What we now pay for a six-pack!

With the OP being from NC, I would guess it was a bottle of one of the Wicked Weed sours. Most of them have been coming out in 500ml bottles and are all in the $10-15 range.

 

absolutely. I was just thinking of the bottle bill states because that was what was being paid. I'm 36 so I vaguely remember those now-obsolete "deposit bottles" from when I was a young kid. There were a couple of small local beverage companies that still did it, but only when I was pretty young.

 

Terrible analogy. Porsche & most items in that realm are luxury products that are intentionally trying to differentiate themselves via price, quality, & many other factors. Craft beer is trying (& succeeding) in breaking into the mainstream of alcohol consumption.

Not only that, but the prices of craft beers are a legit target for griping. The casual beer drinker is going to be turned off by (& never purchase) the increasing amount of $10+ bombers from breweries that even some of us nerdites have never heard of. More than overcrowding, overpricing IMHO is going to cause the next bust in the cycle.

 

Overpricing?! What is that? Beer costs exactly what people will pay for it. Just like the Porsche. There is no grand conspiracy to raise the price of beer. It is palin and simple economics; demand. It doesn't matter what the "widget" is, the result is the same.

It's not complicated.

 

No I can read a can, really?

 

Maybe not $6 even, but it ain't hard to find quality sixers around these parts for under $7.99 -- most Deschutes stuff is $7 flat, Firestone Walker under $8, and so on. Hell, you catch Sprouts Market on the right day and you can still get stuff for $4.99/$5.99 a six-pack.

I used to be a little more persnickety about price, but two things happened: 1) I just wanted to try more stuff, and there was zero way to do that without spending more (particularly if trying to make your own sixer @ a place like Total Wine) and, probably more importantly, 2) the relative cost of beer is still cheap. People seem to have no problem grabbing a 20 oz. plastic bottle of Coke from the corner store, which costs, at a minimum, $1.50, or $9/sixer. So, for a similar price, or perhaps a little more, I can get six high-quality beers? Yeah, I'll take that.

Now, let's be real: is a working class family making $30K/year gonna buy a ton of craft beer that regularly goes for $10+/sixer? Probably not. I'm lucky to have enough change in my pocket to do it, but I don't blame anyone who buys cheap beer because it's cheap. And is that one potential barrier to the expansion of craft? Maybe; I can't say for sure. Overall, and sidestepping the philosophical argument about purchase volume being the grand arbiter of whether prices are set correctly, I think craft beer isn't especially expensive compared to other beverages. I'll keep buying. But everyone has their limits, as well they should (no need to go bankrupt over an urge to hoard Cantillon), and I think whatever yours is, whether Cantillon or Coors Light, you should be fine with it, regardless of what other people's buying habits are.

 

then why is it such a strange concept that people in the states which are *not* explicitly listed on the side of the can/bottle might be unfamiliar with the concept of mandated deposits?

I am trying to understand why you responded so sarcastically, when to me the logical leap from "not in state listed on side of container = not dealing with this stuff every day = surprised when others deal with it" is not a terribly big one

 

I hope not. I don't pay anywhere near that for bottles of Stingo.

 

I responded sarcastically because it I thought it went without saying, well apparently doesn't that if one could understand deposits in one state they probably can figure them out in other states and understand that some do not have them.
To my point I was surprised like others here that someone on here might not understand bottle deposits/have never even heard of them. And I thought I did a nice job explaining them.

 

Still cheaper than wine,

Still cheaper than wine, vodka, gin etc.

 

Just going with current terminology for condensation purposes. I'm a tongue in cheek kinda person which I realize gets lost in translation on the intrawebz.

 

Good point, I kinda figured that was the case after I posted.

 

You should stop purchasing Maine Beer Co.'s products.

 

last time I bought a Stingo in a bar type place it was nearly $10. I can see it being even more overpriced in a regular bar. (I would walk rather than pay $15 for Stingo, no matter how good it is!)

 

I haven't seen a $6 six pack of craft in probably 10 years. I'm also happy to pay the prices we pay today for the amazing selection we have compared to the olden days of SN, Sam Adams, Pete's Wicked, and a few random imports being the only good beers you could readily find.

Also the margins are extremely low in beer. The cost of production has extremely little to do with final price, yet many folks try to make a direct correlation with ABV and price. It just doesn't work that way.

 

Oh, well, if he bought it from a bar I could see that. I try to avoid drinking at bars for that very reason.

 

The most I've spent on 12oz/375ml was 11 dollars I believe for a Bottle of St. Bretta by Crooked Stave a touch pricey but I try to hook up my boy every chance I get @PA-Michigander how did you like that one I forget lol

 

Even if you don't consider the single bottle format, 6pks in general just keep going up. I remember the $6 six pack, of craft mind you, BMC was $4 or less and we're talking less than 10 years ago. Now the $10 six pack seems to be making way for the $13 to $15. It's kind of ridiculous.

 

But I refuse to pay that much for a Sixer of SN Pale ale haha

 

Way to ignore the rest of my post & focus in on one word. Read the whole post if you want to make some kind of point.

It's not that complicated.