Budget Beers

In New Brunswick nothing is very cheap. It costs around $26 for a 12 pack of Bud Light for Christ's sake.

The only relief to be had is buying growlers from microbreweries. I can get a growler filled at a local brewery (Picaroons) for $10 even which may not seem cheap to Americans on this thread but it would cost around double that price to get the same amount in Bottles at a government run liquor store.

 

21st Amendment 4 Pack Cans for 6.99

 

This isn't the first post that has made me realize just how much variance there is in how beers are priced around the country. Here in my section of MA I can nearly always get 12 packs of Sierra Nevada for 12 to 13.99 while Lagunitas is nearly always 14 to 16.99. Now that I think of it, Sierra Nevada is really the outlier here since they're the only out of state brewery I can think of that has 12 packs routinely under 15 bucks.

 

I'd say $10 is fair for a growler fill. That was the standard price here in Seattle but I've noticed it's creeping up to $12-$15 from time to time. Local breweries are really the way to go though!

 

I'd say most of Great Lakes beers are a terrific value.

And most are above average to fantastic. Although, their decision to get rid of The Wright Pils is still puzzling.

 

Local is most definitely the way to go. I like to brag to my macro drinking friends that I once bought a six-pack of a local craft brew that was bottled the week before.There aren't many things in this world better than fresh beer.

 

Sierra Nevada is the best for me on a quality/value comparison. I mostly buy six-packs and I get SN for about $7.99 a six-pack, and their High Altitude series beers for $8.99 a four-pack.

 

Eh, I'm drinking a Hopslam right now bottled about 20 days ago, I'm pretty happy with it. I've bought six packs that were canned the day before from a local brewery. For me, my "expected price" for a six pack is $9.99/six pack or roughly 14 cents/oz. I think for a growler to catch my strong interest (assuming it's a good/interesting beer), I want to see it in the $7.99 range to account for the fact I'm getting 60 oz vs. 72 oz in a six pack.

I generally have a pretty wide variety of old beer in the house, I know of several stores who will just buy out old distributor stock and liquidate it at $12.99/case. I bought a 2 cases of Lake Erie Monster at that price (steal of the year), just bought a case of New Holland Ichabod and if I go stumbling through my beer fridge, I'll probably see a lot more that has come from those cases. Those are my real "budget craft beer" but obviously I've gotten some winners and losers that way.

 

I picked up a 12 pack of SN Hop Hunter for $11.99. That's right, less than a buck a beer. I really don't see how you can beat that.

 

If you plan on drinking for the rest of your life, I would learn to homebrew. With a bit of effort you can make some outstanding beers that will give the word budget a whole new meaning. Life long drinkers more than pay for the up front equipment costs via savings. I'm about to crack a very nice Belgian Triple that cost me about 50 cents to make.

 

Anchor, Sierra Nevada, and New Belgium for me as far as somewhat cheap beers. I am envious of all these people that say Stone and Lagunitas are cheap in their area: here they are pretty expensive, only 3Floyds is more.

 

There are fewer "budget" options in my part of the world - S/N, Lagunitas, Rogue and Deschutes all go for a fair penny in Alberta stores, though I know they are reasonably priced a few hours south in Montana or Idaho. For me, local breweries (Something Brewing by Drummond, Olds College growlers) are very good value. For Canadian "budget" craft, I would lean to Bowen Island. They have a few decent options for less than $8.00/6 pack.

 

Prices have gone up, but for a long while getting Sixpoint 6ers for $10 was my go-to NYC. Now, my local grocery has Sierra Nevada for $9/6, which in NYC is akin to just putting it on the curb for free anywhere else.

 

For me, a six pack of anything costs a minimum of $13.49 CAD plus a 13% so at $10 for a 64 Oz. growler, i'm not really complaining about the missing 8 oz.

 

Sierra Nevada's variety packs

 

Not to mention, you know, everything else going wrong with that label.

 

For me my budget beer is pretty much anything from summit brewing co. i can usually get a 12pk for 12-13. and its great quality stuff. there saga ipa is one of the best imo.

 

My local go to liquor store sells New Glarus- Moon man for $6.99 6-packs...not a bad value

 

Southern Tier has some decent offerings at a fair price

 

genny bock lol. 4.99 for a 6 pack