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In Praise of Expensive Beer - July 2002Item: Recently, I visited Montréal for the Mondial de la Bière. One of the pleasant features new at this year's fest was a fine dining restaurant set up on the festival grounds, and by 'fine dining' I mean food beyond pork sausage and sauerkraut. (Not that there's anything wrong with that...) Although I lacked the time to partake of the restaurant's offerings, I did note the menu, and in particular I noted the presence of Unibroue's newest beer, Terrible, on said menu at $20 per 750ml bottle.Item: As reported in Peter LaFrance's 'Hot Trub' email newsletter (hottrub@beerbasics.com), there is a movement afoot in the US House of Representatives to cut the beer excise tax in half, from $18 a barrel to $9, returning it to its 1991 level. You, dear reader, may expect me to be scandalized by the former news item and in support of the latter, but in fact my feelings run quite the opposite. Well, maybe not exactly opposite, but along those lines. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like paying high prices any more than the next guy. But the dirty reality of life in western society is that consumer goods, be they food, drinks, cars, furniture, or whatever, tend to get precious little respect when they are cheap and ubiquitous. And beer, ordinary mainstream beer, is nothing if not both of these things. First growth Bordeaux, foie gras, caviar and single malt whisky are all well-respected products. Part of the reason for this is that they are damn good foods and drinks, prized by connoisseurs who understand the complexities of taste. But the other part of this equation, arguably the more important part, is that all of these things are relatively rare and very expensive. So the wealthy individual who knows nothing about food or drink can at least celebrate and publicize their wealth by keeping on hand supplies of the best and priciest in wine, spirits, fattened goose liver and fish eggs. Beer, as previously mentioned, is pretty cheap. A drop in the tax on beer will have an impact on smaller breweries producing interesting beers, often at higher-end prices, of that there is precious little doubt. But the effect will be felt to a much, much greater degree by the mega-breweries seeking to shift massive quantities of beer and reduced prices. And I just don't think that cases of 24 cans selling for less than the cost of a restaurant hamburger does much to improve the status of beer. Much better, as far as I'm concerned, is the idea of a sophisticated, complex beer selling for $20 in a fine dining establishment. Or the $100 price tag Boston Beer slapped on their Utopias, the new world's strongest ale. Or the retailing of expensive, oversized bottles like magnums and jeroboams, as several small brewers have done recently. Consumers see this and figure than an expensive beer must be worthy of value and respect, and over time that attitude washes over to other, less pricey and more everyday craft beers. Incidentally, the imports have been playing this game for ages. I remember when Pilsner Urquell first introduced their 500ml can into the Ontario market, I asked the brewery's vice-chairman if they had plans to do the same in the U.S. His response was that they would never consider it since they wouldn't be able to demand top price for a canned beer in the States. And in that market, he explained, a high price equalled sophistication, so the reputation of their beer would inevitably take a hit if they cut its cost. That's a lesson craft brewers everywhere would do well to heed. For more on this year's Mondial de la Bière, please see last month's Feature Story. For more on the beer called Terrible, please see this month's Taste of the Month.Feature Articles
Feedback?We're very interested in your news, notes, comments and questions, so please feel free to contact SBWoB by clicking on the link below. Or you can add your comments when you sign up for the World of Beer Update, a mid-month e-mail newsletter that brings even more of the world of beer to your computer. Send Feedback To: beaumont@worldofbeer.com Bright Beer - Kitchen Table Tastings - Feature - Taste of the Month Copyright 1997 - 2006 © - Stephen Beaumont |