Rip off Stella

stamford

deanos wrote:

Its still a bargain 40p a 300ml bottle of Bud

Take one hop dip it in a lake full of water etc etc Yep Bud sure is the King of Beers

quoia

Watched this thread with interest although I really can't see what the fuss is about.
If the lager/beer is available at £1 a litre or £1.20/litre or £1.50/litre that depends on buying it in bottles (or cans) either singly or in multipacks of different numbers and in "vessels" of different sizes (and/or because of a BOGOF or multibuy) then unless you have a higher priority requirement, you just pick the combination that is £1/litre (ie. the cheapest)
If you specifically want bottles and not cans (or vice-versa), or a specific unit volume per bottle/can, then you may not end up with the cheapest, but that's because cost would be a secondary consideration.

As for new bottle sizes suddenly appearing - NOT to my knowledge.
I've bought lager (including Stella) in bottles all over the world for the best part of 30 years and I've always been aware of 200ml, 250ml, 275ml, 300ml, 330ml, 500ml, 550ml, 600ml, and 660ml for as long as I care to remember. (and I've bought Stella in all but one of them at least 10 years ago.)
I've also bought it in 700ml, 750ml and 1000ml bottles - got some at the minute.

There are 2 other sizes I've not already mentioned - namely 284ml and 568ml - usually get my Newcastle Brown in the latter - rarely found outside the UK - YES it's the PINT and 1/2 pint bottle !!! Obviously a British requirement of still being able to buy these in pubs I'd suggest.

mazdamansport wrote:

My original point is that these supermarkets are trying to be our friends and offer these so called bargains but as pointed out throughout this thread until just before the world cup Stella was sold in 330ml bottles, I buy a crate fairly regularly, a similar 2 for £16 was done over Xmas from all the big SMs they do have a major say in how goods are sold and packaged ......

Supermarkets may influence manufacturers to make pack sizes they want to stock depending upon their customers (age/wealth/location) the season (winter or summer), holidays (easter/xmas) and special events (world cup)
but they rarely gain any advantage over a rival since usually all the pack combinations are in Asda AND Sainsburys AND Tescos et al.
It is rare to find a pack made especially for a supermarket (yes I know Asda are currently selling a 24 pack of something that claims it is a "special for Asda only") but pack size (and its weight) and the overall cost is dictated by (or dictates to) the person that buys it.
Next time you are in the supermarket just have a look at who is buying what.
Women rarely have large packs in their trolley if any lager at all (unless accompanied by "husband"), teenagers & students will have a 4-pack or two, the elderly tend towards smaller packs, many "affluent" 30-something males buy 10 & 12 packs, a trolley wilth 3 or more 20/24 packs could well be being pushed by 3 or 4 men discussing a party (or the world cup at the moment)
Whether you are walking home, taking the bus, going by taxi or in your own car, male or female, alone, with your partner, or with 1 to 5 screaming kids and what other shopping you HAVE to buy, will significantly determine what pack is selected.

Having said that I do not believe for one minute the supermarkets have made a brewery change the size of their bottles. Packaged in 15 or 18 or 20 or 24 maybe - not a "major" issue to change a bit of cardboard wrapped around the outside- but a new bottling plant ? No way.
Just getting the bottle manufacturer to make a smaller/larger bottle would cost a fortune to setup but the plant that handles them for washing, filling, capping etc., changing it to handle a fatter/thinner taller/shorter vessel containing more/less is an absolute nightmare and astronomically expensive(especially when there is no real need to do so)

photome

Very well written QUOIA, elaborating on my point that it is or should be about per litre cost

tomstickland

Originally Posted by JasonLVC
Refuse to drink any bottled lagers now that are not brewed in the location they say they come from. So no more Michelon, becks, grolsh, etc for me.

Isn't that a bit pathetic? Surely you should consume something because you like it, not where it is made..

Sadly, the OP is right. Many once good lagers have been bought up and then replaced by the chemi-bilge-Euro-!!!!!! that comes from a refinery somewhere near London whilst retaining the packaging of the original beer.

Two beers that have made me go "ooooohhh ahhh that's gooood" this week are Staropramen and the bottle of Peroni Nastro Azzuro I have here. Wonderful stuff.


What we need is https://www.beerprices.com where you can tick boxes for beer quality and preferences etc and it gives a price per litre breakdown for all stores in a 20mile radius.

JasonLVC

Gavinski wrote:

Isn't that a bit pathetic? Surely you should consume something because you like it, not where it is made..

That's my point, I don't like any of these so called imported beers. They all taste the same - proably becuase they are all made in the same place with the same ingredients/water. I'm not a lager expert for sure but they all just taste generic. Proper imported beers do seem to have a different taste.

Plus, if Stella cost £1.50 a bottle and was made abroad and brought over here on trucks you'd expect it to cost more than something that is made in the UK, with less transportation costs and of course, less overheads as the Burton brewery brews everything from coors and buds through to stella and skol. Yet they charge the same price?.

Stella used to have strong taste and hoppy flavour, now it doesn;t taste strong at all and leaves no after taste at all. Pointless.

Water is one of THE most essential aspect to lager/beer (hops, etc taking second place). Hard/soft water, filtered through mountains or rock beds makes a difference to the overall end product - hence anything made in this country is not going to taste the same as it's home country. Same goes for Guiness.

Nobody buys english wine becuase it just doesn;t taste good, same goes for lagers. Made here, no good. Now beer on the otherhand, that is something we are quite good at!.

JasonLVC

Slightly off topic so sorry.

What the big brewers don't realise is that financially, converging their products into one bewery makes sense. However, some things are meant to be location specific.

Wine is a good example of different regions producing different tastes and flavours depending upon the soil, sunlight and weather. Same goes for spirits - all this uk produced Smirnov just doesn't taste as nice as genuine Russian brewed stuff.

You'll also note that UK brewed spirits tend to be 37.%5 proof wheres as foreign imports are the proper 40% - this is to do with additional alcohol duties imposed on anything over 37.5%. That makes great fianncial sense for the brewer as they can charge top whack but basically water down the drink. Foreign imports just pay the extra tax but you get a stronger/better product. That's why Appleton/Mount Gay rum is better than Bacardi.

Other areas where location is vital include call centres. Notice how they all went to India and are now slowly coming back to the UK. Great idea to save money but in reality no-one liked them.