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Comment by joefourier | Hacker News Reader

Those numbers are distorted by the fact that the cheapest (and most popular) beers generally aren't the well-known brands they counted in their study. In the Czech Republic I've seen beers go lower than 0.30USD for a 500ml bottle, and if you were to spend a full dollar on a bottle you'd be getting a fairly posh local beer.

Also, no-one buys 330ml of beer except Americans.

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> Also, no-one buys 330ml of beer except Americans.

500ml bottles are typical in Germany, but you'll find 330ml bottles in every supermarket, they're not rare at all.

They'll be more expensive per liter than half liters though.

Not at all, in UK supermarkets the cheap beers often came in what we call 'stubbies', 330ml bottles. They were usually some generic unspecified supermarket own brand labelled 'beer de alsace' or something. Per litre they were significantly cheaper than the 500mls. They've now disappeared from shelves, but even today, one of the cheapest beer at the moment available in most Tescos is a 6 pack of 330ml cans of moretti.

Why talk so confidently about something you're ignorant about?

It's easy to see price per 100ml in the UK as the supermarkets have to show it on the price labels.

Grandparent was talking about Germany, not the UK.

And the great-grandparent was saying nowhere has 330mls apart from America. You're both wrong, many countries have 330ml beers, and they can be the cheap beers.

I don't care what great-grandparent said. I just added that _in Germany_ a 33cl bottle will usually be more expensive by volume than a 50cl one since that's the standard.

> Also, no-one buys 330ml of beer except Americans.

I see them everywhere in the UK and in France (although 330ml cans are more frequent)

Australia and NZ are also dominated by 330ml beer cans and bottles.

Popular beers sell for maybe USD 2.50 a bottle I think?

On a side note: I can't remember ever seeing all three South African capital cities listed in a data table like this. Nice!

There are also 1000ml cans, especially for Oktoberfest beer :)

And 1 liter steins, I've read. IIRC there is a German name for them.

Right. They are calles a Mass (or a Masskrug). While "stein" is a German word, it isn't used in German for the glasses[1]. The German term is "Krug" or "Bierkrug", or in the case of 1 liter, a Masskrug.

In the Oktoberfest time you can find bundles of a 1l can of Oktoberfest beer and the fitting Masskrug in the supermarkets. For Oktoberfest, special charges of beer are brewed. To compensate for the large servings (1 liter) it is even stronger than normal beer at about 6.5%. So the inexperienced should be careful with that, or they are going to make experiences. Been there, done that! :)

1) I would expect the name comes from "Steingut", which is a ceramic. It was traditionally used for making beer mugs, but today, mostly glass is used.

That was the name I think I read about for the big stein. Didn't know the other stuff. Sehr gut, danke :)

Here in the UK the most common volume for beer cans is 440ml. There are also pint-sized cans (568ml). Bottles tend to be 500ml. 330ml cans are mostly for soft drinks.

On the other hand, in France 330ml for beer is more common, indeed.

Pint-sized cans of beer are rare, many beers come in 500ml cans. 330ml cans are common, especially for craft beer.

Craft beers are not common...

Using well-known brands is such a terrible idea. This completely distorts the price for some countries. The most extreme example is probably China.

And mixing hotel and supermarket price is strange.

You're thinking of 355mL, which is roughly 12oz.

Pretty sure Americans buy their beer in ounces. 330ml is very popular in New Zealand and the UK.

Yeah. The foreign known brands are mostly imports and quite expensive in India. No one here regularly pays $3 for a beer at a supermarket. Even a higher end local microbrew is $1.50 - $2. Mass market lagers are more like $0.80

> Also, no-one buys 330ml of beer except Americans.

Most of good strong-ish craft beers (imperial stout, barley wine, etc.) are served in 330ml or even 250ml glasses and sold in 330 cans/bottles (~350 in case of USA-made).

350ml cans are most popular beer sold in Japan everywhere at about $2. 330ml bottles are expensive because most of they are imported or crafted.

> Also, no-one buys 330ml of beer except Americans.

In Greece, they are staples in the supermarkets!

First are you sure that the cheapest 'beers' are actually 'beer'? In the US the cheapest tend to be 'malt liquor' masqerading as beer without actually claiming to be beer and only saying what they are as small type.

Secondly, regarding your final comment, are you saying that 330ml seems smaller or larger than you would expect?

>First are you sure that the cheapest 'beers' are actually 'beer'?

Yes, you can get some excellent beers for 30 cents in Czechia.

330ml would be considered small, the standard size is 500ml. Europeans just drink substantially more.

Isn't malt liquor just beer with high alcohol content? I haven't seen that much outside of craft beers, you're probably likelier to get something that's not a traditional beer if you're paying more than if you're paying less.

No hops in malt liquor.

I wouldn't say there is much attempt to pass it off, people are buying the cheap stuff because it's cheap, not because they think it's beer.

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