Variety packs - any value in them?

I like them, but there are definitely some that put some good and some slow movers together so are a no, no...

 

Um.... for me it's pretty simple. Depends what is in the variety pack.

If I like them, I buy them. It's not that deep.

 

I love them, especially if I am travelling to a different state and a brewery we don't get in TX offers a variety pack. Locally, I'll usually pick up a New Belgium or Sierra Nevada variety pack a few times a year to try new things as the more common inclusions are tried and true.

 

I bought them more often when I was first getting into craft beer. It was a good way to try a handful of beers from a brewery that I wasn't too familiar with. These days I don't buy them too often, because I rarely see them with beers I haven't tried. I'll still occasionally get them from breweries that I like, but only if the selection is one that I like. The current Victory summer variety pack is pretty nice. Summer Love, Kuhl Kolsch, Whirlwind Wit, and Prima Pils. That's a nice selection for a party/cookout in warm weather.


EDIT: I like them for parties in general. If I'm taking beer to share, it's nice to grab a case with 3 or 4 different beers. It increases the chances that everyone will find one they enjoy.

 

I do enjoy making my own mix a six. However, you do have to pay attention to the date on the bottles, especially pale ales, ipa's etc. they often are past date and just trying to sell them off

 

Yes. I was wondering why so many NY members were so against variety packs and then you made me realize that if you live in NYC and have to lug a 12-pack around on the subway, that's a big deterrant. At least the cans are already a little lighter than bottles. Maybe if breweries made a variety case with better/sturdy handles? A good carrying box could be a good angle for brewery located within NYC [or any major metro], like @Sixpoint.

Agreed.

Absolutely. You can tell from this thread that most members of this site have at least some degree of ticking buying habits. Very few of us are loyal, regular buyers of a particular brewery. (I include myself in this description)

Agreed. Variety packs are great for parties, usually there's something for everyone.

That's a great point and a disadvantage of cans I had never considered before. A brewery that puts all their beer in cans is likely missing out on many mixed-six sales, so I would think for them a variety pack would be essential to try to recapture some of the mixed-six market lost to them.

I like it. Or maybe a $1.00 coupon towards the next purchase...or a mail-in rebate. Combat the ticking mentality, and give people a small reward for showing some loyalty.

Absolutely. I'm sure retailers hate this too because many customers will rip open the boxes to see what the mystery beer is before purchasing.

The only statement I disagree with. Typically two 6-packs is more expensive than the variety 12-pack, so I would buy the cheaper option.

 

Variety packs were a gift from above when I was getting into craft beer since I had no idea what I liked. Now, I pretty much know what I like, and so I buy what I like.

 

In a pinch my go-to has been the Oskar Blues variety 12pack. I really enjoy all 4 varieties and I only have to drive across the street to Target to get it.

 

Thanks @Ranbot for your response.

Couple things:

NYC residents are also less likely to see the appeal because the ability to buy singles is everywhere. In fact, some beer-centric places don't even sell six packs. They break everything.

Your coupon idea is great.

When I mentioned the mystery beer, I'm also including my displeasure with variety packs that have an area on the box where the rotating beer is indicated via a sticker or stamp... but the box makes it to the store w/o the sticker or stamp.

My comment regarding @SteveB24 's four box purchase was more a tongue-in-cheek reaction to the volume of beer and how it no longer needed to be a "variety" pack, as opposed to a statement about price. I was slightly jealous that I haven't grabbed one for myself yet.

 

There are two reasons I might buy a variety pack:
1. A brewery I really like puts out more good beers than I can buy six packs of, especially now that all the markets are so oversaturated. So I can revisit beers I love at a better price than mix-six prices. Examples: GLBC (my home team brewery) does 3 each of 4 core beers. Burning River and Dortmunder are unlikely 6-pack buys for me, but this way I get to rediscover how good they really are. Or Deschutes does 2 each of 6 beers, so I can always drink a style to fit my mood and revisit a bunch of quality beers I otherwise wouldn't have often.

2. Specialty variety packs that offer an exciting set of beers can appeal to me. Sierra Nevada does a great job with these, with the 4-Way IPA packs, or seasonal specialties. Or Southern Tier putting out a pack of Iniquity, Unearthly, and Gemini. Great Lakes just put out a spring variety pack of mostly new sessionable beers that I enjoyed. I think the key here is to have every beer in the pack be pretty much equally intriguing--this is where Sam Adams loses me on their variety packs (when some of the beers are redundant to others in the pack, or seem to not match the seasonality of the others)

 

Nah, I enjoyed it.

 

I did not read the whole thread yet but I am between 3 and 4. 3.5. I would buy more variety packs if they were available where I shop

 

I think this is more widespread that you realize ( paging @jesskidden ). I have mainly only heard of a few states in the south that have laws that require minimum oz sold. We just break up 6-packs at my store (and no not out of date code ones, those get sold back to the distributor at cost). Cheers.

 

The Sierra Nevada beer camp variety pack was awesome, and I buy Cannundrum or whatever from Oskar Blues sometimes...oh and devils backbone did and awesome variety collab pack. But other than that, they are usually filled with one beer a really like, and two or three more that are just ok

 

Four of the places I go to allow this. There's no special mix-and-match shelf, you just pull bottles/cans out of existing packs. At three of these places, there's a slight upcharge depending on what a sixer retails for (it's usually between 25 and 50 cents). The fourth place often runs 9.99 specials, but (a) they only carry MI beers, (b) it's gotta be 6 different beers, and (c) they have some seasonals but never any special/limited releases. I usually limit my drinking to weekends, so I don't mind paying a little more to have some variety.

 

I always find variety packs great for when we are having a get together's with family or friends that are not into craft beer. Usually you get a 3 to 4 different styles and one of those might be what gets someone away from Bud or Miller Lite.
On a personal level, we usually get spoiled by the seasonal Short's variety packs because they put out beers that have never been bottled or haven't been bottled in a while. That is about the only variety pack that I consistently buy for personal consumption. Wish more breweries did variety packs like them.

 

I started buying Sam Adams mix packs maybe 5 years ago, and had mixed results with some good ones, some fair, and others that I had to choke down. The Odell Montage pack was next, two summers ago, and it was pretty good, and introduced me to the world of Odell. I bought the Sierra Nevada Fall pack last year and loved it, and have bought two Summer packs, and like it, too. The Kolsch is nice, and drinking the Nooner Pils inspired me to buy a twelve pack in cans, and I'm sure I'll get another on my next big city beer run. I passed on the Sierra Nevada Winter Pack because I stockpile Porters and Stouts in my "cellar" during seasonal and limited releases.

 

I feel like a variety pack done once a year (a summer pack for example) works really well, maybe also with a "variety pack only" beer to get people to try staple items and get a treat to try out and if the variety only beer is well received it is a good experiment for new production of seasonals or even a possible new year round. If you do a variety pack year round I feel it is almost detrimental and comes off as gimmicky.

 

I think it's sometimes a gimmick for which a brewery can unload poorly selling beers amidst a couple decent/hard to come by brews. A recent purchase of mine was a Great Lakes Brewery Spring Seasonal Sampler. Though a big fan of the brewery, I had never seen any one of the 4 beers included before: High-Striker (Belgian Single); Lawn Seats (Kolsch); Holy Moses (White Ale); or Truth, Justice, and the American Ale (IPA). I had to pick it up. Good marketing job, Great Lakes! Of the four, two were quite great: high-striker and TJ&AA. Lawn Seats was good/interesting. However, I didn't like Holy Moses very much. They got me to buy more than I normally would in one shot for them. I also gave a few away (free advertising) to people who like the white ale style more than I do. It was a win-win for me and for the Great Lakes Brewery. Other samplers (especially those filled with beers that are readily available) I am wholly uninterested in.