The Consumers Price Index assumes that the average household spends about $45 a week on alcoholic beverages.
But breweries say the economic recession has not affected drinkers' thirst over summer, with sales holding up.
DB Breweries says grocery and liquor outlet sales are up compared to a year ago.
Both it and Lion Breweries says sales of premium (5%) beers are up, especially 12-packs.
Dunedin brewer Emerson's has reported improved sales, but orders from some resort town bars were lower.
A 30-year study in Australia indicates that as economic life gets harder, beer sales increase.
That does not seem true in Britain, however, where the economic bite saw beer sales fall 7% in the third quarter of last year.
In France, bar sales of beer were down 12% in the first nine months of last year.
If things are getting tight here, you might considering drinking mainstream (4%) beers instead of premium (5%) beers, because mainstream brands are $6 to $7 a dozen cheaper than premium.
The best way is to stock up when the brewery or supermarket takes $6 to $8 off the normal retail price for a dozen.
Another cost-effective purchase is 1.25-litre or 2-litre plastic flagons: Christchurch-based Harrington's, for example, reports a 10% increase in flagon sales.
And work out the best deal when your beer is not on special: small packs can be expensive, but bulk is not always the bargain you expect.
Steinlager Pure works out at 66c per 100ml, regardless of whether bought as a six-pack or dozen.
Stella Artois, however, is 73c per 100ml as a six-pack, but only 68c as a 12-pack. That is a saving of more than 16c a 330ml bottle.
Speight's costs 57c per 100ml as a six-pack, but 48c as a 12- or 15-pack and 45c as a 24-pack.
The biggest pack (8.6 litres) of Speights is a Swappa Crate (a dozen 750ml bottles), but that is 1c per 100ml dearer than the smaller (6.9 litre) 24-pack.
But those bulk buys are still a saving of more than 30c a 330ml bottle on a six-pack. DB Draught, like Speight's, is also 48c per 100ml as 12 or 15-packs.
But DB Export (50c per 100ml) costs the same whether in 12- or 24-packs, so there is no advantage buying this beer in bulk.
The most ridiculous way to buy beer is in the 250ml cans offered by Steinlager Pure and Stella Artois (both made by Lion Breweries).
Steinlager's six-pack and Stella's four-pack both work out at 90c per 100ml.
These small offerings have been around for ages: German brewer Beck's produced 250ml bottles in 1926.
In Europe, the 250ml bottle is widespread, but reserved for mainly high-alcohol (6%-9%) brews.
The bottles are sometimes known as the quadra (quarter of a litre) or as a cuartiti in Mexico, where Corona produces 250ml bottles.
In France, they are a half, because they are about half a pint (568ml).
