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Price hike for stronger suds

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JWalter
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Price hike for stronger suds

Post by JWalter »

Hello Gents,

I read about this in the Sun this morning, thought I'd share the news... Here's the article in full from the CBC along w/ a link to the site... They only mention some of the really crappy beers in this category, but I'm assuming this will affect ALL beers of 6-10% strength - Can anyone else shed some light on this?
Price hike for stronger suds

OTTAWA - The Beer Store and the LCBO have upped the price of high-alcohol beer by as much as 60 per cent.

The move came without warning this week, and affects dozens of brands with alcohol contents ranging from 6.1 to 10 per cent, such as Maximum Ice, Bull Max, and Lucky Lager Force 10.

The alcohol content for regular beer is limited to 5.6 per cent.

The super-charged beer is usually sold in big bottles or cans, which cost between $3 and $4 before the hike. Now they will cost as much as $6.80 – the higher the alcohol content, the higher the price.

The price increase is intended to discourage excessive consumption, especially by young drinkers.

The new pricing scheme comes after negotiations between the Beer Store, LCBO, and the province.
http://ottawa.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/V ... ke20040507

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GregClow
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Post by GregClow »

I just checked a couple of high alc. beers on the LCBO website.

Aventinus is $2.75 (on sale for $2.55 until later this month), and I'm pretty sure that's the same price as before.

Maudite and La Fin Du Monde are $5.50 and $5.75 respectively for 750 mL bottles - I thought they were the same price, so maybe this new rule was applied to them, as Maudite is 8% and La Fin Du Monde is 9%.

Lucky Lager Force 10 is $6.80 for a 1180 mL bottle - I've never bought it, but I'm pretty sure it was cheaper before. Same goes for Maximum Ice (7%), which is now $4.90 for a large bottle.

So if Aventinus is any indication, they haven't applied the increase to all strong beers.

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joey_capps
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Post by joey_capps »

I might be wrong, but I was under the impression they upped the minimum price that a high alcohol beer could be sold for. This wouldn't necessarily affect the beers we drink as they are well above the minimum anyway.

Joe

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Post by Josh Oakes »

GregClow wrote:I just checked a couple of high alc. beers on the LCBO website.

Aventinus is $2.75 (on sale for $2.55 until later this month), and I'm pretty sure that's the same price as before.

Maudite and La Fin Du Monde are $5.50 and $5.75 respectively for 750 mL bottles - I thought they were the same price, so maybe this new rule was applied to them, as Maudite is 8% and La Fin Du Monde is 9%.

Lucky Lager Force 10 is $6.80 for a 1180 mL bottle - I've never bought it, but I'm pretty sure it was cheaper before. Same goes for Maximum Ice (7%), which is now $4.90 for a large bottle.

So if Aventinus is any indication, they haven't applied the increase to all strong beers.
Good thing I stocked up on Old English a couple of weeks ago. I got seventeen forties in my fridge so the government can kiss my ass.

esprit
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Post by esprit »

There was no "price increase" per se but rather the LCBO established new "floor prices" for high alcohol beers, that is to say, prices below which they could not be sold and the floor price is $55 X # of litres X alcohol percentage plus taxes. Beers like Duvel and Chimay and the Unibroue's are not affected because they are priced above the new floor prices. If you check the prices for FAXE 10, CREST SUPER and NAVIGATOR, you'll note that they have all gone from around $2 per 500ml can to around $3, a 50% increase. Just so you know, the LCBO does not get anything out of this increase other than the increased sales taxes which technically are not theirs. The fact is the suppliers were all asked to increase their prices to achieve the minimum so, in a way, they've all be handed a huge bonus assuming that sales don't drop drastically and, frankly, that's not likely to happen because a 500ml can of 10% is still pretty much the smallest and cheapest unit you can buy for a quick buzz....just means the panhandlers will have to bum 4 more quarters before their next can. I wrote a number of letters to the LCBO a few years ago about this very same issue since the cost per absolute litre of alcohol for these beers was something around $35 whereas for wines and spirits it was around $55. It just made no sense for them to be peddling cheap alcohol in one category only. What is surprising is that they opted not to pocket the additional revenue themselves.

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beanmedic
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Post by beanmedic »

Josh Oakes wrote:Good thing I stocked up on Old English a couple of weeks ago. I got seventeen forties in my fridge so the government can kiss my ass.
That's absolutely hilarious!!!!!! :lol: :lol:

borderline_alcoholic
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Post by borderline_alcoholic »

esprit wrote:Beers like Duvel and Chimay and the Unibroue's are not affected because they are priced above the new floor prices.
Duvel does seem to have increased in price slightly. The last couple of bottles I picked up were priced at $3.05. Previously it was at $2.75, so around a 10% increase.

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Mississauga Matt
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Post by Mississauga Matt »

Josh Oakes wrote: Good thing I stocked up on Old English a couple of weeks ago. I got seventeen forties in my fridge so the government can kiss my ass.
I believe it is Olde English, with the e adding class to an already classy product.

8)

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Derek
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Post by Derek »

Now that the cooler weather is upon us, I went to the liquor store for some more seasonal brews. I was shocked to find that they've increased the price on beer containing more than 5.6% alcohol by volume.

"The prices of all beer products containing more than 5.6 per cent alcohol were raised following talks between the LCBO, the Beer Store and the provincial government."

"Public concerns, including worries about young drinkers, encouraged retailers to raise the prices". http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFre ... 49864.html

How many people actually drink more than a couple of strong ale's or English Special Bitter's in one sitting?
How many "young drinkers" actually purchase these tasty, high-gravity beverages?

I beleive the real problem is the high adjuct, low-gravity mass-market beer that is sold in CASES of 6, 12, and even 24!

Who packages these cases? Labatt's and Molson.
Who own's 99% of the Beer Store? Labatt's and Molson.
So who has raised the price on these quality imports and microbrew's? LABATT'S AND MOLSON!!!!!!!

They already have a monopoly with 90% of Ontario's beer market. This is just another attempt to stifle the competition, and it should not be allowed.

Shame on them, and the government, for promoting this tax-grab as "responsible drinking".

If it was really about responsible drinking, why not attack the ciders and coolers?

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GregClow
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Post by GregClow »

Responsible Drinker - while some of your points may be valid, you really should go back up the thread and read the post from esprit (who is the importer/agent for many of the import beers you buy at the LCBO) where he clearly explains the price hike, and the fact that it actually had very little effect on most of the high-end beers.

esprit
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Post by esprit »

I think you are a bit mistaken about the effect of these "price increases". In fact, what the LCBO has done is set a floor price for high alcohol beers in order to ensure that the Crests and Faxe 10"s of this world are in the same price range per litre of absolute alcohol as wines and spirits. This is a long overdue move and I for one had lobbied the LCBO to do this years ago. The fact is, this "increase" has no effect on high quality high alcohol brews such as many of our Belgians as they are already priced well above the floor price. If you look closely you'll see it's only the plonk in cans that was really affected by this change and you lovers of high quality high alcohol brews needn't worry about any impact on you.

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pootz
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Post by pootz »

"The prices of all beer products containing more than 5.6 per cent alcohol were raised following talks between the LCBO, the Beer Store and the provincial government."
And right there people is the reason Ontario's beer consumer still wallows in the neolithic morass of regulated isolation. The age old demons are trotted out to justify this unparaleled state monopoly on adult beverages.

In reality the mega brewers have had their croneys in government provide them with a captive market....usurpers are closely regulated and selection is kept limited. Your first trip to US or Europe will make you realize how incredibly repressed we are here where personal choice and the free markets are concerned.
Aventinus rules!

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Rob Creighton
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Post by Rob Creighton »

The interesting feature for me in all the price adjustments we are seeing (regardless of alcoholic strength and quality) is the ever-so-gradual realization by Joe Sixpack that they have been grossly over-charged for mainline lagers and ales for decades. Your average weekend warrior twenty something is trying a Lucky Lager/Old Milwaukee/Laker/Carling versus a Molson Canadian/Labatt Blue and finding them almost identical.

And inevitably asking the question, 'So why were we paying $14.00 more/case?'

The "premium" category occupied by the mainstream beers are doomed and a floor price for higher alcohol beers is just another example of our overly obese, hopelessly inept government justifying its existence. The super-premium category where the micro's/euro's exist should look at floor prices as the least of their worries.

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Derek
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Post by Derek »

I'm afraid that some of you are mistaken. Check your LCBO.

There's little signs hanging beneath my brews explaining the price increase!

Fuller's 1845 and London Porter are not bottom-line malt liquor.

Sure the bottom-line pricing was increased, but others have increased accordingly.

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GregClow
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Post by GregClow »

Responsible Drinker wrote: Fuller's 1845 and London Porter are not bottom-line malt liquor.
1845 wasn't available at the LCBO when the floor price increase went into effect back in the spring, it's only been on the shelf for a month or so.

And London Porter is only 5.4% alc.

So there's no way that either of them could've been affected by this, unless another price hike took place more recently & on beers that are lower than the originally announced 5.6% alc.

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