The Washington City Paper’s annual beer issue hits the streets today and they have done the region a valuable service: exploring the high cost of good beer.
It’s a good look under the hood look at the costs from kettle to barstool, exploring the inputs and overhead incurred by brewers, distributors, and retailers. The costs that lead that lead to $8 pints.
Big culprits, of course, are the high real estate costs of D.C., city taxes, and combative neighbors with liquor license veto powers. Healthy demand also plays a big role. Or as Gawker headlined some recent news out of the Census Bureau: Despised Washington D.C. Is Now Richer Than Silicon Valley.