Most OverPriced (OverValued) Beer?

Prairie, outside of Tulsa.
I paid $5 or $6 for Bomb! Saw it recently in Savannah for $11.

 

I agree on these being expensive, but at least I find they offer something that is almost completely unique to the market. There are lots of sours, but almost no one does them like Cascade. But, still hard on the wallet!

 

You guys wouldn't last five minutes in the wine world.

 

$6.50

 

Sculpin, $16-18 a 6er no thank you

 

Yup, at least 10 times worse. At least though, there are a lot of very high quality less expensive wine bottles out there!

 

Every market is relative to itself.

 

I think the theme to the responses here is overwhelming, but has yet to be named outright; It's the beers going through an extra middleman via Shelton Bros. and Twelve Percent.

I agree, they are all overpriced, but what they are doing is genius. They are bringing beers to (nearly) the entire country from breweries which would otherwise never see the light of day outside their local area.

 

ugh definitely Ballast Point. i really love me some Sculpin IPA but paying $15 for a six pack is really hard on my wallet.

 

Barrel aged Old Rasputin -Wheat Whiskey, $25.99 for a pint bottle. I love Old Rasputin, but this was thin and had no body or richness I expected, instant regret... and I bought two.

 

But the principles of supply and demand remain the same. Breweries, vineyards, shoe makers, tech companies, etc., all charge what they charge because enough people have agreed to pay it.

 

True, but I inferred from your comment that you were saying BA's have nothing to gripe about because wine is much more expensive. That is a non sequitur.

(Perhaps my inference was wrong...)

 

Well, lets discuss "perception" a bit in the context of a 4-pack of 16 oz. cans. You mentioned "$16 64 oz. of cans". I can buy high quality 4 packs of 16 oz. cans for about $10. If another brewery sells their beers for $16 in that exact same format what is my motivation for paying $16 for that beer? Does that brewery think that I will think their beer is 60% better than the beers I can purchase for $10?

Cheers!

 

A six pack of Alpine Pure Hoppiness runs $19.99 here. Too much in my opinion.

 

I used to tolerate Mikkeller's pricing when I lived in Belgium thinking I was paying for imported beer. I then discovered that many of his beers are produced in Belgium. What a racket. The whole "I hate my brother" schtick is lame too.

Are there any opinions on Avery's quality for the price? I've had a few of their beers on tap but not from bottles, which I've noticed are very pricey.

 

Around here, Rogue takes the cake.

 

I think the entire craft beer market is over valuing the products to test the limits of consumers. The Abyss stout used to be much cheaper, yet the cost of hops, grain etc...has not increased as much as the inflation of the product.

Most all of the special limited release beers are overpriced because the consumer will pay. I think a premium product should have premium ingredients. The craft beer market is largely all the brewers buying the same grains, same hops...all from the same supply houses.

So we can get a great product, but the overall product is not as unique as the price would suggest. For me perhaps the most overpriced beers are the small lower alcohol session beers. They cost nearly the same as higher alcohol beers with more grains and hops used. I don't get that.

The use of artificial scarcity as a marketing and price gouging tool is common practice these days in the industry. If it works in the wine industry heck it's only a matter of time that it's going to happen in beer.

Good imperial stouts used to cost much less, but now that it's been observed that releasing them seasonally for more money, sells less beer bottles at a higher profit its becoming common.

Russian River works well with vendors and buyers to insure that price gouging is not done. The inflated prices of merchants is largely to due with transport costs. Bottle to bottle you will not see vendors charging too much for Pliny. If they do it has been the policy of the brewery to pull the product from the vendor.

If anything people should complain about Russian River Sour beers. The cost per ounce and bottle has nearly doubled for no apparent reason other than hype. But there is no reason to be budget conscious when seeking a premium product.

The real issue is that premium beers are actually common as dirt. Most of the ingredients are all at the helm of a few suppliers. But the newer emerging market of ultra premium beers is trying go further to create even more local based ingredients. I see this as a huge bonus for people willing to pay more for an ultra premium beer.

I think the bottom line is just vote with your wallet. Trading beer is a good way to explore without feeling burned, let the mutual interests collide and have fun. To some a Pliny is worth a lot, to some a sour is worth a billion, if you play the trade market right the value of those over priced beers can actually be a big score

 

Mikeller is priced higher because they are dealing with a goofy distribution system. They pass on the price to us because they are too stupid to make a good supply partner. I'll never buy their beer because of that. Their business, their problem not mine.

Avery quality is good, same as any other. The bottles are a better value by a few bucks if you buy them compared to the tap. I don't really see what the fuss is about Avery. "The Beast" to me is just a malty alcoholic beverage with lots of booze and little complexity.

 

I pay roughly $7 a can for Ten Fidy and think it's worth every penny. I have yet to find a British Impy stout that is as good.

 

Way too much. I paid 5$ for a pint of it the other day...I didn't think much of it.