For the April 2025 edition of The Session (#146), I would love people to tell us where they find the greatest value in beer. Here’s the context of my question.
I’ve spent a colossal amount of money on beer. I mean, huge amounts of money. I continue to do so. I’ve routinely bought very expensive beer, and had the additional cost of shipping it, traveling to get it, and generally going out of my way to obtain it. All of this costs money – a lot of money. On the whole, I have found value in most of my purchases. That isn’t to say that all of the purchases have represented value for money, they haven’t, but I can still find tremendous value in what many people would categorize as ‘ridiculously expensive beer’.
Value most certainly does not necessarily correlate with cheap either (although it could), rather it means when I part with the cash, no matter how large or small the amount, does what I receive in return meet or exceed the value of said cash? Subjective? Sure, but we all have our own sense of value.
Three reference points here.
(a) I’m very in touch with the pub scene in the UK, and routinely I see posts about £7.50 ($9.75) pints of Peroni, and conversely £1.99 ($2.50) 20 oz pints of Cask Ale in Wetherspoon pubs.
(b) Virtually all of my beer consumption these days is done at home, drinking Belgian beer that I import directly from Belgium. Without doubt there are infinitely cheaper ways to drink beer, but I still find excellent value in my long distance purchases.
(c) On last Friday night I was at a brewpub in Ohio where, after 9 PM, all beers were $2.50 a pint.
Some people HATE Wetherspoon pubs, and as such even great beer at those prices might still may not represent good value for them, and that’s OK! Similarly, some people would be horrified at my Belgian beer tab when shipping is included – and that’s OK too! Finally, the beer at that brewpub in Ohio may not have been worth $2.50 to you – again, OK. These things are at the heart of the genesis of my question for this month’s Session; where do you find value in beer?
Please post on or before Friday, April 25th, and flag your contribution in the comments below, or via email to ding @ dingsbeerblog or by tagging me on X (@dingsbeerblog).
