PseudoSue, bottled yesterday.

Jeez. Maybe I should finally stop drinking all of it that I buy...

 

Any idea why they charge $7.99 (Hy-Vee in Davenport) for 22 oz bombers? Is that normal? It seems about double what I would expect it to cost. It's just a single hop (citra) pale ale, right? I've had it at Red's in North Liberty and it was only $6 for a pint. I was a little shocked to see the price of it at Hy-Vee. I hope it was some kind of mistake.

 

Yeah, I am sure Toppling Goliath is really worried about whether or not somebody from Rhode Island or where the hell ever likes their beer, as opposed to, ya know, somebody who lives in the the area Toppling Goliath actually distributes to, and somebody who could become a potential regular customer or influence other local people to purchase their beer, that is if some douchebag didn't buy up all the Sue, just so he could trade it all.

 

Oh absolutely, you could drain pour it even for all I care

 

Nope. That is the price. A bit pricey, but I imagine it will come down with production increasing.

 

I understand on special release days the TG folks participate in the parking lot bottle shares. I have never been, so I have no personal experience. I am 100% sure however, that they are more than happy to have a taster of beer "bought" with their beer. So I suspect they see the value in trading.

 

That's how business expands though. What do you think would have happened if no one ever thought Stone was worth sharing with people outside of California? Do you think they would've been able to expand their business to provide for other markets? TG doesn't really even have enough bottled beer to satisfy Iowans, yet they still take beer up to Wisconsin. What does that say about them to you? It tells me they're interested in getting their name out there and I don't think it's horrible or worth complaining about people trading.

 

Except that it would still sell out fast at double that price. And might still sell out at triple the price. I've said it before, I'll say it again: most limited beer is way under-priced.

 

I can't think of a IIPA, IPA, or especially an APA that could get away with selling a bomber for 16$. I would say they could get away with 12$ but even that would only work for a short while before it started sitting.

 

If nothing else, traders would still buy it up. It's simple supply and demand. Can you think of another product that is priced in such a way that it sells out so fast that most people can't buy it even if they want to? And I'm not talking just about Sue here, but rare/limited beer in general.

 

I definitely agree that this is case with certain styles (typically higher ABV) but I would say that this is a short lived thing. I wouldn't buy a 45$ 4-pack of Abrasive and we are talking about a much cheaper to produce beer. You need to tempt people in to buying a product and I can't imagine many people outside of BA who would pass an aisle full of cheaper, delicious, low ABV beer for an 3x more expensive version except for the novelty of trying it once. The prices industry wide have already been in place for too long for stuff like that.

 

I managed to get some Monday. $6.99 a sixer. Totally clear this batch (no sediment) and it is tasting awesome as always.

I am going to have serious problems buying any other beers if/when this becomes widely available.

I didn't realize Sue was such good trade bait. I wouldn't even know what to trade one for. I guess if someone wants to try it, let me know what you want to trade for it.

 

If/when Sue is regularly available (hopefully in six packs), it will be basically all I buy!

 

I understand the price being a little higher than expected but still was shocked at it being $8 a bomber. I passed on it out of principle. I've purchased many cases of Zombie Dust is the past and they were only $35 (although I heard they bumped it to $40 which is still a great price). That's well under $2 a bottle at $40 a case. It would be about $3 for 22 oz of it. That's what makes this so shocking. Maybe people in the distribution area don't get over to the Chicago area all that often and this is the only citra hopped APA available to them. I understand that increases the demand some but this still seems crazy high. More power to TG and their beer since it sells out immediately. I just hope people that pay that much for it are happy with it and aren't just buying it due to the hype and scarcity. I have a friend that isn't a craft beer guy and he bought 6 bottles of it just because he heard it was good. Of course he didn't like it much. He's used Bud Light. I'm sure he'll give me a bottle or two. I'm sure it's an awesome beer. If it's amazing and that much better than ZD then I'll be back on here praising it. I just don't see how that's possible.

 

As they ramp up production, I'm sure it'll change. But for now, I think there are enough beer nuts to buy up all the Sue TG can make.

I don't think it's better than Zombie Dust, and certainly not "that much better". But even being in the same class as ZD makes it pretty in-demand. Is it the only citra-hopped APA available in its distribution area? Probably not. Is it the only world-class amazing citra-hopped APA available in most of those markets? Probably.

 

Speaking of TG. Is ZeeLander supposed to taste like movie theater popcorn with extra butter?

 

Taste like? No. Has the aroma of sour diesel + onion. Flavor is bitter, touch of sweet.

 

Seriously? I had ZeeLander on tap last weekend and it was delicious

 

Zeelander is all pink grapefruit to me. I like it more than Sue.