Monday 16 March 2009

One of the problems...

Pub Curmudgeon has created a poll - "How much would you consider exorbitant for a pint of 4.0% ABV beer?"

In a roundabout way he has drawn attention to a problem faced by brewers – there's no price differential between indifferent beer and exceptional beer: there is no higher potential reward for producing exceptional beer. Producing exceptional beer is necessarily more costly than producing indifferent beer – don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise.

Ask wine-lovers "How much would you consider exorbitant for a bottle of 12% ABV wine?" and the response would be a puzzled "which wine?"






3 comments:

Unknown said...

Yes, indeed, I answered £4 because I know there are beers that I would pay that much for, yes even at 4%. Or locations where I would expect the beer to be that much or perhaps even more.

Alcoholic strength is not the only reason for a beer to justify a higher price tag.

But then I'm just a beer snob.

Alistair Reece said...

Would I pay 4 quid for a pint somewhere off the Byer's Road in Glasgow? Would I heck.

Would I pay 4 quid for a pint of ESB in the heart of the City? Probably.

There are simply too many variables for such a simplistic poll - unless of course you buy into the crazy notion that real ale is the "working man's drink" and should be priced accordingly, but then I get the feeling some aren't aware of the last 30 years.

Boak said...

Totally agree with Velky Al - there are just too many variables.