Beeronomics 101 by Prof. Gregg S.:
The price of beer (and alcohol in general) is insanely expensive in Canada. At a government regulated liquor store, you'll pay about CAD$11 for a six-pack of 375ml bottles, which works out to $1.83 per bottle - or - if you really want to nerd out about it - 49 cents per 100ml. Private cold beer and wine stores tack on another $3-4 to the price of a six-pack.
Then there's the Netherlands, where this crate (yes, that's right, I said 'crate') of 24 Grolsch beers cost me only 9 Euro, which works out to 39.5 Euro cents per 300ml bottle or 13 Euro cents per 100ml.
Even with a generous exchange rate of 1.45 CAD$ / Euro, that comes out to CAD$0.19 per 100ml of beer versus CAD$0.49 per 100ml in Canada (about 2.5 times cheaper). That's what you get for sending the Puritans over from the old world to set up shop in the new world. They muck everything up.
BUT WAIT! IT GETS BETTER (or worse, depending on where you are at at the moment)! Our local supermarket, Albert Heijn, recently started a 2 for 1 promotion for the Belgian white beer, Hoegaarden. 2... for.... 1! This sweet little deal converts into current currency (redundant?) at about CAD$3 per six-pack (ONCE AGAIN, FOR EMPHASIS: THREE DOLLARS $CAD PER SIX-PACK). "You know what, honey, I'll skip the latte today and just have a six-pack of Hoegaaden instead" or "I'm going to skip the bus and just walk so that I can buy a six-pack with the spare change in my pocket".
In Canada, this "premium" import beer will set you back $14 for a six-pack or $7 for a modest pint at a pub. Mmmmmm.... So for the price of 1 Hoegaarden in Canada, I can get 4.5 Hoegaardens in Holland? To be fair, though, I haven't taken into account the cost of a lemon slice, which Canadian pubs do include within the price of a Hoegaarden.
There is a dark side, however, to this cheap, readily available alcohol. As you can see from this shocking picture, the drinking and driving in the Netherlands is completely out of control (and loud, with singing, sometimes a bell goes off, etc):
All this typing has made me thirsty! Cheerio!
