Bell's Hopslam (2018)

I know I'm fortunate being close-ish to the brewery, but the local Costco and Sams club had it for $14.99/6 last year. Fingers crossed that holds true this year.

 

Boy, I wish those prices existed in Pennsylvania. A couple of weeks ago I bought a 12-pack of Celebration Ale and I paid over 20 bucks for it.

Cheers!

 

Your guess is as good as mine. I discussed this issue in another thread where I tagged beer industry folks and none of them had a 'good' answer to this.

In Southeastern PA we have excellent choices of beer. I once read that breweries like to sell to Pennsylvania since there is reason (a law?) that they receive payment upon receipt of delivery. In other words once Sierra Nevada delivers their multiple pallets of beer to my local Wholesale Distributor (which is Origlio) they immediately obtain a check (or wire transfer?) for the delivery. I have been told that in other states the details of when a brewery receives its payment is negotiable (e.g., part of the Wholesale Distributor - Brewery contract). I am not in the commercial beer industry so take this paragraph with a grain of salt since I am simply repeating what I was told by others (who are in the industry).

So, while we have a great selection of beers from breweries from out of state for some reason the prices are higher than exist in other states (I provided an example of Delaware earlier) but the reasoning for this is a mystery to me.

The 'good news' is that we have lots of high quality PA breweries and for the most part the prices they charge seem to be economical (i.e., similar to the prices charged in nearby states). I suppose this could be due to cost savings for transportation? But transportation costs from SN breweries should be comparable for Delaware vs. PA so it does not make sense that transportation costs are the issue for prices here.

If you ever figure out why PA prices are higher, let me know since I remain confused on this topic.

Cheers!

 

I started using and eventually joined BeerAdvocate after moving from Oregon to SE Pennsylvania and seeing prices increase roughly 40%. Suddenly, I wanted to see reviews before "investing" in a new beer.

Had my first HopSlam last year. If I see it on tap, I'll definitely get it. The sixer I got last year was a hidden-in-the-back-room, one-day-only type deal. Cost around $25. It's a good beer, but not that good, IMO.

If I could pick it up whenever I happened to hit a beer place over a couple week time span and it was $15 or $17, I'd probably jump on that.

 

Thanks for posting. It's nice to have what I already believed confirmed with actual research.

 

While the prices may be higher in PA, there's an error in that article. The Johnstown flood tax in PA applies only to Wine and Spirits, not beer. So something else is happening with beer.

http://philly.thedrinknation.com/ar...ll-Paying-A-Flood-Tax-From-1936-On-Our-Booze-

http://www.pennlive.com/capitol-notebook/2016/05/how_high_are_beer_and_booze_ta.html

@AZBeerDude72

 

That article was linked in the other thread that I alluded to in my above post.

This article contains inaccurate information of:

“But Pennsylvania has an added burden — a 10 percent tax to fund rebuilding after the Johnstown Flood of 1889 wiped out the city. The Johnstown Flood Tax, a 10 percent tax on every bottle of alcohol sold in the state, helped fund those repairs a long time ago. Yet the tax remains on the books and the funds go into the state’s general fund.

That makes Pennsylvania’s true excise tax 18 percent.”

That 18 percent tax is only for liquor and wine; beer is not taxed via the Johnstown Flood Tax.

In that other thread @jesskidden posted:

State Excise Tax on Beer rates:
PA - 8¢/gallon
CA - 20¢/gallon
NC - 62¢/gallon
NY - 14¢/gallon + NYC's 12¢/gallon

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...vada-seasonal-2018.549397/page-2#post-5803542

As you can readily see the Excise Tax for beer in PA is comparatively low so taxes are not the reason for the ‘elevated’ prices in PA.

Cheers!

@thebeers

 

I'm guessing it's mostly due to restrictions on retail sales and/or distribution.

When I was in Oregon, I'd get most of my beer when grocery shopping. $6.88 - $8.88 for a sixer of Deschutes or Sierra Nevada or whatever at WinCo. If I wanted something fancier, I'd go to Whole Foods or a brewery. Occasionally, I'd get beer at a gas station, convenience store or farmers market. I was literally minutes away from good beer options pretty much all the time.

In Pennsylvania, my local food co-op doesn't sell beer. The closest Acme doesn't. The closest Trader Joe's doesn't. The Costco 35 minutes away doesn't. Gas stations don't. The ten closest Wawa's don't. There's a package store 15 minutes away I've started going to now that they're allowed to sell six packs. (When I first moved back, it was only cases and 12 packs.) I can get Victory, Sly Fox, Sierra Nevada there. If I want fancy beers, I've got either a half-hour drive to the beer store or I hit a brewery or join a BIF.

Anyhow, sorry for thread hijacking. Go Eagles!

 

I think there's something to what you say. While I don't have a pointer or link to any independent confirmation, IIRC the beer guy at one of the bottle shops where I look for interesting singles confirmed that basically they pay the same price per case as you and I do when shopping at a Retail Distributor. So a six pack of Hopslam will cost more per oz than the per oz price when I buy a case.

 

Batch of Hopslam was said earlier. There make more than 12,000 bbls is my guess. They brew on the 50 bbl system, as they can add the honey on that one. That is 240 brews, that are combined in 400 bbl fermenters. What is a batch?

 

I suppose I'm "new money" and I've quickly learned that most of the hyped flavored stouts and ipas aren't that great. NEIPAs are ok sometimes, but I want my beer to taste like beer. Not straight up fruit juice.

I'm not trying to argue any points, I'm not taking anything personally. I guess I'm just saying, give some of us newbies a chance. Without the growth that "new money" has brought, the craft beer scene wouldn't be growing in the way it has. That also goes for the people that were "new money" ten years ago.

Fads suck sometimes, but the good beer will rise to the top. At least I hope it does...

 

Yup!

Non-cheers to this stuff.

 

There is most definitely a lesser amount of beer retailers in PA vs. Oregon. If that was the reason for 'elevated' beer pricing wouldn't you expect that across the board (i.e., beers brewed within PA and beers brewed outside of PA)? Do you think that locally produced beers like those from Sly Fox have 'elevated' prices? Do you think a 6-pack of Sly Fox beer is 40% cheaper in NJ or DE?

Cheers!

 

No, sorry but you're incorrect. I always see plenty of great options around the $10 per six pack mark, and I only look for 9% or higher beers. Again, to each his own.

 

I don't know if Sly Fox is cheaper in neighboring states than it is here. I can say bigger regional breweries in Oregon like Deschutes were much cheaper retail than regional breweries like Victory or Troegs are here.

(I'll also add that since places here have been allowed to sell six packs, it seems like I've been able get certain beers a bit more affordably. I'm hoping the trend continues.)

 

I know that tastes are subjective, but I will ask. Please share your favorite 9% ABV beers that are better than Hopslam and cost less than $12 a six pack.