I’ve already praised the Israeli “Dancing Camel” beer. It’s a tasty unfiltered beer that is a good competitor to the Belgian beers that I love.
Unfortunately, it became expensive. At my local bar, called “Armadillo”, they sell a pint (about 500ml) for 30 shekels. $7.5 for a local draft beer is way too much. It’s the most expensive beer in this bar. It tops beers that are imported from Europe (such as Weihenstephan , and naturally tops beers that are produced here, such as Danish beers Carlsberg and Tuborg. All these beers cost 20-25 shekels for a pint, which is a common price. Beer in Europe is much cheaper.
I asked the bartender about the high price, and she just said: “It’s an expensive beer”. I’m frustrated that a beer that is produced within a walking distance of the bar costs so much. I can understand that it’s a “boutique” beer – not a beer made in mass production, but it’s local!
So, I didn’t dance with the camel, but found comfort in my Weihenstephan. The high price of Dancing Camel remains unsolved.
Cheers!
The price bothers me as well, but obviously there are reasons for it – besides greed. The taxes on manufacturing beers in Israel are extremely high (to be more precise: ridiculously high), so as the rents for a brewery in Tel Aviv, and the material – most of them have to be imported, and are not local.
Add to all of that, the fact that Dancing Camel is manufactured in very small amounts, and you’ll get the 30 NIS per pint that you saw.
Solutions? I drink the beer whether at the brewery itself, or at a random 1+1 happy hour. Probably the only sane reason to drink in our city.
how do they say “faltzanim” in english?