# What's the PBR of Europe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104 "2009-09-14T23:12:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104/21 "2009-09-18T21:13:38Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > I can’t say if it’s cheap or drank ironically but I’ve always been told by people in the business that Stella Artois is the “wife-beater beer” in much of Europe. Not in England; there Stella is marketed as a premium beer. Its tag line until very recently was “[reassuringly expensive](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reassuringly_Expensive)” and commercials were about how expensive it was, but worth it. In one, a young van Gogh sold all his paintings in order to buy one pint of Stella Artois. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104/22 "2009-09-18T21:14:56Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Complicating things a bit are the weird cross-currents of marketing and importation. I will agree that Stella is nothing special in Europe AFAICT. Weirdly, unless I am reading London wrong, a massively gigantic marketing blitz has led to Budweiser (Budweiser) being perceived as a desirable, dare I say premium (maybe a bridge too far) beer in some of England at least. I went to a restaurant in England where Budweiser was the most expensive beer on the menu. It’s an import, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104/23 "2009-09-18T22:04:00Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > Not in England; there Stella is marketed as a premium beer. Its tag line until very recently was “[reassuringly expensive](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reassuringly_Expensive)” True in the past but it’s very definitely now well known here as “wife beater”. You can get 8 cans for £7 in Tesco. Reassuringly cheap. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104/24 "2009-09-18T22:21:30Z")
> [@Dahu](#): > > True in the past but it’s very definitely now well known here as “wife beater”. You can get 8 cans for £7 in Tesco. Reassuringly cheap. That’s $1.44/can. That is cheap in England? I am not used to paying over $1 for better stuff (although I suspect there is a size difference - 12 fl. oz. here). ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104/25 "2009-09-18T22:33:31Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > That’s $1.44/can. That is cheap in England? I am not used to paying over $1 for better stuff (although I suspect there is a size difference - 12 fl. oz. here). That’s for 440ml cans, which is about 14.8 fl. oz. That’s pretty much as cheap as it gets here for a 5% beer (actually lager). Of course there’s always White Lightning cider, but I do have standards. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104/26 "2009-09-18T22:53:00Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > That’s $1.44/can. That is cheap in England? I am not used to paying over $1 for better stuff (although I suspect there is a size difference - 12 fl. oz. here). For a 12 oz can of “cheap” American lager (Pabst, Olde Style, Natural Lite) its about 75 cents, when bought in the common size packaging, like a 12 pack for 7 dollars, which is pretty standard here in SLC… I see 30 packs sold for 15 to 17 dollars, depending on brand and specific store, which is even a bit cheaper than the 12 packs are, on a price per can basis. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104/27 "2009-09-18T23:09:24Z")
I can get a 6-pack of 16 oz Miller High Life for $3.74 here. Adjusting to a 12-oz beer, that’s 47 cents each or 62 cents a can. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104/28 "2009-09-18T23:15:37Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I can get a 6-pack of 16 oz Miller High Life for $3.74 here. Adjusting to a 12-oz beer, that’s 47 cents each or 62 cents a can. Thats pretty damn cheap; Utah has always been a relatively expensive place to drink, despite having wages that are well below the national average, our beer is usually more than it is in the neighboring states (Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming etc) and to add insult to injury, the beer is 3.2% ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104/29 "2009-09-18T23:17:09Z")
Lessee–30 pack of 12 oz. Pabst cans is generally around 11.99 or 12.99 round here, so we’re looking at 40-43 cents per can (plus a few extra pennies for tax.) ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104/30 "2009-09-19T01:46:10Z")
For Comparison: A German case (20 bottles) of Flensburger Pilsener costs around 11 Euros as of '08, according to an internet message board I found (I have no reason to believe they are lying?). That is around $16.00… at .80 cents a bottle. That’s cheap for German beer-- and I would rather drink a “Flens” than a PBR, indubiably. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104/31 "2009-09-19T01:52:23Z")
– that’s ,33l bottles, a little less than 12 ozs, ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104/32 "2009-09-19T02:15:52Z")
There is also a return on the swing top bottles… so, I don’t know if that is before or after the deposit. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104/33 "2009-09-19T04:57:34Z")
In German, the swing top bottles are known as _Bügelflaschen_. **Boooüg-el- flash-in** Beautiful word, Bügelflaschen… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-pbr-of-europe/510104.md?page=1)