Is €3.70 a "reasonable" price for a 500 ml Irish craft beer in an off-licence?

St. Lupulin

Off-Licence only.

Let's say it's 5% abv Irish pale ale for arguments sake...

Insect Overlord

I'd pay more than that for bottles of Kinnegar down here, so I'd have to say yes. Not too often though.

schemingbohemia

Pub or off-licence?

All depends on what it is, bit of a pointless poll.

Buy it or don't buy it, there's no one forcing you. Also reasonable for one person is extortion for another.

the beer revolu

Blacks Black IPA 4 for €9 in Dunne's is reasonable:D

drumswan

Too many factors involved to make a judgement based on ABV alone.

St. Lupulin

I fecked up. Meant Irish beer, solely.

You're average pale ale pretty much.

Ravelleman

There are certainly many factors involved but I do consciously avoid Irish craft beers that are more than about €3.20 each. Prices are creeping up but there are nice beers available for under €3 like the O'Shea's range and the Dunnes 4 for €9 offer.

dregin

O'Haras Stout and Red are now cheaper in Tesco than O'Sheas in Aldi. 1.79/1.89 VS 1.99.

muletide

Anyone know where you can get EvilTwin Falco cheaper than €3.69 for 355ml ? (O'Briens Price)

super_furry

Yes for a pub, pricey for an off licence but could still be good depending on what it tastes like.

Ravelleman

super_furry wrote: »

Yes for a pub, pricey for an off licence but could still be good depending on what it tastes like.

Show me a pub in Dublin other than Wetherspoons with those prices and I will go to it.

n97 mini

I remember seeing Irish craft beers in Suerquinn for €2.99 and thinking "no f-ing way am I paying that". Now €3.99 is the new €2.99.

Geuze

3.70 is not at all reasonable, no way.

Basic, cheap, low quality beer is under 30c in Germany.

Now, we have much higher excise, and slightly higher VAT, but still, it's a long, long way from 30 cent to 3.70.

There is little justification for 3.70 per 50cl bottle, unless the ABV is very high.

BaZmO*

Geuze wrote: »

3.70 is not at all reasonable, no way.

Basic, cheap, low quality beer is under 30c in Germany.

Now, we have much higher excise, and slightly higher VAT, but still, it's a long, long way from 30 cent to 3.70.

There is little justification for 3.70 per 50cl bottle, unless the ABV is very high.

You're talking about beer though, not milk or bread. A reasonable price is whatever price people will pay.

It's simple business, you charge what you can, and hopefully that price is not too high that it'll scare away future custom. It's capitalism baby!

Lovely Bloke

Never understand these threads where people give out about price - if you think the price is unreasonable, don't pay it! If enough people don't pay it, then the business will fail, and that's not a bad thing.

No business, anywhere, is obliged to cater to Joe Bloggs' pocket, if you can afford, and are happy to, pay 3.70+ for a bottle of beer, then more power to you, if you can't or won't, then buy cheaper!

It's the same in the bleedin GBB threads, people expecting some hippie communist system where all beer costs the same low, low price, or that companies and businesses making a profit is a "bad thing". Newsflash - it isn't. It's the world we inhabit.

I also think that the price of good beers includes not only the ingredients in and on that particular bottle, but also the ingredients in all the test batches that went down the drain (I actually think GBB have pulled a good one here too, by sticking some of their test batches into the taps in the pubs, free market research!), R&D is not free either, and you can be damn sure (speaking from experience here) that for every successful recipe, even if it's an average batch of unremarkable Pale Ale, at least one, and usually many more, have been off, infected, or taste just plain manky, it's not as if all these lads just came up with perfect recipes straight away.

The moaning about price became tiresome about 2 years ago, and it's become a parody now.

It doesn't matter what you or I think is reasonable, if the brewer wants to put beer out, via a distributer (+%), into an off licence (+%), at a certain price point, then that brewer will live or die by that price, and so goes the world of capitalism.

Either buy, or don't buy.

drumswan

If anyone has a business plan to bring cheap, quality beer to market I'd love to hear it.

snowblind

If I can't buy a similar/better quality product for cheaper, yeah? If I'm on a budget, I'll buy less beers.

Hoppy beers are better fresh. If I can get a local recently bottled product for 3.70 while there's an american big house craft brew for 3€ next to it, I'll most likely take the former. Unless it's a bland one like dungarvan or what have you.

If you want to make/drink cheap quality beer you need to be in the west coast of the USA.

Comparing a german supermarket beer to an Irish craft beer is pretty ignorant. Why not compare a german craft beer to an Irish craft beer?

Paz-CCFC

n97 mini wrote: »

I remember seeing Irish craft beers in Suerquinn for €2.99 and thinking "no f-ing way am I paying that". Now €3.99 is the new €2.99.

What supermarket did you see 4-5% Irish pale ales going for €4 a bottle?

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Never understand these threads where people give out about price - if you think the price is unreasonable, don't pay it! If enough people don't pay it, then the business will fail, and that's not a bad thing.

The moaning about price became tiresome about 2 years ago, and it's become a parody now.

Either buy, or don't buy.

You make some good points, and I broadly agree with your post. But, in similar vein as business being entitled to charge what they want, consumers are well entitled to complain about what they perceive as a poor quality of low product. They can complain to the business or recommend to others not to buy the product. There's nothing wrong with that, and it may lead to more choosing not to buy it and the company making less money, as you suggest that people should do.

In fact, I'm not too sure that consumers in this country complain directly to the business as much as they should. There's a lot of "I wouldn't give them the satisfaction, I'll just never go back there/buy their products again". If you give your feedback, then the business can act on that if they think it would be better for them to do so. If they don't get any complaints and their sales just drop off, it could be due to any one or a combination of a broad number of reasons that they might not be able to identify.

Lovely Bloke

Yeah, I complain when it's warranted. Directly to the problem causers, I'm not one of these people who'll bitch about a place, but still go back.

I sent a sandwich back on Saturday because the bread was moldy - my table of six got free deserts.

I complained in Spoons before Xmas because the service was shít and the beer ran out.

I'll happily give return business to places like that, once they at least try to rectify the issues.

It's just in this instance, it's kind of hard to see what the complaints are about, especially comparing to huge US craft breweries like SN, Founders and the like, the Irish brewers are buying a fraction of the ingredients these lads are, so bulk discounts will apply to them, not to mention they are probably using locally sourced hops and grains too.

Complaining about price is one thing, but not knowing why a particular product is the price it is, is completely another.

I do see the difference between a price complaint and a quality complaint too. I've complained about plenty of Irish Brewers and the quality of their beers (RED ALES AGAIN!!!!!), but not about the price - because I brew myself, I know how hard it is to actually get it not just right, but acceptable to sell.

the beer revolu

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

It's just in this instance, it's kind of hard to see what the complaints are about, especially comparing to huge US craft breweries like SN, Founders and the like, the Irish brewers are buying a fraction of the ingredients these lads are, so bulk discounts will apply to them, not to mention they are probably using locally sourced hops and grains too.

When you factor in the transatlantic transport costs and the fact the indigenous beers have half the duty that an import has, maybe it is fair to compare prices between US craft beers and home produced beers.

To be honest, Irish craft breweries have to compete with imports if they are going to survive.

Lovely Bloke

the beer revolu wrote: »

When you factor in the transatlantic transport costs and the fact the indigenous beers have half the duty that an import has, maybe it is fair to compare prices between US craft beers and home produced beers.

To be honest, Irish craft breweries have to compete with imports if they are going to survive.

Big if imo, some will, some won't - it's just business. The ones that give themselves the edge, be it by pricing lower, better product or shiney lables will win out.

JONJO THE MISER

drumswan wrote: »

If anyone has a business plan to bring cheap, quality beer to market I'd love to hear it.

Well how come i can buy 8 degrees sunburnt for 1.85 a bottle including delivery.
The hell im going to pay 2.50 or more a bottle.

BaZmO*

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

Well how come i can buy 8 degrees sunburnt for 1.85 a bottle including delivery.
The hell im going to pay 2.50 or more a bottle.

Maybe they have smaller overheads? Who knows?

Lovely Bloke

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

Well how come i can buy 8 degrees sunburnt for 1.85 a bottle including delivery.
The hell im going to pay 2.50 or more a bottle.

because distributer and off licence need to make a living too, at 1.85 you are buying direct from 8 Degrees - but, can you buy one or two at a time, or do you need to buy 72 bottles to get that price?

Insect Overlord

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

Well how come i can buy 8 degrees sunburnt for 1.85 a bottle including delivery.
The hell im going to pay 2.50 or more a bottle.

They're 330 mls too. This thread is about 50cl bottles.

RasTa

Just brew your own beer so, cheaper and the same quality as most crap that's coming out of Ireland these days.

Costs €120 to get a decent set up for all grain.

drumswan

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

Well how come i can buy 8 degrees sunburnt for 1.85 a bottle including delivery.
The hell im going to pay 2.50 or more a bottle.

Thats great if you want 72 bottles of Irish Red. If we are going to go back to buying fairly inoffensive beer by the slab that crowd Guinness do a stout you might want to look into

Personally I like to head along to the local specialist off licence and pick up a few bottles for the week, have a chat about whats new, which seasonals have come back up or look out for a mix of old favourites. I perceive the service they provide as having some value so I dont mind spending a few quid.

And like many others here I brew my own so if I want a cheap supping beer I just pour one from the tap.

Zebra3

St. Lupulin wrote: »

Off-Licence only.

Let's say it's 5% abv Irish pale ale for arguments sake...

McGrath's and O'Hara's stouts in Spoons for €2.45.....

Lovely Bloke

Zebra3 wrote: »

McGrath's and O'Hara's stouts in Spoons for €2.45.....

330cl bottles

Paz-CCFC

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

330cl bottles

Jaysus, I heard that Wetherspoon were good value, but I didn't think they were that good.

Lovely Bloke

Paz-CCFC wrote: »

Jaysus, I heard that Wetherspoon were good value, but I didn't think they were that good.

huh?

You can currently get pints of pretty decent cask ale for 1.99.