Busch: beer cost 6 X liquor to produce

[CampAjohn]

"The cost to produce a single serving of distilled spirits is about 3 cents, compared to 19 cents for a beer serving, Busch (August Busch IV, CEO of A-B) said last year."

This from a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article on how A-B is testing the market for distilled spirits. Gives one an idea of the economies of scale that a large brewer enjoys. I figure a bottle of most of my ales cost me about $0.30. I am pretty sure the production costs quoted above are before taxes, as spirits are taxed at a higher rate than beer almost everywhere.

[D0nc0smic]

to get that cost i'm sure he must be referring to only, unaged grain neutral spirits, so basically, cheap vodka.

[jesskidden]

Originally posted by D0nc0smic
to get that cost i'm sure he must be referring to only, unaged grain neutral spirits, so basically, cheap vodka.

And, probably, the difference is the cost of bottling/packaging (a large part of the cost of beer).

One bottle of distilled spirits, containing a dozen or more "servings", no doubt cost close to the same to package as one "serving" of a bottle of beer.

[De Hooter]

Originally posted by D0nc0smic
to get that cost i'm sure he must be referring to only, unaged grain neutral spirits, so basically, cheap vodka.

Even that is counter-intuitive, since you have to take a naturally fermented beverage and then remove the water through distillation. Though admittedly there are cheaper grains than barley.

[HogieWan]

Originally posted by De Hooter
Even that is counter-intuitive, since you have to take a naturally fermented beverage and then remove the water through distillation. Though admittedly there are cheaper grains than barley.

if you're doing vodka, you only need sugar.