I'll be visiting Ontario this weekend and wanted to ask if the prices I see listed for beer on their website include taxes or not. If they don't, what are the tax rates that will be added on? Appreciate any info you all may have.
Taxes are included in the price at the LCBO. The listed price will be the price you pay. For example: Rochefort 8 will cost you C$3.45 and Rochefort 10 C$3.90 (if you can find it). With the current exchange rate that makes the 8 just about free!
Thanks so much for the info. And I've noticed the prices for a lot of the items are pretty reasonable compared to US prices (that exchange rate definitely helps).
LCBO, despite all its faults is one of the largest buyers in the world. Some of the imported stuff from Belgium and Germany ends up being quite cheap vis-a-vis other jurisdictions. If you use the site: http://drinkvine.com/ you will be able to see how many bottles of each beer is available at each LCBO location. It is a far better resource than the LCBO site itself in many ways. If you know where you plan to be, this might help you. All this said, the best local beer is generally only available at the breweries themselves. Again, if you want some suggestions, let me know.
As mentioned, prices on imports can be very good (e.g., Rodenbach Vintage was listed at $10 vs. the $24 I saw in Ohio). On the other hand, it is hard to find a 6'er of craft for under $13 which is disheartening when compared to a $7.99 sale on Two-Hearted at Meijer's.
3 dollar and change Rochefort bottle = good. 14 dollar 6 pack of old Southern Tier IPA - not so good. With the CDN dollar in the crapper it's a bargain for some of the imports if you're coming from the US.
It's true, beer really isn't that bad. On a bit of an unrelated note, the markup on Scotch and Whisky in Canada is ridiculous. It costs me $23 for a bottle of Forty Creek in Hamilton, which is literally a 10 minute drive to the distillery in Grimsby, and the same bottle costs $17 in Florida. Conversely, most 15 year old Scotch is $100 up here and $50 in the States, where you're entry level 12 year up here is around $40 compared to $30 or so down South.
the reason for that is that there is minimum pricing legislation in Ontario, gotta remember the C in LCBO stands for control...
Is there minimum pricing based on age of whisky? I mean I get minimum for ABV and for weight but how a 12 year old Scotch can be 10 bucks more then the US and a 15 year old can be 50 bucks more is absurd.
I don't think so. if the bottles are "Cask Strength" then they may be subject to additional taxes. I think it's just the LCBO trying to get more money. Some stores (in AB) I've seen will charge much more for a older whiskey because "Older=better=expensive". If they could add a premium price, why wouldn't they. The number of shoppers going to the US are probably offset by the people who can't be bothered + high prices.
that is probably just marketing...there is actually something that occurs that if something is priced to low on a luxury items they won’t sell, basically if there is only a 10 dollar difference between the 12 & the 15 people may not think the 15 is actually that much better quality. (that could be either the lcbo or the product themselves)
