rate that is $8 for a 6-pack of Blue Chimay if purchased in Belgium.

In the US, Chimay is only available in 4-pack. State Line Liquors (Elkton, MD) lists @22.99 for a 4-pack of Blue Chimay.

A comparison of per bottle prices:

· $1.33 for a 330 ml bottle of Blue Chimay in Belgium

· $5.75 for a 330 ml of Blue Chimay in the US (Elkton, MD)

The percentage change between those two prices is 332%

For completeness I will also do this comparison for a German Pilsner (Jever).

In Germany a 6-pack of Jever costs about 4.50 € ($4.80). My last purchase of a 6-pack of Jever in the US had a price of $9.99.

A comparison on a per bottle basis”

· $0.80 for a bottle of Jever in Germany

· $1.67 for a bottle of Jever in the US

The percentage change for Jever is 108.75%.

Granted this is just a comparison of two individual beers from Belgium & Germany but it appears that German beers cost about twice the amount in the US vs. Germany while Belgian Trappist beers cost about quadruple the amount in the US vs. Belgium.

I am assuming that the same import taxes/tariffs/fees apply to both Belgium and Germany since those two countries are both part of the EU. Even if that assumption is incorrect I really can’t see how a difference in the amounts of import taxes/tariffs/fees would account for the difference of a doubling of a price to a quadrupling of a price.

Cheers!

 

Six pack is not at all the most common form of packaging in Germany; the crate/case is and 6-packs are accordingly marked up. Normally a crate of Jever (24 bottles @ 33cl) can be had for around US$16. Thus the typical bottle would cost about $0.67.

EDIT: here's a recent flyer that has a crate of Jever for 11.99 EUR (about $12.75). That would put the unit price at $US0.53 per bottle. http://www.kaufda.de/Prospekt/Ihre-Stadt/Kaisers/457357068#page=14

 

About the same price. But I just don't think of it as that bad because nobody really sells the 4 packs. They sell the 750s for $13. Which for a very ageable quad, I don't think it's TOO bad. I'll still always side with some ABT 12 though.

 

I can purchase a case of Jever for about $35 in the US.

So, the delta of $16 in Germany vs. $35 in the US is about double. The same factor of about doubling as for 6-pack price comparisons.

Cheers!

 

Fair enough. Just pointing out the preferred packaging (and respective pricing). Still $12 vs $35 is much closer to triple the price.

 

Comparisons to promotional (sales) prices is not the best point of comparison.

 

As @einhorn has pointed out a number of times, you can typically find these beers somewhere at such prices at any time. Can you provide the source(s) for the $35 you quote? A quick search revealed $39.99. http://www.tanczos.com/beer/bethlehem-store/imported Thanks.

 

For the sake of comparison with the UK/muddy the waters a bit more You can get Chimay Blue for £1.67 in Tesco at the moment, which is pretty cheap considering its strength

=$2.45
=€2.31

It certainly looks like there is a bit of price gouging going on in the US regarding the chimay

Jever looks cheap, I have to pay about £2.50 a 500ml bottle. Sierra Nevada pale ale is about £1.80

 

It appears that way to me as well.

Cheers!

 

From what I have heard from importers is that container transportation is quite pricey from Europe. Consider also that within Europe, moving a container from Brussels (for example) to port city (Amsterdam?) is also quite expensive. In the US, the importer has a margin, plus additional freight costs from importer to main distro who could be anywhere in the US. The distributor has an additional 30% mark up and the retailer also wants his 30-35%.

Summary: some of the costs are naturally higher due to going through so many hands, but I believe that a bit of gouging and "rounding up" is also going on simply because Americans are willing to pay more for high end beer.

 

Douglas, the transportation costs you discuss would be consistent for all beers from Europe right?

It seems like the price differential for Belgian Trappist beers is much greater than it is for other European beers.

Cheers!

 

In the U.S., Belgian beer is considered "craft" moreso than German beer. Therefore it is more expensive.

 

I think that the German beer is simply cheaper from the brewery. Average crate price probably around EUR 8-9 to the re-packer. Add to the fact that Germans have been trying to sell more beer in a market that has been on continual decline for the last 20 years, and they may be selling under cost to move more into the export market. Another side effect of the crappy German beer market. Just a hunch.

 

“I think that the German beer is simply cheaper from the brewery.” Yes, I recognize that. I was told that a 6-pack of Jever would sell for 4.50 € ($4.80) in Germany. That is indeed a low price. I can purchase Jever in the US for about 10 bucks. A differential of 2X.

The differential for Chimay is 4X.

Cheers!

 

Chimay, chimay not.

(sorry)

 

Love the Red. Probably my favorite Dubbel. Enjoy the Blue. White is good, but I'm not a huge fan of Triple's. I had the Doree a few months ago...it was okay at best.

 

Chimay Blue started my journey into serious craft beer...