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Monday, 1 August 2022

1980 DDR bottled beer prices

For once, this isn't taken from TGL 7764. Or any other standards. This all thanks to the wonderful price controls under socialism. And that they printed the prices on the labels. it makes my life so easy. Which is how I like it.

I could have done a bit of number fiddling and demsonstrated how they new styles - Extra, Edel-Bräu Hell and Deutsches Pilsner Spezial - were poor value for money. And why did Märzen cost more than the stronger Bock? It makes no sense. While the 1960 prices had been pretty much in line with gravity.

Why did Extra - at about 3.5% ABV - cost more than Deutsches Pilsner which was almost 5% ABV? And why did Deutsches Pilsner Spezial cost 25% more than Deutsches Pilsner?And why was Märzen more expensive than Bock?

It's starting to make me doubt the logic of the DDR.

This was the price you would pay in any shop. Hard to charge more, when it's printed on the label.

1980 DDR bottled beer prices
Type 33 cl 50 cl
Dunkel (Einfachbier) 0.25 0.38
Weißbier 0.37 0.55
Extra 0.65 0.98
Hell 0.48 0.72
Edel-Bräu Hell 0.65 0.98
Dunkel (Vollbier) 0.48 0.72
Doppel-KarameIbier 0.50 0.75
Schwarzbier 0.75 1.10
Deutsches Pilsner 0.61 0.92
Diabetiker-Pils 0.65 0.98
Deutsches Pilsator 0.67 1.00
Deutsches Pilsner Spezial 0.86 1.28
Märzen 0.80 1.20
Weißer Bock or Bockbier Hell 0.72 1.08
Dunkler Bock or Bockbier Dunkel 0.72 1.08
Deutscher Porter 1.02 1.53
Source:
My label collection.

I could group all this information into style guidelines for these styles. Hands up if you'd like that.


4 comments:

  1. Dan Klingman1 August 2022 at 05:03

    "It's starting to make me doubt the logic of the DDR"
    Good one 😄

    ReplyDelete
  2. Matt2 August 2022 at 00:21

    Do you know how this compares to bottled beer prices in West Germany then? I'd guess that prices in the East were a bit lower. Was it possible for West Germans to bring bottles of beer back across the border with them?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bobcat2 August 2022 at 05:35

    Maybe it has to do with lagering times.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rob Sterowski3 August 2022 at 00:29

    Matt, I don’t think DDR beer’s reputation was that great in the West that anyone would have bothered trying to stock up.

    The first time I was in West Germany in 1989 a 500ml bottle of local beer was around DM 1.10. If you changed your money at the official rate, it would be slightly cheaper in the DDR, if you changed it on the black market much cheaper.

    Then again, beer was so cheap in the West (and still is) that I doubt anyone bothered. Anyone from West Germany willing to go through Soviet bloc border controls for the sake of cheap beer would have gone to Czechoslovakia instead.

    ReplyDelete