Mikerphone Brewing (2021)

It’s out now.

A new BA beer is coming soon based on their social media. It could be BA New Workout Plan. That one is on my calendar for sometime in the next few months, based on the brew date. The non-BA version is my favorite beer Mikerphone makes, I can’t wait for the BA version.

 

Eh, TG has the balls to charge like $40 for a bottle of non-BA stout, and Mornin Delight isn’t even that good. It’s 10% better than plain ISLBS at best.

 

Agreed. It is better than most maple coffee beers around here, but not better enough to justify a 10 hour round trip.

 

I mean, at least you could argue MD is world class based upon the fact that it's the #7 rated beer on this site. I'm NO fan of TG pricing, but Mikerphone also stands out as egregious to me without having what most would consider to be a "world class" product.

 

So with this released yesterday- anyone try it to speak to the differences? Intriguing based on the new coffee source and specifically the Jamaican Blue Mountain beans.

 

They are releasing 3 barrel aged beers soon for their 6th anniversary. Blue Room Batch, To The Wall and From the Window.

 

As far as non-adjunct BA stouts go, I can't think of one from Mikerphone that isn't better than Assassin.

 

They are forcing a purchase of all three bottles in a package this time ($95 plus tax), I assume so that their scotch + mead barrel and brandy + mead barrel bottles don’t become shelf turds.

Count me among the fans of their BA program over the last year but forced purchases, be it a bottle shop or brewery, is a huge pet peeve and ensures I will be passing.

 

wow that sucks. i missed this yesterday. interested in, and only in, blueroom batch. was actually looking forward to making it out there for the first time in a while if i was able to grab some.

also a bit disappointed with the birthday can offerings. slightly interested in mikerphone 6 but the other two are an easy pass.

 

I'm slightly intrigued because I've had mead that was aged in barrels that formerly held a stout, and they've all been fantastic. And I've never tried one from an unpeated scotch barrel. I'll probably go for it if I get the chance.

But I definitely agree that forcing you to buy all three really sucks. I hate that their packaging/sale strategy for their ba beers just keeps getting worse and worse. Does anyone have inside info on why they're like the only place going backwards? Did they decide that the 4 packs weren't making them enough cash?

 

I've had a Speyside BA Chocolate Stout from Cloudwater that was OK. The beer itself was a little underwhelming, but I liked the scotch barrel.

I am also disappointed by the packaging decisions. The new bottles look really cool, but they are terrible otherwise. I think the sweet spot is 500mL bottles or 16oz cans. 750mL or 22oz bottles either require sharing or a lack of self-preservation instinct to consume in one sitting. With 4-packs of 12-oz bottles, people complain about the price.

 

I agree about the sweet spot, but I'd still take 12 oz bottles over these ten times out of ten. There has to be someone making these sleek black matte bottles in smaller formats.

 

Unfortunately this is the main reason I've heard for this (though probably just read it on here so take that FWIW). Just bizarre.

From my perspective - I care about the format thing way more than the price.

 

Trio package is live

 

Yeah, until this stuff starts sitting for more than a few minutes, Mike is just going to keep raising prices. It's just smart business.

 

If you or anyone else is interested in the set, let me know. Just realized the Blue Room one has bananas in it, to which I am allergic.

 

I'm not so sure it's smart business honestly, at least as a long term strategy.

While Mikerphone is hyped by a segment of the beer population right now, we have seen how the hype crowd can move on to the next hot brewery. Right now Mikerphone is catering to those people, potentially at the expense of building a dedicated following. If/when Mikerphone stops being the hype brewery, where is his established customer base then?

When you're charging near the top of the market for your product, you need a top of the market product. I'd argue Mikerphone isn't even there right now, but that's a different story.

I'm obviously not a business owner but I think there's a counter to the idea it's just smart business to cater your pricing to the small subset of customers willing to pay top dollar.

 

The overall demand for BA beetus stouts in Chicago is a lot higher than the supply. I don't think Mikerphone has to worry about losing customers until the supply/demand become a lot closer.

 

They're really not any higher than most comparables, especially when you factor in bottle size. Phase 3 and Une Annee are $30 or more on theirs. More is $25 for a 500ml bottle. The fancy BCBS variants are usually around $25 for a 500 ml. I'm sure I'm forgetting several others. Obviously there are plenty that are higher in other markets.

They're not cheap, but they're not Toppling Goliath either.