Beer in USA

dmeehan

I was in the US recently and bought a crate (24 bottles) of coors lite for an amazing $13.99 in Safeway.

the same crate here is €42 in Tesco's
(and that was with a "special offer" of 24 for the price of 22!!! wooo)

skittishkitten

Yes ...... Beer Cheap ( thumps chest )... in the US ......but from what I understand it's little more than colored water to ya'all . On the other hand a 6 pack ( bottles ) of Guiness is about $9 AND you have to purchase it at a liscenced Liqour Store.

Tom Dunne

Just to really make you sick, myself and herself were in a lovely beer garden last night (we are in the US) and had three beers each, along with a main course each for $30.

It's incredible. How can I ever go home and start paying Irish prices for things (beer) again?

ChipZilla

Coors lite? Why not buy a slab of Evian? Forget America - look at Poland, Hungary, Czech Rep, etc. Proper beer for peanuts. Much better than that American muck...

leeroybrown

In general beer in America is insipid píss with the exception of some imported and micro brewery stuff.

I have to say that beer in continental Europe / eastern Europe is of far better quality and in general is far cheaper with the exception of some scandanavian states. Even somewhere with the level of economic development that Germany has beer low prices for a very high quality product (I'm referring to off licence prices).

As for Ireland; we're left paying vast prices (mainly tax) for what are in general poor quality beers in comparison to most of Europe.

Imposter

The problem with beer in Ireland is there's a huge tax on it. A friend of mine was looking to import truck loads of beer to compete with Dutch Gold but the tax was something like 12€ a crate for normal strength beer.

ChipZilla

Dutch Gold.

/me shudders.

Anybody ever tried doing a booze cruise to France? Rosslare to Cherbourg or Cork to Roscoff? Any ideas what customs are like on the return?

dmeehan

my parents often loaded the boot with wine on the way home from hols in france and we were never checked, despite the fact that my brother and I were practically sitting on the floor:D

Tom Dunne

Originally posted by ChipZilla
Any ideas what customs are like on the return?

There should be no problem - once you buy the stuff in a supermarket and pay the duty there (which of course is a hell of a lot less than we pay), they can't say a thing.

Limits only apply to duty free stuff.

John R

It is legal only if if is for the personal use of the importer, you have to prove that to customs. If they don't believe you/don't like your attitude/don't like the colour of your shirt they can (and will) confiscate everything without having to give a reason or justify their actions.

ChipZilla

Yeah, this is something I've never understood.

How do you prove that the dozen crates of Stella in the back of the car are for personal use?

It might just be easier going up the North...

MisterAnarchy

I used to buy a crate of beer,24 ,330ml bottles of Grolsch or Heineken in Amsterdam for 20 guilders around 10 euro .
How much here ?

ChipZilla

Dunno, but I was in Makro in Belfast at the weekend and a case of Grolsch was something like £15 or £16. it would probably cost you. God knows it would probably be about €30 down here...:rolleyes:

Gillo

I've heard beer is cheaper in the states alright, only prob is the flight over and back takes so long that it's just as easy to buy your beer here.

Tazz T

Supermarkets are becoming better and better value for drink at the moment - especially wine - vote with your feet - drink at home.

ChipZilla

Originally posted by gillo
I've heard beer is cheaper in the states alright, only prob is the flight over and back takes so long that it's just as easy to buy your beer here.

I hope you weren't serious, or sober, when you wrote that...

Gillo

No I was serious, you go to the stats, buy your cheap chilled beer (normally tastes similar to water though) and by the time you get it back to Ireland it's gone lukewarm and has been shaken to death so it's unbelieveabley flat.

And tehn you get your credit card bill and hey, the money you've saved buying the beer is cancelled out by the cost of the flights.

ChipZilla

:rolleyes:

Sarky

Leeroybrown speaks truth. There are few beverages quite as lovely as a good continental beer. Belgium and Germany in particular. It's great to walk into an offlicence, buy a pint (well, 500ml) of beer at 9-10% and more, for just over one euro. Then you can bring the bottles back when you're done and get 10 cents back each.

How the offies here get away with charging a good four times the price of the same stuff in another country is just mindboggling.

LFCFan

Originally posted by skittishkitten
a 6 pack ( bottles ) of Guiness is about $9 AND you have to purchase it at a liscenced Liqour Store.

Not true. I bought plenty of Guinness from the local Supermarket when I was over there. Liqour stores are for Spirits.

And it's not the quality of the beer that's an issue here. The fact is, you can buy 24 bottles of Bud for $9.99 in The States while the same here will set you back approx Eur38 (approx $48). The main reason of course is the rediculous tax there is on alchohol in Ireland but there is a also a lot of profit being made. Up until Lidl and Aldi came into the market and started selling cheap beer, the likes of Dunnes and Tesco charged upwards of Eur40 - Eur48 for their cases of beer. Suddenly, with some serious competition, they can sell the same beer for Eur20 - Eur30. Just goes to show, despite the high taxes imposed on beer, off licenses and supermarkets were still making a killing. Don't you just love competition

Ripwave

Originally posted by LFCFan
Not true. I bought plenty of Guinness from the local Supermarket when I was over there. Liqour stores are for Spirits.

There's a reason it's called "The States" - there are 50 of them and each State is has their own laws for many different things, including the sale of alchohol. Some States have very definite restrictions on the sale of Alcohol. For example in Pennsylvania, beer can only be bought in a Beer distributor, and must be sold in cases of 24. Wine and Spirits can only be purchased in a State store. In neighbouring states, you can buy wine and beer in the Supermarkets. In some states, decisions about these matters are devolved right down to the local level, with counties and townships having various restrictions, and taxes, that apply only within that Jurisdiction (for example, some states have "dry" counties, where the local council has decided that alcohol can't be sold at all).

LFCFan

Originally posted by Ripwave
There's a reason it's called "The States" - there are 50 of them and each State is has their own laws for many different things, including the sale of alchohol. Some States have very definite restrictions on the sale of Alcohol. For example in Pennsylvania, beer can only be bought in a Beer distributor, and must be sold in cases of 24. Wine and Spirits can only be purchased in a State store. In neighbouring states, you can buy wine and beer in the Supermarkets. In some states, decisions about these matters are devolved right down to the local level, with counties and townships having various restrictions, and taxes, that apply only within that Jurisdiction (for example, some states have "dry" counties, where the local council has decided that alcohol can't be sold at all).

My Bad! Of course you're right. It's very easy to forget how each State is like it's own little country with it's own laws, regulations and taxes. One thing's true all over American though. If they sell beer, it's a lot cheaper than Ireland!!!

jester77

Good old rip-off Ireland...

I'm living in Germany at the moment and I'm shocked when I go home.
I can get a crate of Warsteiner (20 500ml bottles) for aound €12 or €13, that's when I bring back the last empty crate!! And that is quality beer... there are cheaper brands. You can also get a crate of really good weißbier for around that price, but I had to stop drinking it due to beer belly syndome

And eating out is so cheap.. or is it that Ireland is so expensive
Had a "großmutter" steak the other night in one of the restaurants here, big juicy steak with fried onions on top of it, with a few pieces of bacon on top of the onions and a fried egg to top it off plus a helping of fried spuds.... only cost €12, plus where I live is considered expensive!!