Victory Dirt Wolf - Why 4-packs??

I wish it were only me, my gf cringed at the taste of it as well, and shes usually a fan of DIPAs. Might have just been the one bottle, ill try the last one later.

 

A store in MN was selling single bottles only for $2.99. When I told him they were selling for cheaper, it appeared he didn't believe me.

This beer, however, was one of the best this year so far. Amazing and apparently year round. NICE!

 

What if it was $10 for a 4-pack (vs. $12 for a 6-pack)?

Cheers!

 

Where is this info on Yamika coming from? It's still listed on the Victory website and I couldn't find any mention of it being dicontinued.

 

The packaging has nothing to do with the ABV, it's all about price per oz, 4 pks they go up just like Bombers.

 

Information provided to local retail outlets by sales Reps. Word is Yakima is dead.

Edit: That doesn't mean there won't be a change of mind along the way. But for now....

 

yea the ONLY time a bomber is a good deal is when its 3 bucks, when is the last time you seen one that cheap? maybe never? I have seen some at 3.99 but that was a few years ago now. 22oz/12 = 1.83 of a 12 oz beer. of course my day of trying to stay at 1 buck a bottle is LONG gone.

once one gets in the $6 to $10 range its pure rip, above that whales come and that cuts me off. sadly it not stopping them from making them, nor from those people from buying them. One day they will hit a wall though. IMHO.

 

To all the folks lamenting price increases with the general movement to 4 packs, would you rather have someone increase their price up front and visibly or have it done the way many in the food industry have gone, i.e., keeping the price the same and reducing the container size or the number of ounces packaged in the container. Lots of that has gone on the last 10 years or so.

Go to the used bookstore and buy yourself a 1950-60s vintage cookbook that has an ingredients list of things like "1 Xoz package of frozen Y" or "1 Xoz can of Y," and see how many of those sized containers with that quantity of Y you can actually find.

 

Tell me about it, every time I open a bag of potato chips it is half empty and I don't even bother ordering fries with fast food anymore, I could go on an on..

 

This is essentially what's happened/happening in the beer industry. Breweries who traditionally sold their beer in 6 packs are now donning the 4 pk format and charging the same price they used to charge (or more) for 6 beers.

Not to mention the whole bomber fiasco that has taken over shelves. Sorry, but I'm not paying $7/bomber for your flagship amber ale or IPA.

 

In some, possibly many, cases those 6-4 "increases" are originating at the retail level not at the brewery. E.G., when Brooklyn went to 4s for their BCS there was no price increase per case sold to the distributors or to customers so your point about the industry is important. It's not just breweries raising prices.

 

Considering it is November and Yakima hasn't come out... probably a solid indication (besides Victory deading the product through a Release to distributors and word of mouth to accounts).

 

But that is the crux of the issue, isn’t it?

The brewery (e.g., Victory, Brooklyn, etc.) makes a decision to change from six-packs to four-packs and then some retailers (most retailers?) take advantage of this situation to increase their margins. What is the financial benefit to Victory, Brooklyn, etc. to make this change? Do they think they will sell more beer in the four-pack format then they do in the six-pack format? I can’t speak for all beer consumers but I refuse to be ‘sucked in’ to paying $10 for a four-pack of Victory Dirt Wolf, Victory Storm King, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, etc.

IMHO, the breweries are doing a disservice to their end customers (beer drinkers) via this change.

Cheers!

 

One thing we can count on about change is that somebody won't like it. :-)

At the end of the day the market place will determine the final answer, but recognize that distributors, retailers, and customers all influence such decisions, not just the brewery. If I buy/sell a lot of your beer and want you to use 4 packs are you going to refuse if I can find a competitor who uses the format I want and I can just not buy/sell your product?

As a consumer I prefer 4 packs for High ABV beers because they are typically an occasional purchase for occasional consumption and I want to enjoy each one well before the best by date.

 

There was a supposed Victory rep here pimping DW before it came out and he said Yakima was gone and OLD HO would be bombers only........

Enjoy

 

“One thing we can count on about change is that somebody won't like it.” There is no denying that!

“At the end of the day the market place will determine the final answer, but recognize that distributors, retailers, and customers all influence such decisions, not just the brewery.” I can’t disagree with that statement either. I personally am trying to ‘influence’ the market place by education the BA community (beer customers) that the four-pack format is being ‘exploited’ by some retailers to jack up their unit prices and thereby increasing their margins; what I referred to as price gouging in prior posts.

“If I buy/sell a lot of your beer and want you to use 4 packs are you going to refuse if I can find a competitor who uses the format I want and I can just not buy/sell your product?” Perhaps you can educate me on the topic of beer selling. My understanding is that Victory sells beer to wholesale distributors (e.g., Gretz Beverage for my area) by the case (pallets of cases). Gretz then sells to retailers (e.g., Wegmans) by the case. Wegmans then sells the beer to beer consumers by the four-pack. Who is the party that is demanding the four-pack format? The customer that Victory sells their beer to is the Wholesale Distributor who then sells the beer by the case. Is the Wholesale Distributor demanding the four-pack format even though they sell by the case? Is Wegmans placing demands on Gretz to provide beer to them in four-packs, which then gets ‘transmitted’ via Gretz to Victory? I am not in the beer business but I have a difficult time envisioning that Wegmans would refuse to purchase a beer like Victory Dirt Wolf from Gretz unless they provided it to them in the four-pack format. Does Wegmans call up the Victory Marketing & Sales folks and place their demands that way? If so, that sounds weird to me.

“As a consumer I prefer 4 packs for High ABV beers because they are typically an occasional purchase for occasional consumption and I want to enjoy each one well before the best by date.” I can understand that for a beer style like a DIPA (e.g., Dirt Wolf) but a beer like Victory Storm King has a best by timeframe of years (5 years I think). Would purchasing Storm King (or Brooklyn BCS) by the six-pack be a ‘burden’ to you?

Cheers!

 

As I posted before, there are definitely some business decisions going into this to generate higher profits. Craft beer is becoming a "mature" market, or at least an increasingly saturated one. There is cost benefit: losing more cost conscientious customers to gain? More customers? Is it not possible Victory et al could argue: it's in four pack form, so you can get higher profit margin, so buy this versus that in six pack form? Also buy an extra 10 cases b/c of the margin. As stated by others, the market will tell.

 

I for one welcome the four pack as a packaging choice. I'd also love if they were priced comparitively fairly, but luckily I have some flexibility in that I'll pay a little over-and-extra for a good beer. I'd pay a little extra for just a 4-pack in the non-existent case of someone offering 6 AND 4 pack options, b/c personally, I like more variety and less volume in my fridge. I do buy single bottles, too, and they are even more marked up. I have also passed on a beer b/c it was in 6-pack and I didn't want to make the commitment (most often when purchases of other beers are involved - 5 4-packs vs 5 6-packs is more manageable).

 

Finally found a couple of bottles here, paid too much ($2.99 singles) but it really does live up to the hype and I can see the comparisons with Sucks.

 

This is a failed logic. DUCY?