£2.00 for 330ml what the Funk!

[phildo79]

Another thread on a brewing forum complaining about the price of beer
How much does a world class whisky or wine cost? Yet a bunch of people who should know better, begrudge paying more than a few quid for world class beers. Madness.

A fair point and one I would agree with. However, the amount of overpriced shyte that is being churned out these days, in a fancy can, is ridiculous. It's a minefield. Picking out a world class beer from all the turgid crap is about as easy as picking the winning lottery numbers.

Too many breweries are producing bog standard beer and charging you £2 to try it and not like it. Funny how this isn't the case in Belgium. They don't even overcharge in the bars, regardless of the ABV. A 10% beer over there will cost roughly the same as a 5% beer (or at least it did a few years ago). However in the UK, double the ABV means double the price.

 

[Stephenj]

Serve

A fair point and one I would agree with. However, the amount of overpriced shyte that is being churned out these days, in a fancy can, is ridiculous. It's a minefield. Picking out a world class beer from all the turgid crap is about as easy as picking the winning lottery numbers.

Too many breweries are producing bog standard beer and charging you £2 to try it and not like it. Funny how this isn't the case in Belgium. They don't even overcharge in the bars, regardless of the ABV. A 10% beer over there will cost roughly the same as a 5% beer (or at least it did a few years ago). However in the UK, double the ABV means double the price.

This.

 

[Stephenj]

Another thread on a brewing forum complaining about the price of beer
How much does a world class whisky or wine cost? Yet a bunch of people who should know better, begrudge paying more than a few quid for world class beers. Madness.

Who should know better?!?!?! World class beer. Interesting.

 

[Ajhutch]

If you want to use the word overpriced then you have to say what the right price is. With reference to the notion that breweries and everyone in the supply chain needs to make a profit. ‘Beer I didn’t enjoy’ does not mean ‘overpriced’

 

[Ajhutch]

Who should know better?!?!?! World class beer. Interesting.

I don’t want to presume to speak for Steve but I suspect he meant that home brewers are generally interested in both producing and consuming good beer and alongside that should go an appreciation for the dynamics of the industry. As for the world class aspect, to me brewdog isn’t world class beer, it’s pretty decent but middle of the road and is priced accordingly. Cloudwater for example make hoppy beers that are world renowned, and the price by volume is probably in the region of double what you’d pay for brewdog. Basically, I disagree with the fundamental premise of this whole debate that £2 for a 330ml of good beer is expensive.

 

[Sadfield]

However in the UK, double the ABV means double the price.

Blame the taxman for that. Duty is directly related to abv, plus some more over 7.5%.

And that's ignoring that fact that Belgians use cheaper ingredients to get to higher abvs.

 

[phildo79]

If you want to use the word overpriced then you have to say what the right price is. With reference to the notion that breweries and everyone in the supply chain needs to make a profit. ‘Beer I didn’t enjoy’ does not mean ‘overpriced’

I see your point with regards to small breweries. But I wouldn't put BrewDog in the small brewery list. Not anymore. Any brewery that owns 50 bars, is doing alright for itself.

And with regard to those small breweries, it seems like most of them are just jumping on the bandwagon. Because it seems like hardly one fcuk is given about the product. I'd be embarrassed to put my name to some of the beers that I've tried. However, plenty of fcuks are given when it comes to the artwork on the can.

 

[Ajhutch]

Perhaps you could give some examples of these terrible beers. As Sadfield alluded to earlier, it may be that in fact they were beers you didn’t like as opposed to objectively terrible beers

 

[phildo79]

Blame the taxman for that. Duty is directly related to abv, plus some more over 7.5%.

I've seen cheap imperial stouts. Now this might be a case of the bar or offy trying to get rid of something that isn't selling well. But I picked up some Lervig 'Toasted Maple Stout' at 13% for £4.50 each. In fairness, the girl had to guess the price as she couldn't find it on the till but... (I didn't mention to her that it probably costs more)

 

[phildo79]

Perhaps you could give some examples of these terrible beers. As Sadfield alluded to earlier, it may be that in fact they were beers you didn’t like as opposed to objectively terrible beers

Yeah me plus hundreds of others that have left a less than favourable review on RateBeer, Beer Advocate etc. How many people have to say that a beer is just not up to scratch before it's acceptable to call it a crap beer?

 

[Ajhutch]

Yeah me plus hundreds of others that have left a less than favourable review on RateBeer, Beer Advocate etc. How many people have to say that a beer is just not up to scratch before it's acceptable to call it a crap beer?

And the name of that beer was? Literally give me an example of a brewery that, and I do quote, seems to give hardly one fcuk about the product

 

[Sadfield]

I've seen cheap imperial stouts. Now this might be a case of the bar or offy trying to get rid of something that isn't selling well. But I picked up some Lervig 'Toasted Maple Stout' at 13% for £4.50 each. In fairness, the girl had to guess the price as she couldn't find it on the till but... (I didn't mention to her that it probably costs more)

Not sure of the point you are making here. 13% is more than double the ABV of most supermarket beers. £4.5 is more than double £2. So, yes. The price rise is due to the ABV.

 

[strange-steve]

Who should know better?!?!?! World class beer. Interesting.

See Ajhutch's post above.
And to clarify, my comment regarding world class beers wasn't in reference to Brewdog but rather in a general sense, because this debate seems to arise confusingly often.

 

[phildo79]

Gallopers Golden Ale (just wtf does Eamon Holmes know about "good honest beer"?)
Gallopers Red Ale
Hardy Bucks Lager
O'Hara's 20th Year Anniversary Imp Stout (probably the worst imp I've ever tries)
Poker Tree Treacle Stout (usually infected)
Most things by Northern Monk (I have boycotted them due to being let down too many times)
Most things by Forepure (see above)

 

[Sadfield]

Gallopers Golden Ale (just wtf does Eamon Holmes know about "good honest beer"?)
Gallopers Red Ale
Hardy Bucks Lager
O'Hara's 20th Year Anniversary Imp Stout (probably the worst imp I've ever tries)
Poker Tree Treacle Stout (usually infected)
Most things by Northern Monk (I have boycotted them due to being let down too many times)
Most things by Forepure (see above)

And their faults were?

 

[Ajhutch]

Someone had better let Lion/Kirin know that they’ve bought a pup in Fourpure

 

[phildo79]

Check their reviews if you want to know their faults.

Haven't you ever tried a beer and thought it was crap? If you haven't, then lucky you.

 

[phildo79]

The real point here is that breweries are popping up all over the place and their products, on the whole, seem to be somewhat disappointing. Now is this down to a lack of experience or a lack of caring about the product, that is driven by the desire for profit? When you sometimes see the effort that has gone into the packaging, it makes you wonder.

 

[Sadfield]

Haven't you ever tried a beer and thought it was crap? If you haven't, then lucky you.

Yes, 90%+ of supermarket beers, highly filtered, selected/brewed to be bland and inoffensive to the widest possible range of customers. Most things released by Cloudwater, Verdant and Deya, as they are one dimensional and unbalanced. Buxton/Omnipollo Yellow Belly, I find too sweet. None of them with faults, and all highly rated breweries who certainly can't be accused of "hardly one fcuk is given about the product.". Just not to my taste.

I rarely, if ever, come across genuinely faulty beers, although this isn't luck, it's the result of purchasing from trusted suppliers who know their stuff. And, the Manchester, East Cheshire, Derbyshire beer scene is pretty strong, so the quality has to be there for breweries to survive.

 

[AdeDunn]

Another thread on a brewing forum complaining about the price of beer
How much does a world class whisky or wine cost? Yet a bunch of people who should know better, begrudge paying more than a few quid for world class beers. Madness.

Not at all. I begrudge paying more for beer that when you taste it is no better than cheaper beer, that's what I begrudge. I'm quite happy if I've paid more and taste the beer and find it worth every bit of it. When we lived in Stafford for example, one of our favourite pubs was The Sun, owned by Titanic, a micro brewery, so yes it cost more per pint than your average Green King or whatever, but the beer was delicious! We'd sometimes pop in to the one owned by John Jpoule's & Sons (another micro) and enjoy a more expensive pint there... We didn't often go into spoons or the like, even though we had CAMRA vouchers. When we moved to Wolverhampton, at first we'd drink in places like The Posada (an independent) as they served guest ales from around the country (not cheap) and were one of the first in the region to sell Brewdog (before they became well known...), then we discovered The Vine Inn in Wednesfield who are owned by Black Country Ales (another micro brewery) and again serve guest ales from various micros as well as BCA ales, and The Great Western (owned by Holdens). My wife was lucky enough to also visit Hail To The Ale too, a micro pub with it's own on site micro-brewery.

No, what I object to is when I pay £4/5 for a 330mls can of beer that tastes like kit beer. lol

Is this the IPA thread, just had 3 pints of handpulled Greene king IPA (£1.97 a pint) at my local and fish n chips on way home and have got change from £10...gotta love Stoke on Trent.Ahmen

You're drinking Green King pish, whilst living in the home of Titanic? Are you serious or is this humour? As to loving Stoke On Trent, I was born there, and heck no... :p