Drinking your way through a recession.

[Stu McKinlay]

I've come across my first real sign of a recession. My brother, a dedicated drinker of good beer (NZ craft beer and Belgians from Regionals mostly), has started buying Stella or Becks because he's on a budget. This is not an accasional "craft" beer drinker. This guy drinks good beer all the time, almost every day. If he was a bit tight in the past he'd drink Mac's at worst...

I think the next couple of years are going to be really hard for craft breweries. We're likely to lose a few. How's the recession going to affect your drinking habits?

[Kempicus]

Due to my New Years resolution 'thou shalt not drink crap beer' i won't be turning to cheaper options....however apart from one beer last friday i haven't been to the pub since just after christmas....i'll just drink less i guess

[Ian]

Yes, the price thing has cropped up all the time in this thread and there's no getting away from it entirely. We used to visit the UK quite often and witnessed the effects of CAMRA on real ale drinkers. In the 60's and early 70's companies like Watney's bought out pub after pub all over England, or at least made it worthwhile for the pub to become a Watney's house. Then they'd install horrors like automatic taps and vile slop like Watney's Red Barrel - God help the nation.
Well, in the mid to late 70's because of the CAMRA awareness you could get real beer on tap in SOME pubs. Every visit we made after that, with a couple of years in between each, saw an improvement in the situation until you could get real beer on tap - at least one or two - in any pub, even in the cities. BUT, the price of a pint of really decent bitter was not really much more than what people had been paying for the Watneys - it was more a quality awareness revolution. Now I understand (not been to the UK for some 12 years) the crappy stuff is easing back in. But at least if there were more freehouses here in NZ, and those pubs would have at least one really good beer, people would go for it more and more. It isn't an overnight process. Even here in Picton it has been surpriseing how many people will pay $7.50 for a good pint of Guinness rather than $4.50 for a Speights. Five years ago that wouldn't have happened in a small town.

[James P]

A by product of seeking the "elusive great beer" in a pub has meant that I spend more time at home with my family brewing the "elusive great beer" from all the information I find here.

Home is also where I enjoy bottled craft beers (or riggers of TWISTED HOP IPA!), saving the $30 on a taxi means I'm still within budget!

[jt]

I only buy beer once, maybe twice a month.
Buying beer is for when I go out, can't drink my own or when there's something I really want to try.
It won't have any affect on me at all

[Ian]

James P's mere cruel mention of being able to pop down the road and get a rigger of Twisted Hop IPA will doubtless send poor Kempie into a state of depression! Never mind mate, I have a rigger of that good stuff in my fridge, so if you hop on a Soundsair flight over I'll gladly share it with you. At 6.5%, or whatever, I'm unlikely to finish it tonight on my own and once it's open...

[Stu McKinlay]

Is there any IPA left?
I'll be at kick starting the economy at The Twisted Hop next Thursday (early afternoon) if any Chch locals want to pop down and say hello. Look for the camp looking Ponsonby guy in a Yeastie Boys shirt. I'll be sitting with him ;-)

[Kempicus]

I heard there was only 6 casks left...and that was last week....?

[Sam Possenniskie (TGM)]

That's a bit rough calling Craig 'camp' Stu ;-)

[Kempicus]

I did notice that...pretty mean thing to say!!!
Drink it all! you can do it!!! ;0)

[MrC]

I'm the same as jt. Pretty much no effect on me. I plan on brewing more this year anyway and don't buy much beer as it is. It's not because of cost, I just like brewing and drinking my own beer. I only tend to buy beer when I want to get a taste for a new style that I'm thinking of brewing and then again after I've brewed it to see how mine stacks up.

[Nolen Smith]

It's one of the big reasons I decided last year to get back in to brewing at home (plus the limited access to craft beer at *most* pubs (thank god for Malthouse, Bar Edward, etc)). So, I'll be brewing a lot more and pubbing less. However, I'll still support the pubs that make craft beer available. Instead of popping down to the GP or those numerous other Montieths' pubs with my co-workers, I'll save it for where it counts.

....mmmm...Twisted Hop. I managed to swing by there several months ago when I was in Chch for work. I've been trying to find an excuse to get back since.

[Barry]

One of the things I believe must happen in this country is tax excise breaks for small quantity brewers. If we see that, and their product can sit on the shelf alongside big brands at a comparable price, recession need not bite into their market at all.

It won't affect me either way, buying beer is a luxury for me. I can't afford to drink really good beer every day. I just can't. So I brew my own.