Poll: Beer availability and prices around the world

As it is difficult to obtain information in the Internet, what are the typical beer prices in different parts of the world, I suggest a poll here where people from different countries and states may tell the following:

(1) City, country, state where from. If near a border, then also the information from other side of the border.

(2) Availability and price of beer in grocery stores/liquor stores. Try to summarize the price in US dollars per liter.

(3) Availability and price of beer in restaurants. Try to summarize the price in US dollars per liter for easier comparability.

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My answers to these:

(1) Espoo, Finland (located near Helsinki in southern coast. Tallinn, Estonia is short and cheap ferry-trip away)

(2)

(FIN) Up to 4.7 vol-% (alc.) available in grocery stores, stronger beer only in state-owned liquor stores. Typical price for half a liter of 4.5 vol-% beer in grocery stores is 1.80-2.20 EUR == $ 2.16 - $ 2.64. In exceptional cases the price may be as low as 1.36 EUR == $ 1.63 (a German export-beer in Lidl). Typical price for liquor-store-only beers is around 2.5 EUR == $ 3 per half-liters bottle. Of course some very special stuff like Belgian monastery beers are much more expensive than that.

Summary: Wide range of $ 3.30 - $ 6.00 per liter depending on strength and quality, higher prices are exceptional.

(EST) Beers of all strengths available in grocery stores. Usual prices vary around 8 EEK == 0.51 EUR == $ 0.61 to 16 EEK == $ 1.23 per half a liter.

Summary: $ 1.23 - $ 2.46 per liter.

Age limit in both Finland and Estonia for these is 18 years.

(3)

(FIN) Half a liter/ pint: From $ 2.76 upwards. $ 4.80 is typical, $ 7.00 is not unusual in fancy night-clubs.

Summary: $ 5.50 - $ 9.60 (typical) - $ 14.00 per liter.

(EST) Half a liter/ pint: From $ 1.07 upwards, $ 1.53 is typical, but prices in fancy night-clubs can be any high.

Summary: $ 2.14 - $ 3.06 (typical) - ? per liter.

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Mikko Nummelin

Reply to
Mikko Nummelin
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(1) Ipswich, Suffolk, England

(2) All types of beer available local Hypermarkets. Decent bottled English Ales/Foreign (Worldwide) beers around around USD5.10/litre (at USD1.70/UKP) Cheap canned generic Lager around USD2.00/litre.

(3) Pub prices in Suffolk generally around USD6.50/litre for decent real ale, although in London can be in excess of USD10.50/litre.

Dave

Reply to
Dave Gibson

If you mean UK pint by UKP, that is 568.261485 milliliters, giving $1.70 / UK pint == approx. $3.00 / liter.

Mikko Nummelin

Reply to
Mikko Nummelin

I can get a .5 liter of say Youngs for $1.80 or a German lager like Ayinger for $2.50 or a quality 22 oz US microbrew for $3.50. BUt then I can also get cheap beer like Bud for $2 for a quart.

--Dan E

Reply to
Braukuche

Uncomfortable sharing this, but I'll say I'm in the southern US

Very limited variety (esp. imports) at the local grocery stores. A little more variety at the liquor store. And at the local military base you can get anything you want. I am stupid with metrics so I'm giving prices in what I know ;) A six pack of 12 oz. bottles of low-quality beer runs around $2.50-$4.00 USD. Imports can be as much as $10-$12! That is why I usually drink crap...

Almost NO choice in restaurants. and usually a beer is $4.50-$5.00 for a pint! In the fancy restaurants a pint of specialty beer can be as high as $6.00!

I hope this info is important....cool survey. Oh yea-drinking age is 21.

Reply to
Lauksna

Denmark, Copenhagen.

Well... I just checked prices in the local supermarket (Netto). It had a domestic christmas lager 'Harboes Julebryg' (alc.vol 5,9 %) for 7,50 kroner per litre = 1,20 $ per liter. I even found a place where they sold the same s..t for 7,25 kroner per litre! (1,18 $ per litre).

But - if you wan't decent beer in Denmark u gotta pay. Most micrbrew and imported beer cost between 4,81 $ per litre (Pilsner Urquell) and 8 $ per litre for some Belgian stuff. If you know your whereabout in Copenhagen (as I do), I can get decent German lager for 19 kroner per litre (3,05 $) if I buy 5 litres at the time.

Going out is very expensive... I've seen tourists from the sourthern hemisphere turn complete pale as the danes, when they get the bill in cafe, pubs and restaurant in the inner city. It is not unusual that the prices ranges around 100-110 kroners per litre standard lager. Thats between 16,10 $ - 17,71 $ per litre!!!! As you probably guessed it has nothing to do with taxation - it's all a question of unjust profit-taking... And that again is a question of the inequal market structure in Denmark.

I hope for better days ;)

Bjarke

Reply to
Bjarke Bundgaard

Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It's a 45-minute drive from the US (NY and VT are easily accessible) but I have no idea what prices are like there.

Grocery stores/Availability:

Macrobrews. Both US and Canadian brands are considered domestic. Off the top of my head, you can get Molson, Labatt, Bud, Miller and Coors.

Microbrews. Limited to those produced in Quebec and Ontario. The most typical are Unibroue, Boreale, McAuslan/St Ambroise, Le Cheval Blanc and Sleeman.

Imports. Only the popular ones. Off the top of my head: Guinness (both canned and Labatt-produced bottled crap), Kilkenny, Corona, Sol, Dos Equis, Becks, Harps, Heiny and Grolsch.

Grocery Stores/Price:

Macrobrews: $2.25 to $2.75 Microbrews: $3.25 to $5.75 Imports: $3.50 to $6.00

Prices are USD/litre.

Liquor Store/Availability:

Macrobrews. None.

Microbrews. The odd brew that for reasons beyond me get released to liquor stores only. Ex: Le Cheval Blanc's Recousse and Unibroue's Terrible.

Imports. Various beers that are not sold in grocery stores. Off the top of my head: McEwan's, Newcastle, Double Diamond, Smithwick's, Foster's, Chimay (Red and Blue last I looked), Chouffe, P.Urquell and a few out of Asia and one out of Italy the names of which escape me.

Liquor Store/Prices:

Don't go often enough to break it down like I have for grocery stores. My inclination is that it mostly goes for prices maybe 10-15% higher than micros and imports at grocery stores. I bought a bottle of Chimay Blue last week that worked out to $10.25 USD/litre.

Availability varies wildy with the establishment. You'll find places that have only macrobrews, places that have only imports, places that have only micro brews, places that have only beers they brew themselves and places that serve various combinations of those four categories.

I'd expect to pay between $5 and $7.50 USD/litre if you're looking to get smashed as cheaply as possible on macrobrews, between $7.50 and $10 USD/litre if you're looking to enjoy quality beer in a place that's not to pretentious and over $10 USD/litre if you're going to a club or ordering drinks at a nice restaurant.

The legal drinking age in Montreal is 18 years of age.

Richard

Reply to
Richard

Hello Mikko!

As i saw that nobody from Germany left his comments, here are my answers to your poll.

Paderborn, Northrhine-Westfalia, Germany

In grocery stores there are usually about 8 different sorts of German Pils (ranging from 0.70 $ for Oettinger to 1.40 $ for Warsteiner per liter), sometimes Czech Pilsner Urquell or Budvar for about 1.50 $ per liter, mostly one or two Weizenbiere (mainly Hefeweizen, sometimes Kristall or dunkles Weizen for about 1.40 $ per liter and an Altbier for about 1.30 $ per liter. This is for bottled beer. Canned beer ranges from 0.90 $ to 2 $, but its availibilty is decreasing because of a new deposit on cans and one-way-bottles.

In liqour stores there naturally is a wider range, but the prices are nearly the same as in a grocery, maybe a little bit cheaper. Additionally you will find some extra beers, not from micros but from less known smaller breweries, which are a little bit more expensive (1.60 $ per liter). And, intersting for the American readers, you get Miller Genuine Draft or Corona for about 3 $ per liter!!!!!! Here in Paderborn (about 200 km from Duesseldorf away) you can buy Schumacher Alt (which you normally only get at the brewery) in 1 liter swingtop bottles for 2.50 $ per liter. If you are in luck, you will find a few Belgian beers (nothing special, only Grimbergen or Leffe) for about 4.50 $ per liter.

In a restaurant you will normally get one or two draught Pils for about 7.20 $ per liter, mostly one draught Alt for the same price and sometimes draught Weizen for about 7.50 $ per liter (if not on draught, from the bottle for a little less money, about 7,30 $). Sometimes you can buy Miller for about 11 $ per liter!!!

That's it, if you want to know more, feel free to ask!

Best regards and Prost,

Bastian

Reply to
Bastian

I would definitely develope a nasty drinking habit, if I ever move closer to the german-danish border. As I live in Copenhagen, its not that often I go to Schleswig-Holstein - but when I do, I try pack the car!!! There are som weird rules allowing danes/swedes and norwegians to skip paying the deposit on bottles and cans, as long as we can document that we're leaving Germany within 24 hous after the sale. I remember buying a two dozens of Pilsner Urquell for 0,50 eurocent for half a litre. Actually I'm trying to arrange for a trip to Flensborg before Christmas - it would be nice to stock up on good german alt-, weizen-, pils- and bockbier.

Reply to
Bjarke Bundgaard

Up to this point it seems very obvious that beer prices here in Finland (see my first posting on this thread) are awfully high compared to almost any other part of the world, excluding Norway, Iceland, state of Utah and arabic countries where (illegal and smuggled) beer may be quite expensive.

Mikko Nummelin

Reply to
Mikko Nummelin

"Bjarke Bundgaard" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:bqn2s0$2oa$ snipped-for-privacy@news.cybercity.dk...

Hello Bjarke!

That is a good price. What I wrote are the normal prices. Sometimes there are also some special offers and 20x0.5 l Pilsner Urquell I bought last week for only 10 Euros! And one liquor store here sells Branik Premium (also from Czech, Prague) for only 8.17 Euros as normal price. I like that very much and cannot understand the people who buy a pack of Warsteiner for 12 Euros! But as you wrote you are going to buy good German beer, you Will not buy Warsteiner, will you?

Prost,

Bastian

Reply to
Bastian

Is this surprising to you? Norway, Sweden, and Finland are well-known for attempting to "control" liquor consumption by taxing alcoholic beverages quite heavily. The state of Utah has some of the strictest liquor-control regulations in the United States. You'd be quite amused at the prices in the Czech Republic, even in relatively overpriced Prague. They'd seem quite cheap indeed, although in comparison to the local incomes, they aren't as cheap as they seem to those of us accustomed to 'western' prices.

Reply to
dgs

I have once been in Plzen, Czech Rep. on a day-trip from Germany. Of course I noted that beer was very cheap in both those countries. I also noted in my original posting that Tallinn, Estonia is quite near, only a short ferry trip away and also there beer is quite cheap.

From 1:st March, 2004 they are going to somewhat cut the alcohol taxes (incl. beer) overall here in Finland as from 1:st May the export regulations from Estonia are probably going to end due to them joining the European Union. But we can't really be sure until we see ... Anyway the beer will still be lots more expensive here than in Estonia or Central Europe.

Mikko Nummelin

Reply to
Mikko Nummelin

Nope! ;)

First I'm not going after German Pils, both other beer styles and second I'm pretty fed up with branded beer - so no Warsteiner (although I would guess its pretty decent compared to many other mass produced lagers)

Bjarke

Reply to
Bjarke Bundgaard

I'm in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

US border at Niagara Falls, NY is approximately 100km away.

Beer is not available in grocery stores, or any other type of shop. Beer is only available at "LCBO Store, which is the Liquor Control Board of Ontario store, and at "The Beer Store" (real name) shops which are owned 50/50 by Labatt's (which is owned by Interbrew) and by Molson. They are given exclusive private retailing of ALL beers in Ontario by a private patronage monopoly system. All beers must go through them or the LCBO. They are extremely politically powerful. You all can see how the free market is eliminated here in regards to distribution, thus affecting price and availability.

Most major beers in the world, and many microbrews are available at these two stores. The Beer Store concentrates on Canadian beers and major world beers (frokm companies who can afford the special "listing" (extortion) fees to sell to them , while the LCBO sells all types of quick selling beer.

Prices in Ontario must be uniform throughout the whole province. There are no restrictions on alcohol content and Canada is known for high alcohol beers. Even 10%+ beers are sold in Canada. Prices must meet minimum pricing standards. It is currently $24(CDN)=$18(US) for

24x341ml=8L case of beer. $2.25US per litre. Additional fees are mandated for canned beer. (To protect high paying union jobs from imports which usually come in cans)

The price for a case of beer is $34(CDN)=$25.50(US) for Labatt Blue or Molson Canadian (the popular beers). $3.20US a Litre. The cheapest is Lucky Lager at $24(CDN)=$18(US) a case. $2.25US a litre. A 4 500ml can pack of Guinness in cans is $10.25CDN=$7.75US. $3.88US a litre.

In Ontario beer may be sold from 9am-9pm Monday to Saturday, and

11am-6pm on Sunday.

In NY State beer is available in grocery stores, gas stations, liquor stores, etc. A case of Budweiser (24 x 355ml) is $16US, or $1.85 a litre. This is the best selling brand. The best selling sub-premium brand is Busch which comes in 30 x 355ml and sells for $11. $1.05 a litre. Guinness is sold in bottle packs of 6 x 330 for $7.99US, or $4US a litre. Same price and size for Corona the best selling import.

Beer is sold in NY State from 7am-11pm Monday-Saturday, and 12pm-12am on Sunday (not all areas). Dedicated Liquor Stores may only sell wine and liquor.

A pint of beer (20oz or approximately 600ml) in Toronto is $5 for a domestic or $6 for an import at a nice restaurant or pub. $6.25US and $7.50 a litre respectively. Posh bars cost more. "Working Man's bars sell beer for as low as $2.5 a 341ml domestic bottle, or $6.6US a litre. By law you will not find lower price. Bars stop serving at

2am in Ontario, and take your beer away at 2:45am finished or not. Bars can start serving at 11am 7 days a week.

In NY State the prices are generally the same as in Ontario coincidentally. Must be the heavy liquor license fees in the US.

Bars in NY close in some places around Buffalo, Albany, and New York City at 4am. In others 2am. Many places do not serve alcohol on Sundays.

Hope this helps.

Reply to
Joe Bidwell

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