Numb to beer pricing?

Seriously you Americans have it very lucky when it comes to beer prices. Very, very lucky compared to us Canadians. I'm a Quebecois but I know relatives in Ontario who pay 40$ for a CASE OF BUD. On a 30$ bottle of spirits 8.20$ of that is straight taxes.

That being said I have no problem at all dishing out some hard earned cash for a great beer. I save my money on session beers or styles I drink frequently by home brewing in bulk and just buy the occasional bottle of something new to sample.

 

Good Heavens, $30 for what bottle of spirits? $40 dollars for a case of Bud? The Canadian Dollar is worth more than the US Dollar, is Moosehead cheaper?

 

As far as pricing goes, I can honestly say that I am 100% numb with craft beer as compared to other merchandise.

For example, if I come across a limited release bomber for $12.99 I swipe that shit off the shelf faster than a fat kid can eat a slice of cake. If I were in the same situation with, for example, a T-Shirt that I liked for the same price, I'd sit there for 5 minutes debating whether or not it's an important purchase before walking away empty-handed.

 

Out of any 30$ spent on spirits 8.20$ of that goes to the government. A 750ml of Captain Morgan is roughly 30$ to give you an idea and a 750 of JD is about 35$ just to give you an idea. All of our big liquor stores are owned by the government. Here in Quebec they're called SAQ's (Société des alcools du Québec). I've actually managed to get bottles of La Fin du Monde for 3$ in some places. Whole 750's that is. You can get Unibroue at most gas stations here though.

 

I have my limits and won't really go over $20 a bottle (unless it's like a Cantillon or something). Oddly enough I wouldn't hesitate to spend double or triple that on champagne even though I'm not a connoisseur. At the same time I will get my shirts and pants at a thrift shop because I feel I'm saving money that way. Crazy stuff

 

Usually will pay up to $10 for a bomber or 4 pack there are a couple of beers that have been more then that and have thought about buying but haven’t yet

 

Report their asses to Vinnie and watch as their account gets taken away!

i've seen it!!

 

That's it....I'm moving! Unibroue available in gas stations....heaven. Maudite is one of my all time favorites.

Also, as far as your comparisons on pricing, its really like comparing apples to oranges. Whenever you're talking about shipping over national borders, your pricing will jump dramatically. So, Bud costing a lot in Canada, no real surprise; just as Unibroue costing $3 up there and as much as 3 times that down here. It's all about shipping costs, taxes, and duties.. Yes, the taxing of liquor is high up there, but some states down here have tax rates you wouldn't believe. The worst is Washington, who's tax rate is a whopping $35 per gallon on spirits!!

As for me, I'm numb to the pricing up to a certain point. For a 12 oz, once it hits 5 bucks per bottle, I start thinking about it. For bombers, once it hits the $10 mark, and for 750's, its somewhere between the $10 and $15 mark, depending on the brewery.

 

But they don't have "accounts" with RR or with a RR distributor. District of Columbia retailers are allowed to "self-import" beers that are not available in DC by just paying a small fee - essentially "legal bootlegging". As a result of paying retail prices and buying in small quantities, paying a second excise tax to DC, the "shipping/transportation" and other costs per bottle are going to be much higher than normal distribution.

Of course, then there's that whole "greed/rare beer demand" thing goin' on, too...

 

Budweiser has been brewed under license in Canada by Labatt since the 1980s (i.e., long before both AB and Labatt were bought by InBev).

According to the Ontario "Beer Store", a case of Labatt-brewed Budweiser (their 3rd best selling beer) sells for the same price as their #2 brand, Molson Canadian, and their best seller, Coors Light - both brewed at Molson plants for their domestic market.

 

Like the guy above me said Bud is on license. A case of labatts blue is just as expensive minus maybe a couple bucks or two. Plus here we have like no American craft. Almost nobody here knows the basic Sierra Nevada, Dogfishhead, or Stone. We can't get any of these here. Sometimes I just wan't a frickin Sam Adams and it's impossible to get. Appreciate what you have

 

As of this week I've had to swear off online purchases, trades, and bomber purchases due to my wife getting laid off. It's down to great locally available 6 packs for me. I can pick up 6 sixers that will last me over a week (180 ounces) for about what I pay for 4 bombers that MIGHT last me a day and a half (88 ounces).
Sure I've had the $30+ bottles of Cascade & Bruery beers and loved most every on of em, BUT seriously are those $1.50 an ounce beers really worth 8 - 10 times as much as say a 15 - 20 cent an ounce Two Hearted or a Ten Fiddy? For me, the answer is a resounding no. Sure, I'll splurge every now and then on a locally available bomber or local seasonal, but basically my daily brews will be the great 12 ozers. that got me started on this great beer adventure. I'm looking forward to this part of my journey. Going back and retrying great brews from awhile back and seeing how I interpret them today. Cheers & TGIF

 

People have become numb to prizes. There are a lot of established breweries, making world class beers at an attractive price point. Rochefort, Orval, Girardin, Fuller’s, Stone, Aecht Schlenkerla just to give a couple of examples.

While on the other hand you have all these upcoming breweries charging $30 for untested BA RIS beers and people calling it bargains. American breweries making sours, pricing at the point that exorbitantly prices Belgian exports cost in the States.

 

We don't have Russian River accounts in DC

 

Your neighbor the the northeast, Vermont, has Unibroue in some gas stations.

 

$25 for a 375ml of 3F... sure thing.

I usually don't get sticker shock unless it's around $30 for a single bottle.

 

I don't think the pricing cited by the OP is outrageous by any means, but many of the prices cited in the follow-ups definitely qualify as gouging. I'm fortunate in that I don't have to agonize over every beer purchase. I go into a store expecting to spend $10-12/six pack and I'm pleasantly surprised when I find something I want for less. However, I tend not to buy many bombers because even if I can afford them, it galls me to pay the equivalent of a six-pack price for what amounts to less than 2 beers. I know a lot of beer available only in bombers is more expensive to brew and I do sometimes relent, but I definitely find myself standing in front of the shelf for quite a while before I pull the trigger. The funny thing is, as others here have said, I don't think twice about grabbing a $15 bottle of wine that's nowhere near as distinguished as a $15 beer would be.

 

A $5 bomber is equivalent to a $16 six pack. This beer is also available in 6 packs for $11 in my area (cheaper in other areas).

 

Holy shit, $30? Id be more than happy to buy some Pliny here at the source (Live in Nor Cal) and trade it for a nice east coast sour or two. Let me know.

 

PERIOD! lol.. i love those sentence endings. It's in the category of average pricing, with the rest of 80% of craft beer pricing.