Doing Our Part to Bring Down Prices

I agree and suspect that the aforementioned thinking is not realistic in the slightest. Honestly, if anything, the upper tier of customers would prefer that the prices are higher on the ultra rare and highly rated ones because the bigger obstacle is availability, not a few more bucks per bottle and such.

Compared to other industries I've been surprised over and over at how craft beer prices have NOT gone up when they easily could have, and instead there's long lines in the cold, truck chasers, etc. for those items that sell out super fast at below market value.

 

The occasional browse of * demonstrates the gap rather well... Oddly though, breweries do face an irrational consumer (sorry people, you are...) because we suck at math, or at the very least are unwilling to do it.

If you convert the price of a special bomber into a 4 pack price and compare to BCBS it is pretty mind boggling. Parabola at $15.99 a bottle (which seems pretty standard) would be a $35 4-pack, and damn would people squeal if BCBS jumped to that price this year. It makes the $14 4-packs of Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Stout seem ridiculously cheap in comparison, but it doesn't seem to slow people down.

The magic number where people pause varies stupidly based on format and bottle size. An $16 6-pack of Enjoy By is considered expensive, but a $12 4-pack of Double Jack is normal, even though it is actually about 10% more expensive. Bombers as we all know are the worst, and if people did the math back to 4/6-pack prices they would probably pause more, but most of us are simply willing to shell out $10 for a DIPA and $20 for barrel-something...

Can't blame the breweries for selling beer in the most profitable format

 

Depends on the beer.I spent $15 on a small bottle of Allagash wild ale. I guess that put me in the $30+ range

Enjoy

 

I love all kinds of beer. But dang, a dude only had so much spending money. At 20 a bottle I may or may not buy it. But lower that to 15 and I start thinking, "hmmm, maybe I'll get two."

 

I love all kinds of beer. But dang, a dude only had so much spending money. At 20 a bottle I may or may not buy it. But lower that to 15 and I start thinking, "hmmm, maybe I'll get two."

 

did you drink the Minnie Quay yet? I haven't seen it anywhere but it has me drooling

 

I agree, 100%. I'm hardly wealthy, but I am fortunate to have a nice job that affords me what I need in this world and many of my simpler wants. If I could pay more for an occasional treat, like parabola, to not have to fight to find it then I would. I'd probably pay $30, maybe $40 a bottle for beer that are half that price now, from time to time. I'm not alone, so in pure economic terms, some beers are very underpriced. That said, I'm not calling for prices to go up, just to benefit me. It is nice that the average guy can afford a lot of beer wants if they're willing to hunt. The fact that they have to hunt, however, shows that beer is probably underpriced.

 

Not yet, I'm thinking to age it for a little while, the timing needs to be perfect =D

 

Any of the releases that are gone before they hit the shelf are underpriced.
Hypothetically, if Founder's did another release of CBS in roughly the same quantity as last time, what would the proper price point be? I would suggest $50+ a bottle. At anything less than that, the bottles never even see a shelf

 

I'm not sure they'd see the shelf at $50. A beer like that may have to hit $75 or more before the hardcore beer nerds passed it up, and even then I'm not sure. I'd pass it up at $50, but one person does not dictate the market.

 

probably a wise choice. I usually don't have enough self control to age anything more than a few days...cheers!

 

And the same goes for many other beers. There is no bringing down prices.
The only thing that stops a Founders from charging $50+ for CBS is the fear that there will be a blow back as to their core beers.
There is likely to be resentment from people not willing/able to pay 50+ and as a result they will stop buying All Day, FBS etc.

To be clear, I am using Founder's as a hypothetical example. I am not saying that Founder's is going to release a $50+ bottle

 

Typically I'm less than $25, and that has to be a reeaalllyyyy intriguing beer. But sadly, I've gone over this numerous times...I live by the Bruery.

 

The possible blow back hurting sales of the every day beers is the only reason I can think of to explain why the limited beers aren't more expensive. I'm sure that many of our favorite breweries love making and selling beer, but brewing isn't a philanthropic endeavor.

 

Most of the time I keep it under 20$. There are a few beers that I will pay over 20$ for knowing that the time and effort that goes into them are worth the price ie. Ale Apothecary. Other than that I tend to stay clear of anything over 20$

 

I understand most price points and the market does work (how many bottles of $25-$30 Eclipse Stouts are collecting dust at your local shops?), people do set limits. I think the Bruery is a bit high on the price point, but it sells and it's as good as anything else.

What I have a problem with is when you see American Wilds on the shelf for twice the cost of a world class Lambic that got shipped half-way across the world and then had it's price jacked up by Sheldon Brothers. Oh, and those American Wilds almost never (check that; just, never) live up to the quality of said Lambic. I do have a problem with that.

 

If I lived by the Bruery I would have 2 hoarders memberships

 

I think the limited release beers are almost "loss leaders."
Again using Founder's as an example, they don't release enough (Rubaeas, KBS, Dissenter. ..) to significantly affect their bottom line. Their bottom line is determined by the everyday beers.
The Backstage series is for obtaining accolades that help sell the rest of the line

 

When I had no one to share big bottled beers with, I literally never bought big bottle formats as I found them too expensive for my own personal consumption and too much of a gamble to try out for the first time. Now that I have several friends whom I can share big bottles in sampling sessions with me, price limit could potentially have no ceiling if its for something that I've been really struggling to seek out, has a world class rating and is in a style I really like. An example would be Cantillon. Haven't found any yet, love sours and they have super high ratings on BA but if I stumble upon one for $30-$40 I would probably buy just to check the whale box for that brew.

- Most expensive bottle I've caved in and bought to date was $26 750ml of Rodenbach Caractere Rouge (great beer and price was on the fence so probably was a well priced bottle by the retail shop).
- I passed on a $30 sour from Pizza Boy. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it, ratings were solid but the price tag seemed overpriced to me so I passed for other options.
- Many of the big fleet of Bruery beers run $20-$30 in my area and although I've like most all of them, they seem overpriced to me, and I usually can find better tasting / same style beer options in the $10-$20 range.

Other tips:
Scan your local craft bars for those expensive 750ml formats on tap. Instead of paying $30 gamble for a big bottle, pay $10 for a 7oz pour. If you don't like it, then you saved yourself $20 and only lost a $10 bet. If you love it, then consider whether $30 on the big bottle is worthwhile to you.