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mithrilG60 · 03-20-2010, 01:51 PM

It all comes down to personal preferences and how you justify the purchase cost to yourself. When looking at beer vs wine, wine will almost always be more expensive than a beer of similar quality level simply because the production costs are typically higher. I think you're right that there's a certain degree of snob factor as well since many people also regard beer as more of a kids drink (high school and frat party's, etc) and wine as more of a grown ups drink which you move into as your self perceived level of sophistication and financial ability increases overtime.

I think it's also because people see some things (ie. beer) as cheap, others as "inexpensive" for their perceived value (ie. wine) and still others as "expensive" when they haven't actually sat down and worked out the relative values. I had a similar discussion a couple weeks back with a couple of boys at work. We'd gone out for Friday lunch and since we were close to one of the Signature BCLC liquor stores I asked them to stop in so I could pick up a bottle of malt (Glenfarclas 17yr: $100).

On the way back they couldn't get over, or let go of, the fact that I'd just paid $100 for a bottle of whisky. These are all guys who enjoy the occasional whisky or rum but tend only to buy cheap blends like Johnny Walker or maybe step up to an entry level malt like Glenfiddich 12yr for special occasions because of the "sticker shock" associated with higher end bottles of malt. However these are also guys who will go out to a bar for a hockey game, or whatever, and order bland tasting beers like Molson Canadian (basically the same as Budweiser or any other generic mass produced cheap beer) for $5 - $6 pint all night and think nothing of that cost.

The way I pointed it out to them was that if I take that $100 bottle and pour measured drinks out of it I'll get 24 or 25 drinks per bottle which means it works out to roughly $4/drink for a hand crafted well aged premium spirit versus their $5 - $6 generic no flavour beer. Plus, since I've no desire to get drunk on scotch, that bottle will last weeks or months whereas a beer or bottle of wine must be consumed in one sitting. By that logic the $100 bottle of scotch is a far better value than even the cheapest pub beer which no one thinks twice about buying.

The funny thing was 2 of the 3 guys I was out for lunch with that day all went back to the liquor store over the weekend and invested in bottles of good malt or rum because they recognized that it wasn't unaffordable as long as they looked pass the initial purchase outlay and realized the true cost of the bottle over it's lifespan.

03-20-2010, 01:51 PM	#3
mithrilG60 Feeling at Home Join Date: Dec 2008 First Name: Geoff Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Posts: 733 Trading: (2)	Re: Beer Prices v. Wine Prices It all comes down to personal preferences and how you justify the purchase cost to yourself. When looking at beer vs wine, wine will almost always be more expensive than a beer of similar quality level simply because the production costs are typically higher. I think you're right that there's a certain degree of snob factor as well since many people also regard beer as more of a kids drink (high school and frat party's, etc) and wine as more of a grown ups drink which you move into as your self perceived level of sophistication and financial ability increases overtime. I think it's also because people see some things (ie. beer) as cheap, others as "inexpensive" for their perceived value (ie. wine) and still others as "expensive" when they haven't actually sat down and worked out the relative values. I had a similar discussion a couple weeks back with a couple of boys at work. We'd gone out for Friday lunch and since we were close to one of the Signature BCLC liquor stores I asked them to stop in so I could pick up a bottle of malt (Glenfarclas 17yr: $100). On the way back they couldn't get over, or let go of, the fact that I'd just paid $100 for a bottle of whisky. These are all guys who enjoy the occasional whisky or rum but tend only to buy cheap blends like Johnny Walker or maybe step up to an entry level malt like Glenfiddich 12yr for special occasions because of the "sticker shock" associated with higher end bottles of malt. However these are also guys who will go out to a bar for a hockey game, or whatever, and order bland tasting beers like Molson Canadian (basically the same as Budweiser or any other generic mass produced cheap beer) for $5 - $6 pint all night and think nothing of that cost. The way I pointed it out to them was that if I take that $100 bottle and pour measured drinks out of it I'll get 24 or 25 drinks per bottle which means it works out to roughly $4/drink for a hand crafted well aged premium spirit versus their $5 - $6 generic no flavour beer. Plus, since I've no desire to get drunk on scotch, that bottle will last weeks or months whereas a beer or bottle of wine must be consumed in one sitting. By that logic the $100 bottle of scotch is a far better value than even the cheapest pub beer which no one thinks twice about buying. The funny thing was 2 of the 3 guys I was out for lunch with that day all went back to the liquor store over the weekend and invested in bottles of good malt or rum because they recognized that it wasn't unaffordable as long as they looked pass the initial purchase outlay and realized the true cost of the bottle over it's lifespan.