Fuck the price of alcohol, it is absolutely ridiculous. I’m a man that liked to have a beer after a long day at work; maybe a case or two on the weekend… but no longer.
Brewers can cram a can or two in their arse and so can the government for taxing it so. The day I pay $17 for an 8pk is the day I drink my own piss, which is coincidentally what I imagine my grocery store, non-alcoholic beer tastes like. —Angry Joe Eightpack
This article appears in Jul 8-14, 2010.
Don’t blame the brewers for the fucking exhorbitant taxes the government puts on the products. Brewers can’t sell their wares if people can’t afford them. Blame the right people, THE FUCKING PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT.
Bro’s right, OP. When I was in quebec last month a 12 pack (bottles) of heineken was on sale for $14 and iirc, you could get a 2-4 of coors (cans) for 21 bucks. And you could buy it in the grocery stores. They can’t sell hard liquor there, but wine, beer and malt liquor coolers (which will knock. you. off. your. arse.) were allowed to be sold there and the prices were pretty much non regulated. Hard liquor was only sold in government SAQ stores and the prices were regulated I believe.
Brew your own? Many of my friends do it.
Went through Quebec a couple weeks ago… came back with our trunk filled with beer. Mmmm…. I got 24 Coronitas (yes, I KNOW they’re baby beers – but still) for $17. And the rest was cheap, cheap too. The gov’t taxes on beer in NS is bullshit.
well o.p., hope you can stomach it, because the price will be going up again before end of summer. i hear piss taste better with a twist of lemon.
Walmart supercenter in New Hampshire: 30 cans of beer for $14-18 depending of your taste.
NH liquor store: 40 oz rhum $19 (I think).
Best part of NH, no consumption tax! I agree with you OP, last time I went in the LC, a 2-4 was above $40, I just left. Might try my luck at home brewing later on.
Actually some home brew really isn’t that bad. And there are places that will brew it for you if you just add yeast. There’s a price, but it’s still much cheaper than NSLC. And no mess! I make a couple batches of wine/year… good for parties where a dozen bottles are consumed…
Tall Boy’s of Bud – and other domestic’s are 2.00-2.25 here in Ontario – tax in.
I always sing that old Jungle Book song “The bear necessities of life” whenever I buy a 24.
The Government are more addicted to sin taxes in this province than Glace Bayers are to oxy.
Propeller Growler, IPA, or Imperial Stout when available, 8 bucks on Wednesdays. That shit will get you drunk.
NSLC prices rose again on July 1/2 after the 2% HST increase.
Oddly, they only went up a few months back also but that was the distributors increase, which happens almost annually. I remember last year that 8-packs of Dry Ice were $12.99 and then went up to $13.30 to the most recent price of $13.52.
On a completely unrelated note: NSLC profits rose again in the last quarter.
Thanks the government, and thank MADD most of all – MADD was instrumental in applying a “socail reference price” for alcoholic beverages – essentially a tax.
But worse than a tax.
It is a tax that assumes you, as a tax paying adult, can’t be trusted to buy beer at the prices that are predominant in any other civilized part of the world, no, you are a Nova Scotian. Sop therefore, if they raise the prices double (or more) beyond what the free market will charge, you will be less likely to drink and drive and kill innocents. There is some Nova Scotia logic for you.
Fuck MADD, Fuck the NSLC, and FUCK the nanny state for making it all possible.
Thank you.
Legalized profiteering at its finest.
Grocery store beer tastes the same, hence the reason why they call it beer. It just doesn’t have the same effect!!!
all of it is greed.. and people will continue to buy it.
Could the high(er) prices have anything to do with the fact that the NSLC is basically a greedy union?
I worked at an NSLC from 2003-2006 and was told that we wouldn’t have our jobs if not for customers. So I asked, “Don’t we have a monopoly?”
I wonder if we all just stopped drinking and smoking so damn much, would they be forced to drop the pricing ? if only it was that easy…
No Kirbul, prices would go up more to make up for lack of profit
Silly Kirbul, if we all stopped smoking and drinking, they would just raise the HST to 20-25%.
I always thought that way too NGF! When I was looking for a job once, I applied at the LC because I was sick of working retail and thought they probably don’t have customer service as a top priority.
“I’ll never shop here again!!!”
Yeah riiiight :P.
This is why I stick to scotch and gin. Beer is overpriced. When I do get it, I usually go to Propeller or a private store. Better selection, and better beer. I don’t know why I ever drank crap like Coors/Molson/Labatts to begin with. You’d might as well drink Wildcat, it’s pretty well all the same shit. Fuck, drink Faxe for that matter, 3 bucks a can for 10% beer… 2 cans in a short period will get ya fucked up.
Now I want a beer….
holy sweet flying fuck is he ever on the booze….
it’s a liquorlanche.
it’s no wonder alcoholics lose everything….
it’d be cheaper to fly back and forth to the states and load up on duty free pretty soon.
Of course you don’t even have access to the bottle on the flight anymore because of their ‘liquid in big bottle’ ban.
And drinks are like $6 each on a plane
A case or two on the weekend? I bet you have a huge beer gut. I pity any woman who is with you.
Yes Sebastian, because drinking 12-24 beer over a 2 day span will make you fat *rolls eyes*
I wonder if OP pities sebastian just b/c he’s sebastian. I know I do.
@Melectric: oh trust me, some managers would bend over backwards for some customers. An old lady stole from us once (we believe) and the manager made excuses for her saying she may not have realized she took something and pocketed it. Ironically during the same week when I was on cash, same lady came up with her purchase and quipped jokingly, “I suppose I could have just walked right out with this.” If it were any one else, they’d be held, arrested and charged without any excuse. Plus some customers EXPECT staff to bend over backwards for them.
The french are really into wine drinking, so I always had a hard time finding appropriate vodka at the SAQ stores because 90% of the effing stock was wine. The variety just wasn’t the same and I’d always end up buying crappy coolers instead, but hay, I’m not one to bitch about a 4 pack of coolers for 5 bucks — especially when you go from stone cold sober to drunk off your ass after two. THAT’S RIGHT: TWO COOLERS. Thanks, malt liquor.
here in ON. 24 lakeport $ 25.60; alas none for me though (if I want to live) 🙁
Just drink Colts. Easy fix ;D. I know people that only drink Colts…and warm ones at that. To me, all beer taste like Colt 45 so I don’t have to deal with all this costly nonsense :D. I also have low tolerance and I’m small so I can make a quart last a while!
Make your own.
Holy shit. I agree with Sebastian for once! For people who don’t drink 12-24 beer in 2 days, drinking that many would probably cause you to slough your gut! The only people who can knock back that many beers are people who do it regularly, and everyone knows how fattening beer is! In my 25 years as experience (have been living away for 6 yrs) as a Haligonian (and one who worked in a popular downtown pub for 5 years), it’s mainly the ‘abdominally voluptuous’ (or 18 year old frat boys whose metabolism hasn’t yet slowed down) who drink like that!
While I agree buying liquor in every province but Quebec is a pain in the ass (why isn’t it sold in stores?), and it isn’t cheap, I don’t see the big deal in paying a bit more for it. Considering it’s supposed to be something done in moderation, the higher taxes shouldn’t be quite so painful. NS has a drinking problem.
Maritimers/NLers love their liquor. Maybe that’s why we’re fatter on this side of the country?
My parents went to NL during the beer strike back in the mid 80s (84/85, maybe?) and they brought a trunk full of beer and they were treated like royalty when they were there. lol
I think you’re right on the money there Z. NS has a drinking problem. Our reputation precedes us out west. Last time I was in a bar in Manitoba, the bartender asked me if everyone out east were heavy drinkers.
In Montreal there is nowhere you will pay over $16 for 12 bottles of beer – domestic or imported.
Miller/Labatt/Molson and import 24s of CANS (355ml) are going for $22-$26. That will just buy you a 12 pack of bottles here. Plus – it’s available at every grocery store (where you can also return your empties!)
I’m sure it has NOTHING to do with the fact that NSLC execs get bonuses based on sales in a market that only they are allowed to sell in…
Dr. Fever: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_bev…
We’re not even close to #1 in per capita consumption in any category.
Teeheee Yukon.
Per capita can be misleading (plus, the wiki table isn’t cited, the link is no good), here’s the CADMUS study for 2009:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/drugs-drogues…
Scroll down to near the bottom of the page, to the table involving alcohol. We’re near the middle of the table in terms of consumption, but we’re #2 in alcohol harm in the past year, and also above the national average in reported heavy frequent, as well as heavy infrequent.
And the Yukon’s data is problematic strictly because of such a small population, which is only approx. 34,000 people according to the latest data from StatsCan. So, combine that with a known issue of substance abuse within the Inuit populations in the Territories, you’ve got a skewed number.
wow the one on that list that really surprises me is BC (with their often smarmy look at us healthy fuckers tude) #5 above NS wow 🙂
Dr. Fever, the fact remains, that you said “NS has a drinking problem. Our reputation precedes us out west..” but no statistical data backs that up.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/10/10/…
Beer? NS is 6th. Wine? 6th. Spirits? 9th. Coolers? 6th. Source: Brewers’ Association of Canada
We do have a drinking problem… 9% of our population has reported harm in the past year. And whether you like it or not, we do have a reputation as hard drinkers in the Maritimes, whether it’s deserved or not.
I’m pretty sure they’re talking about our politicians.
There’s a Facebook group (or used to be) called “Capers can drink!!!” or something like that. I’m almost 30 and there are people I went to school with who join it and think it’s something to gloat about and be proud of.
Woah, we can drink a lot more than the moderate drinker!!!! WOw that’s so cool! I can pound back a dozen without breaking the seal or puking. Someone should make a group called “Mainlanders can find work!!!”
Capers can do a lot of Oxy too, they should make that a group.
Hahaha, I know eh! They’d make a huge stink over that and probably be all, “Don’t come to Donkin!”