Mikerphone Brewing (2021)

2020 Barrel aged ISLBS was pretty damn good so I am hoping for more of the same from BA Super. They have had a good track record lately of BA beers, with a couple notable exceptions, but more hit than miss so worth the gamble, IMO.

 

Just announced via the social media channels that they are collaborating with Goose Island on a BA barleywine and BA stout, brewed separately that they will then “bring together” (cuvée?)

Intrigued to see the execution.

 

It’s interesting the way GI has been collaborating with some of the little local guys like Old Irving and now Mikerphone (I might be forgetting some others). The cynic in me starts to wonder if Goose isn’t looking to start acquiring more of the smaller places again.

 

I really don’t think so but maybe I’m naive. Not saying they don’t need someone at corporate to sign off, but I think these are coming from brewer level friendships/relationships.

 

Eh.... I'm not so sure that would work in Chicago. Toppling Goliath is in a unique situation. They are the undisputed top dog as far as craft breweries go in their area, and they have a long-established reputation for making great BA stouts.

Mikerphone is in an area with a ton of local competition for can sales and taproom visits, and they have already had some "customer relations" issues and pricing complaints in the past. It's not worth it to try to push the envelope too far on stout pricing if it's going to alienate their customers.

 

Every time someone trades for Assassin and actually drinks it, TG’s ability to sell at secondary drops a fraction

 

Yeah, I get you. I'm just looking at the RAW numbers.
The BA Vanillanoize was $32 a bottle and sold out very quickly.
The BA Super was $34 a bottle and sold out very quickly.

BCBS Birthday and Anniversary were $30 for a smaller bottle.
Not sure how to Price the Dark Lord Variants as they are a package deal.
Stout Slayer was $99 per bottle and sold out.

What else am I missing?

I still think Mikerphone is the priciest in this area and it looks like they keep pushing those prices up and up despite your points. If this stuff keeps selling out, then who exactly are they alienating?

 

While I agree with most of your post, it is possible to alienate people even if you keep selling out of your big expensive bottles. I used to buy a lot of TG's IPAs but buy way less these days largely due to their ridiculous pricing on their stouts. I likely wouldn't be able to buy their stouts even if they didn't price them so high so I don't impact how fast their stouts sell out but I do impact how much IPA they can sell. I'm sure I'm not alone.

Mikerphone's pricing isn't nearly to TG's level so I don't have any real problems with them yet on that front.

 

Completely agree and I've done the same thing with TG's stuff. There was a summer 2-3 years ago where Binny's had Pseduo Sue cans for $7.99 a four pack. It was like all I drank that summer but when they jacked up there prices on the stouts I stopped buying their regularly available stuff. I get my IPAs and pale ales from Half Acre, Rev and Pipeworks because they'll have reasonable pricing even on their rare/limited beers. Pipeworks charging $17 on a 22oz bottle of BA Abduction (when the barrel program was going strong) is why Lizard King and NvU are still staples in my fridge and not TG's offerings. TG and Clark can fuck right off.

 

Or quality but I guess that’s a different story for another day

 

2 sided coin for you: 1. Bigger $ bottles play at bottle shares 2. People will spend more money on to go beer when draft isn’t available/appealing

you can guess what wins out. But my vote is the highest priced beers will last longer when draft returns to normal (unless there is reason to believe it will be great and sell out sooner).

 

They aren't necessarily the priciest in the area, if you're going on a per-ounce basis. BCBS Birthday and Anniversary were a lot more per-ounce, and most More BA releases are also. Hubbard's Cave is around the same price range. They likely could push the envelope a little more, but I don't know how much.

You're missing my point though - they could sell BA Super for $45 a bottle, and it would probably sell out, but their taproom sales and canned sales might suffer because of the goodwill they would lose with customers. Lots of people have soured on Mikerphone for various reasons (including several people here, I believe), and one of those reasons is because their BA stouts are high priced.

 

Case in point, BTW - I rarely ever buy any beer from Toppling Goliath because I don't like their stout pricing. Yeah, if I won a KBBS lottery, I'd probably buy the bottle, but I think in the last 4 years, I have bought one 4-pack of King Sue and that's it. How much money do you have to make on a single bottle of BA stout to justify losing years of IPA sales?

 

You’re on it and I’m sure you understand the rare BCBS variant dynamic is it’s own animal that doesn’t compare to craft breweries.

 

Never compare Mikerphone BA stouts to TG BA stouts. Period. Even pricing.
The few TG BA stouts I’ve had are lights years better than any of the few BA Mikerphone stouts I’ve tried. And as one of the few who actually drank their Assassin (wink wink @Nbrock24) and thought it was mediocre at best, it was still better than any Mikerphone BA offering.
Mostly because I can actually taste the barrel.

 

Great comments and debate here. While I have mostly gotten caught up in the more expensive stouts, you guys are right, I now balk at the $20 4-packs of IPA. So while I'm spending more on stouts, I'm also spending less on IPA. That's a solid point. Case in point is the pricing of the Other Half In Chicago Drops where these 4-packs were$24 & $26, that was a no-go for me. I think it'll be a long time before I break that $20/4-pack threshold. Barrel slayer was a no-go, but I bought all the Dark Lord packs I could and all the BCBS I could, so there are inconsistencies in my purchases.

 

Sir Blends and the Other Half collab had plenty of barrel...

 

BA Super ISLBS is back up on their ordering website for anyone so inclined...

 

Just saw this now

 

New bean spirit variant with a Mostra roast instead of Tugboat...