De Struise Black Damnations

Dude, Id better be getting a blowjob if Im paying that much. Thats ridiculous and IMO ignorant. Theres no way it costs the brewery a fraction of that much to produce it. Jeeeeeeeeezzzzzz
Goldschlager has flakes of fucking gold in it and it doesnt cost that much!

 

Kinda sad Double Black is about to be released again. I'm really worried I'm going to get screwed over now. Long story, and will post after this it's all finished, but this has just ruined my day.

 

That was not my intention. But I've had it on tap 2 weeks ago and it was delicious. The bottled versions seems to be even better. I hope I don't ruin your day any further.

 

If I would be an american I would never pay this amount for these bottles. You can get stuff that's at least equaly good for half the price or less. 20euro here in Belgium was already a lot imo...

 

The drawing is done directly on the glass, that is not a label that you are seeing. Not sure about the technical term, etching?

 

Think of the Stone label style (on the glass, not paper). It is screen-printed, but much more complex with more layers. Here is some information on the series and why they went with serigraphy (screen printing).

 

As @gillagorilla pointed below, they use serigraphy, or screen printing. Many US brewers have/had used the same technique and usually the bottles would cost in a $15 range, $20 max - old Allagash Four design. So I don't think ellaborate bottle design alone is justification enough for such a high cost - $50-55 here in Massachusetts.

The beers I've tried were good though. But then Black Albert itself is one of my favorite stouts.

 

Thanks for the link.

This is very odd that he says the following

and then they have no problem shippping Pannepots as singles with NO DIVIDERS between the bottles. So the bottles bump and grind each other and the labels look torn and worn off.

 

I was at Max's Belgian Beer Fest this weekend and some girl (woman) behind me bought a bottle of the Black Damnation 1-Blackberry Albert. I'm not sure of her level of intoxication, but the bartender kept asking her if she was positive that was the bottle she wanted.

I turned around and asked if she was buying some 45 dollar bottle or something, she responded that she "had no idea" as she handed over a credit card. It turned out to be a 60 dollar 750ml bottle, but she said she didn't care because it was her husband's card. I found the whole thing pretty entertaining.

 

Damn fine beer. The best I've had from De Struise.

 

Thank you for the info.

The Black Damnation bottles are around 20 € in Belgium. You are comparing a local beer with a beer imported from the other side of the ocean. I am necessarily justifying the price but that is a bit odd comparison.

 

These beers used to be the equivalent of €8 a bottle at the brewery. Now they are €20. The price hike might be in part due to the screen printed labels, but it's also due to the fact that Struise knows beer geeks will pay it. They've proven that with Double Black and Special Kay a couple times over.

The beers are good, but not that good. Some are lousy, and I've read some negative press about these new batches as well.

Jeff

 

Saw them for $38 in Lexington. Still too rich for my blood.

 

Mocha Bomb and Black Mes here in Tallahassee. $40 each. I grabbed one and may grab the other in the next few days.

 

I knew as soon as I saw the silkscreened 750ml bottles online a while back that they were finally just saying "fuck it; the beer geeks want it, here it is". I knew the pricepoint would be higher; the increase is basically .10 per ounce/but is near doubling the price per oz. I can't imagine silk screened bottles (even in small quantities) warranting such a price. Additionally; buy a higher quality sticker and boxes with dividers and you won't have issues shipping the beer.

Having been purchasing their beers (33cl bottles) since moving to Europe, I know that there is no doubt they're just looking to make money at this point; can you blame them? Regardless, I no longer spend that kind of money on beer and am bummed to see such a higher price point.

All things considered, given the 20 euro a bottle price in it's country of origin; 40 bucks stateside is a fair price.