Which FiftyFifty Eclipse?

Discussion in 'Pacific' started by Thickfreakness, Jan 20, 2013.

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  1. zac16125

    zac16125 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,358) Jan 26, 2010 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    The only 50/50 Eclipse Ive had was a 2011 EC 20, and its one of the best beers Ive ever had in my life. So Id go with the purple I guess.
     
    funhog likes this.
  2. kaseydad

    kaseydad Pooh-Bah (1,900) Nov 23, 2008 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Bernheim Wheat was awesome. Looking back I wish I would have stuck to this and bypassed the Rebel Yell and Old Fitz last year. The 09 Elijah Craig I had today was BOSS so I don't think you could go wrong with that anytime.
     
  3. goodbetterbestbested

    goodbetterbestbested Initiate (0) May 10, 2012 California

    old fitz and rittenhouse rye were the best when i had a flight with all of those minus mellow corn. i bought another bottle of both of those, don't think i'd get buy any of the others.
     
  4. Thickfreakness

    Thickfreakness Initiate (0) Oct 2, 2010 New York

    You know this how?
     
  5. Dope

    Dope Pooh-Bah (2,751) Oct 5, 2010 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Society

    If you like rye whiskey definitely go for the Rittenhouse, it's excellent. If you don't prefer rye, get the EC or the EW. They are both fantastic.

    Dope
     
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  6. BrewStew58

    BrewStew58 Initiate (0) Mar 29, 2011 New York


    Where is cny?
     
  7. Anonymous1

    Anonymous1 Initiate (0) Mar 19, 2012 Illinois

    None, not sure why people buy this beer when there's so many more reasonably priced alternatives. Go pick up another 4-pack of BCBS if that's still around and you'll be much more satisfied.
     
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  8. fmccormi

    fmccormi Initiate (0) Oct 24, 2010 California

    Central New York—Syracuse, Utica, etc.
     
  9. MetalMountainMastiff

    MetalMountainMastiff Initiate (0) Oct 1, 2012 California

  10. onefalsemove711

    onefalsemove711 Crusader (469) Jul 20, 2011 California

    EC 12 and Rittenhouse have been my favs so far. Cheers!
     
  11. OneBeertoRTA

    OneBeertoRTA Initiate (0) Jan 2, 2010 California


    The new charred american oak barrels required for Bourbon have a decent cost new but they charge a premium to beer makers. Because there are millions of barrels that need to go every year the big bourbon suppliers bulk sell them and those customers that buy small quantities (i.,e., beer makers) typically pay double the cost of what the barrel costs the whiskey supplier.


    The big bourbon suppliers have finely tuned operations and of course, the cost of the liquid alone is far less than beer in the same barrel. If you look at a 750ml bottle of Jim or Evan it's roughly the price of many BB bombers even though the FET is significantly greater on spirits than beer. The raw materials cost more for beer makers because they don't have the same commodity bargaining power and they definately don't get the same bulk discounts and gigantic whiskey suppliers.
     
  12. ASUBeer

    ASUBeer Initiate (0) Nov 4, 2011 North Carolina

    I had the Bernheim Wheat this year and was pretty underwhelmed. My historical favorites are (in this order)

    1. Brandy '11
    2. Evan Williams '10
    3. EC18 '11
     
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  13. Siggy125

    Siggy125 Maven (1,294) Nov 10, 2006 California
    Trader

    You make some interesting points. To hear that Eclipse is still sitting on shelves in various locations is a bit surprising given its previous sales history. 5050 may have to up their game or reconsider price point.
     
  14. Nectar

    Nectar Initiate (0) Jan 17, 2013 New Jersey

    Buy 2 bombers of Big Bad Baptist and be happy.
     
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  15. Levitation

    Levitation Initiate (0) Aug 7, 2009 California


    know what how? the only statement in my post that wasn't qualified with "unlikely" or "i imagine" or "i don't know" or "i think" is bolded. it is a fact that, to be called bourbon, a spirit must be aged in new barrels.

    this link covers what frequently happens to bourbon barrels after they are emptied. there has always been an aftermarket for bourbon barrels in the spirits industry. i don't have numbers, but i assume that the extra demand that craft breweries are adding to that list is only a drop in the bucket, and that prices for used barrels probably aren't going up all that much.

    one reason i assume this is that bcbs, a pretty large-batch barrel-aged beer, has managed to keep a constant price for several years now. if their margins were being squeezed by increased cost of barrels on a widespread basis, gi would have increased prices to compensate, especially if they were trying to demonstrate financial viability to inbev in the year or two before the sale. i can certainly assume that they get the benefits of scale, but as a trend i don't think used barrels cost more now.

    iow, i think the move to low-quality barrels in the fifty-fifty program is an effort to increase margins: source cheap-shit barrels and sell for higher prices.
     
  16. loony4lambic

    loony4lambic Initiate (0) Nov 26, 2012 California

    3. Becuase I love Rye Whiskey
     
  17. OneBeertoRTA

    OneBeertoRTA Initiate (0) Jan 2, 2010 California

    I'm not sure if the barrels 50/50 uses are that much cheaper than the larger whiskey suppliers. Sure niche and uber craft bourbon makers (PvW) can go for a premium because their re-sale business is much like their liquid sales, low volume & specific. Beer suppliers make up such a trivial percentage of the used barrel sales for the larger guys that even though the margin is quadruple that of the normal re-sale it means nothing. Not until recently has Ops even started to explore this avenue.

    Without giving specifics, a new charred american oak barrel is around $110 and it can sell anywhere from $115- $230 after on the re-sale with the highest prices going to small volume(relatively speaking) craft beer makers.

    Not too mention, many of the big guys don't control used barrels in the same way they do new ones so the liquid/vintage may be difficult to track on the re-sale.
     
  18. jtmartino

    jtmartino Initiate (0) Dec 11, 2010 California

    Bourbon barrels are 53 gallons. Let's round down to 50 for ease of calculation. 50 gallons = 6400 oz. 6400 oz = 260-290 bottles, depending on whether you use bombers or 750s.

    So that's less than a dollar per bottle overhead for barrel cost. Fuck it, let's double the cost of the barrels. $2/bottle. That doesn't explain why the bottles are $25+ ea. (unless you bought futures, then it was $20+).

    Same thing goes for other breweries that charge that much for regular BA beers (looking at you, North Coast!)
     
    ejeffer11 likes this.
  19. YeahNelsonMandela

    YeahNelsonMandela Initiate (0) Jan 21, 2013 South Africa

    There have been 3 different batches of the PVW. 1 was bad and 2 were good.
     
  20. OneBeertoRTA

    OneBeertoRTA Initiate (0) Jan 2, 2010 California

    Spot on.

    The marginal cost of the barrel plays a small part in the COGS. Any slight sourcing efficiency may shave a few basis points but doesn't move the needle. It's all economy of scale.
     
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