i was at the LCBO the other day and grabbed two cans of paulaner oktoberfest as it has just come out and i dont mind it (it really isnt anything special at all). get to the register and its $3.95.
i’m not even going to try to justify costs vs. price again, but we are very much at the point of the average can of decent beer being around $3.75 to $4 and this is across the board for very average/unspecial beers- even mega(but decent)brewers like paulaner for example.
i think this would be an excellent drawing in concept for people to start brewing themselves.
its 2024, we are not in 1998 where people hear “ooh homebrewed cheap beer!!” and want budweiser/malt liquor etc stuff to get you drunk. the concept of craft beer and good vs bad beer has completely saturated the minds of everyone in the developed world and beyond.
the ideal thing i believe would be a small, immediate neighbourhood co-op brewery/pub facility. i can imagine it servicing kind of about an area for ~200 to 500 people (including kids, im trying to show size in area) and it being essentially non-profit. some kind of system that brews ~1000 litres a month. if you are in the co-op you would either pay and/or do work to brew the beer to access the beer. this is just brainstorming, but i think you get the idea.
It would encourage highly unique regional beer styles
It would eliminate the marketing/transportation/profit costs that drive up commercial beer
I’m estimating cutting beer prices down from $4 per 500ml to ~$1 (for a 5% beer)
I remember reading about this many years ago in the US. No idea now if this is still going on. Seems like a great idea considering the high beer prices at the LCBO. Taxes are the real killer at the LCBO, the highest in Canada. I wonder what the price of Paulaner is in the US?
I rarely buy commercial beer, but this time of year it’s a lot easier to find relatively fresh German imports, so I actually made a run the other day. I don’t remember the exact price for each beer, but my total (including 7% sales tax) was $43 for:
interesting, i googled some prices a bit before i posted the thread and tbh it seems like prices for beer in america are higher than in the past as well. $2USD is about $2.75 CAD
im just aware though that my reference point of german local-brand beers that are exported internationally are easily in the $1 to $1.50 per 500ml can range around the world and they are often GOOD beers that are highly enjoyable. (i miss colbitzer cans for 90 cents)
again, i hope this can spur a little boom in homebrewing. though people do prefer spending money foolishly than giving out sweat.
IMO if anything the constantly rising beer prices will continue sending people to other alcoholic beverages.
There’s a lot of financial issues with the concept here but really getting people participating would be tough. A lot of people would rather drink at home or drink cheaper drinks than clean out out a mash tun to basically drink homebrew. Heck, judging by the constant availability of homebrewing equipment on the secondhand market, these days we can barely get people to clean out their own mashtuns and drink their own beer for free.
Ontario has been behind for many years in how they sell beer and access to U brew facilities. I am in BC in a very small Village (1500 people). We have a brewery a government liquor store and a privately owned liquor store. 10 minutes away in the next town we have two Brew on Premises. My neighbour and I both brew at home but saving money is not a priority in the process
This is getting fairly specific about Ontario, but yes. and to expand on that - they refuse to give up control here. All the new stuff about allowing it to be sold in convenience stores now etc - It ALL still has to come through the LCBO, thats why everything is either at the same price as the LCBO or higher. You can’t import ANY alcohol (not salted cooking wine+industrial of course), even from another province unless it goes through the LCBO. its so insane. It’s so old fashioned, they treat beer like its nuclear waste.
Also the convenience stores now as far as I can tell just sell bud, bud-light, malt liquors, the cheapest industrial wine.
WOW YAY I CAN BUY GARBAGE AT A CONVENIENCE STORE NOW!! WE DID IT GUYS!