I like Troy and Cass as much as anyone and consider them a two-headed monster that has pushed and pulled and tugged Ontario into the good beer revolution as much as anyone else in recent years. But I can't go along with Troy's approval of Cass's post entitled "Bring On the Expensive Beer":
Not only are we seeing more and more super-premium beers with prices to match, but we’re seeing something just as remarkable. They are all selling. Fast. Why is this a good thing? Well, its indicative that the Ontario beer drinking market is accepting to more premium-priced beers, which bodes well for the mission of Free Our Beer. You see, if we are to be successful with a goal with any form of private beer retail – drinkers will need to pay higher prices for good products.
I simply do not agree. There are too many factors which go into the cost of beer that do not align good beer with expensive beer... and the hint for me that this point might have been missed is the use of that pesky word "premium." See, I can go south into New York State and easily pay a lot less for a lot more in quality. Sure, there will be more to pay in a small shop for a a few great imported brews like Bernadrus 12 than the LCBO is offering right now at $3.45 for 330 ml but there is a lot less to be paid for most NY made beers which offer such a range of delights that even with the improvement in Ontario's good beer supply that I still have bought over 75% of my beer stash over there. And I can buy some of them in grocery stores and in gas stations, not just at specialty shops. Lower taxes, lower transportation costs and lower markup because a place like Wegman's also buys in bulk are at play. And, for me, that is the hallmark of a mature beer culture.
I don't disagree with Cass that there are a few highly expensive beers that one may buy a bottle of on the rare occasion. But it represents such a small part of the overall good beer market - and is too often the cause of one's greatest disappointment - that I simply cannot accept it as a principle going forward. Bring me my six pack of good beer in a grocery store for an honest price. Bring me my arrow of desire. That is the new Jerusalem.
Comments
Jeremy - February 9, 2011 10:51 AM
Except that the "cheap" six pack you are getting of Rogue, or Southern Tier, etc. is still up to double the price of the macro stuff. The taxation and transportation structures have more to do with that than anything else. I once bought a bottle of World Wide Stout in Buffalo only to see a 24 pack of Keystone Light for sale at the same price elsewhere. I think the point of Cass's article is more that if the "minimum" price of a six pack is higher, then more people are going to be willing to pay the "premium" for good beer.
Alan - February 9, 2011 11:07 AM
I am not sure that model works. We have macro-lager for 29 bucks a 24 as well as marco-lager well over the 40 buck range in Ontario. I can get good craft beer sixes for well under ten in NYS including many under 8. I am no more going to pay for good beer here at 13 to 15 bucks a six than I am going to pay Ontario prices for Blue when I get it for a third of that 37 minutes from here.
Bottom line: I don't care at all if there is a "greater craft beer community" if it means breaking the rules of economics by watching prices go up. Cheap and niche is fine with me.
Jeff Alworth - February 11, 2011 2:36 PM
Well, according to our local correspondent, the Portland Beer Price Index has been flat for well over a year. Prices at the top end are exploding (barrel aged 22-once bottles, et al), but regular sixers are standing pat. (And, given that the average ABV continues to rise, you could argue the value is getting better.)