 Did you ever wonder how much alcohol costs in Israel? Well, here's the short answer. Too much. Like, way too much. And here's the longer answer with some actual price points. Generally speaking, alcohol in Israel is pretty expensive. Then again, so is pretty much everything in Israel. Except that is prescription medication, falafel, and SD cards. And don't ask me why SD cards are relatively cheap here. In case you were wondering, judging by the number of pubs in my city, Jerusalem, Israelis are pretty fond of drinking. I believe that the stereotypes of Jews not really enjoying alcohol are a little bit exaggerated or maybe just outdated. Having lived in Jerusalem for almost a decade, I've even seen plenty of clergy from various religious groups getting completely shit-faced on the weekends. But maybe I digress. To give you an idea how much beer costs here, I dug up this menu from Mike's Place in Jerusalem, which is a popular American-oriented hangout. I chose Mike's Place just because it was easily accessible online, and in my current hungover state, which is highly appropriate for this video, I didn't feel like digging much further on the internet. But these prices should be pretty representative of the norm at the time I'm recording this video, which is late December 2023. Maccabi and Goldstar are sort of the two local Israeli beers that have existed since way before the Israeli craft beer scene was even a thing, which it definitely now is, by the way. Neither of them are amazingly good, in my opinion, but for those of us old enough to remember the time when they were kind of the only drinking options, the nostalgia adds a certain charm. One pint of Maccabi will set you back 24 shackles at Mike's Place, and Goldstar will cost you 30 shackles. At today's currency exchange rate, that is the date I'm uploading this video, that works out to about $6.64 and $8.30 for the Goldstar. It's important to note that in Israel, alcohol isn't typically priced according to its ABV. Just to be clear, I'm absolutely not endorsing buying high-strength beer to get drunk for less, but rumor has it that Maccabi 7.9% is popular for this exact reason. Half a liter in Mike's Place will set you back 32 shackles, or almost $8. But if you divide the ABV by 2, you can almost look at it as getting two regular strength beers for one, a constant happy hour promotion. There are a couple of Israeli craft ciders, but sadly, they're nowhere near as popular as I think they should be. But if you want to try one, check out Hamatz-e-Sah, which also makes an amazing pear cider or peri. Let's talk briefly about serving sizes in Israel and give you some vocab to order a pint or three the next time you're here. Note that in Israel, draft beer is usually sold as either a half liter called a Hetsi in Hebrew, or a third of a liter, 3.30 mils called a Shlish. Please note that a Shlishia in Hebrew is a threesome. So make sure that you get their pronunciation correct. Although legend has it that asking Bart Tenders for threesome occasionally does yield magical and unexpected results, and don't ask me how I know this. This one is definitely up there in the long list of things that newbie Hebrew speakers commonly mispronounce. Pints, when they're offered, usually refer to U.S. Pints of Beer, which are 473 mils. In Ireland, a pint is 568. And don't forget that it's also usually expected to tip 15 to 20% for service on top of the price of the drinks as most bars in Israel operate on a table service basis. So yeah, drinking can definitely be pretty pricey here. Imported beers are a little bit more expensive again. Half liter of Guinness, for example, costs 35 circles currently at Mike's Place. At the time of making this video, that's almost $10 and about the same in Euro. So when people are complaining about those extremely pricey 7 Euro Pints in Dublin, I refer you to here, where the situation is even worse. On the other hand, I have a friend who lived in Hong Kong for many years and he told me that beer is even more expensive there than Israel. The good news about Guinness, of course, is that it's so delicious that after three or four of them, paying $10 a beer actually begins to sound pretty reasonable. I've really spent an awful lot of this winter drinking Guinness. Remember also that Israeli merchants are very fond of offering payment on credit, a scheme called Tashloumim in Hebrew, which means installments. Although I have to admit that I've never seen anybody pay their bar tab in Tashloumim, Israelis are notoriously terrible about managing their personal finances. And a report once even surfaced revealing that an alarmingly high percentage of the population lives in an almost permanent state of overdraft. So there's two Jewish stereotypes that I've managed to break down in one video about the price of beer. We're not necessarily T-Totalers and we're certainly not all primed for a thriving career on Wall Street. Shapira IPA is a craft beer. It's available for 36 shekels for a half liter, which is again almost $10. And the further bad news is that these are Jerusalem prices and that Tel Aviv can get even more expensive. And cocktails, let's just not even go there. So I know what you're secretly thinking. Israel sounds like a pretty awesome place to visit, but how on earth do students and people in general afford to get consistently wrecked on the weekends? To answer that question, let me introduce you to a beverage called Arak. Arak is an aniseed-based spirit. So if you've ever drunk Greek ouzo or Turkish rakhi, then you're already pretty familiar with this class of drinks. Arak tends to be a little bit cheaper than other spirits here is only mildly nauseating and this beverage has a very long tradition of distillation in this particular part of the world. Browsing on the Shufrasal website, I was able to find a 700 mil bottle of Arak for 50 shekels or just under $14. So buy yourself a cheap hip flap or two on AliExpress and you're quickly onto a winner. Most Israelis buy their booze out at bars or in supermarkets, although dedicated off-licenses also exist or liquor stores as Americans call them. You can also order alcohol from the internet. Poneko.co.al is probably the most popular online alcohol website in Israel, although you do have to be 18 or over to use it. That's the drinking age in Israel in case you didn't guess and although it saddens me that I'm almost twice that age now, I can confirm from my better and younger years that most places are actually pretty strict about that. Now for some good news. Israel is pretty relaxed about open containers, at least up to a certain time. Don't quote me on that and if you wind up with a fine, please don't come asking me to bail you out. But I've often enjoyed a crisp beer while walking on a warm summer's evening and I've never run into trouble with the law. You can buy alcohol up to 11 p.m. at night from retail outlets but not any later even if it's just a minute. After 11 p.m. you'll need to hit up bars to get your fix. Wine is very popular here in Israel and where I live in Jerusalem we're fortunate enough to have a few excellent wine bars that sell wine by the glass and the bottle. There are also popular wine festivals as well as now whiskey festivals. Although still considered a new territory, Israeli wine is actually really good and has come on leaps and bounds in the last few decades. There's also plenty of imported wine available for consumption here, especially wine that is kosher certified. And a final smidgen of good news to end this video. Happy hour promotions are extremely popular in Israel and has helped to make drinking out of the house that little bit more affordable. If you happen to be visiting Jerusalem, I highly encourage checking out my favorite bar called Hatak Lit or The Record, which at the time of making this video has a daily happy hour until 9 p.m. For fellow night owls like myself, Fish and Zone on Hillale Street is the local late night bar and tends to only close around dawn, I think. Most pubs, however, tend to close at last customer or 2 a.m. Personally, I probably drink a bit less since I moved to Israel from Ireland, but I also might drink more regularly. I've come to really enjoy drinking alcohol out and as somebody who probably shouldn't be buying $10 beers for financial reasons, the happier our promotions continue to be my salvation. I once even made an entire website dedicated solely to mapping out the happier our deals in Jerusalem. Somebody should really continue that project. On a sadder note, alcoholism certainly exists here in Israel, including among Jews. I attended a wonderful mental health fair last year organized by Nefesh Benefesh and I had the privilege of interviewing a guy who ran a sober house aimed at recovering Jewish religious alcoholics. On that note, please regard some of the stuff above his tongue and cheek and really do enjoy alcohol responsibly. I hope this video has offered a couple of interesting facts about how much alcohol costs in Israel, another random trivia details and if you'd like to get more videos from me about living in Jerusalem in Israel, please consider subscribing to this YouTube channel.