Beer is Expensive

I'm old with some physical limits now. I can't really carry the brew kettle up and down the stairs from by basement to the back yard. I will soon put a valve on the kettle so that I can drop half of it in to another vessel and take it down the stairs in two shots. Getting up the ladder to the top of where the hops are growing is tough now too.

 

Expensive compared to what? A 16oz can selling for $5 is ~31 cents per ounce. For a 750 ml bottle of either wine or hard alcohol that works out to Less than $8. Show me any wine or spirit in that price range that is worth drinking.

 

And with wine and spirits you can pour as much as you'd like to and the bottles last after opening and can be consumed over a period of time, not the same with beer.

 

Wine, bourbon and scotch were on my list of hobbies that surpass beer easy.

 

That is a benefit you do get from wine and spirits.

 

You don't have to buy the expensive beers.

Value is always relative and subjective. For most beer styles I know I can get a very enjoyable example for 20c per ounce or less. For modern IPA styles I know I can get great stuff for some 30c per Oz. So if someone wants near double that they've got to be offering me something more. Now, to be fair, there are times when that "more" is just novelty. But these days it's easy for me to stick to known quantities.

But when it comes to my real beer weakness, lambic, I can't find anything much under 1$ per ounce and if I want what I want I know it's gonna be more like 2+$. So is a bottle of Cantillon Brouscella expensive at 70$? Compared to what? Do I have other options if I want unblended 3 year old lambic?

 

Well...as regards wine it will start to oxidize after the bottle is opened so it is ideal to consume it quickly in that regards.

FWIW when I open a bottle of wine I use a Vacuvin to 'suck out' the air in the bottle and place the bottle within the refrigerator upright. The combination of both reducing air (oxygen) and cold storage mitigates the staling (oxidation) of the wine. I have consumed the wine at >7 days with this method. The wine then is notably less fresh but still a worthy drink.

Opened spirits will hold up longer (which you well know).

Cheers!

 

Speaking of expensive, I was at Total Wine earlier and saw they got in Stone's "12 Days of IPA" 12-pack. Some of the beers didn't interest me but apparently it includes the original Ruination, which is what really caught my eye. However, as much as I like Ruination and some of the other beers like 26th Anniversary, once I saw the price of $31 it was not a hard decision to pass on it.

 

Bag-in-box options are cheaper per ounce, Oud Beersel (3.1L retails for $60), Den Herberg, and Girardin. De Cam Oude Lambiek is bottled also.

Bruocsella is 12 euro at the brewery, $70 sounds like a fancy wine list markup price. Years ago it collected dust on the shelf priced at $20, now it's way more if you can even find it.

 

Do you see all of those in Illinois? I've never seen any of them on shelves. It'd be sweet if there were more options but we only see 3f, cuvee Rene, and some cantillon. Sometimes I see Boon at one store.

Yeah, it was nice when cantillon was just sitting around and cheap. Wish I'd caught on to it earlier than I did. But honestly, when it was cheap, the only thing I ever saw was the gauze and rarely kriek and iris.

I don't remember if the Brouscella was actually 70, but it was at least 60 last time I picked up a bottle. And while I regret that it can't be a weekly delight, I don't regret buying the ones I have come across

 

I guess I am less fixated on the alcohol content than on the overall satisfaction and enjoyment. When I start focusing on alcohol content I will know I need to stop drinking

 

Oud Beersel boxes just showed up here, otherwise the rest have been on webshops. Girardin boxes may only be at the brewery now, and in bars/cafes.

 

John, it is not an official Côtes du Rhône since it is not from France but I would recommend Goats du Rhone Red to you which is $12.99 at my ‘local’ Total Wine & More:

https://www.totalwine.com/wine/red-wine/rhone-blend/goats-do-roam-red/p/94081750?s=101&igrules=true

Cheers!

 

That's awesome, do you happen to know the importer? I'll have to ask at the local shop if they can get them

 

Wetten Importers, Sterling, VA

 

I'm back from a month in Germany, and US beer prices will take some getting used to. Mainly drank at Breweries and at restaurants.

The most expensive beer was at a Radeburger restaurant overlookking the Elbe river in Dresden, 5.50€ for a half liter. Beer and food were more in Saxony than in Berlin or Munich.

In Bamberg Mahr's U was 3.90€, Schlenkerla Märzen was 3.80€. Other breweris were a little less per 0.5 Liter. Went to several Bayerischanstisch wher the Bock was 4.50 €.

In the Franconian countryside there were some real gems, one of the best beers was in a small village at a tiny brewery, and at 2.30€ per half liter it was a bargain.

The exchange rate was 1€=$0.97, so it was in our favor. Inflation is running at 10% in Germany. Was seeing gas going for 2.00€/liter, which is about $7.50 per gallon.

 

In 2003, the first time I was in Bamberg, the prices were about half of that. Those look about the same as the prices the last time I was there, in 2018. Still a great value, but has inflated in its own way as well.