St. Petersburg Russian Imperial Stout?

$42.50? Yikes!

 

I don't think you'll see much of it out there since it was a one-off and released in 2006. It should be reasonably good, however, if you like Imperial Stouts and if you like Malt Whisky. They put their base stout, which gets good reviews, into a variety of Malt Whisky barrels and aged it for close to a year.

The price point does seem a bit high, but your price expectation should set by comparison to something like the Harviestoun series of Ola Dubh beers which around here can range from $8-$20 dollars for a 330ml bottle depending on which Highland Park barrels it was aged in. (So for 750 ml bottles of Ola Dubh the minimum price would range from $18 to $46 per bottle.)

So in looking at the $42-43 price, note that the price of the St. Petersburg BA stout to you includes, the extra costs of the whisky barrels (which cost more than Bourbon barrels because Whisky barrels can be re-used by the distillery but used Bourbon barrels can not). In addition there are the extra costs to the brewery associated with storing the beer for almost a year. Then figure in whatever shipping costs it takes to get those bottles all the way to Alaska. Finally add in any normal mark up by your beer store for a one time purchase of a one-off beer that might or might not sell, and if it does sell might sit around using storage space for a few years.

As for whether I'd buy one, I think I would get at least one to share with a couple of friends because: 1) I've not tried it, 2) I like the Ola Dubh beers a lot, and 3) the one reviewer knows his beer and gives it high marks. After that tasting I'd decide whether or not to go back and get more to store in the basement for a special occasion. (Costs less than many good bottles of champagne...

 

Sounds tasty but not for that price.

 

I always try to justify it to myself this way: "people pay $42 for a bottle of wine all the time and don't think anything of it." If you've got the money and enjoy barrel aged stouts, go for it.

p.s. I have also found that you can crack a beer like that and re-cap it for a couple nights and it will still be great. In fact a bit better the second night...

 

Didn't see that it was a 330. That one is hard to justify.

 

Buy it only if you have lots of money to blow in the search of rare beer. Otherwise, there have to be better ways to spend your beer money.

 

If you have to ask on the internet to justify it, then I would say certainly not.