Which FiftyFifty Eclipse?

Discussion in 'Pacific' started by Thickfreakness, Jan 20, 2013.

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  1. maximum12

    maximum12 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,662) Jan 21, 2008 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Rittenhouse Rye fresh is my favorite. Either Elijah Craig, or the Evan Williams close behind.

    And I'm convinced that there's a lonely sub-set of people on this website that utilize the search function at least twice a day looking for any hint of a thread on the Eclipse beers so they can copy & paste their rants on "cost" & "bottle variation" & "FiftyFifty Sucks".

    Yes, yes, we get it. Do something original, like address the question the OP asked, for a change...
     
    PaulStoneAnchor likes this.
  2. Levitation

    Levitation Initiate (0) Aug 7, 2009 California

    no, it's just person (singular).

    /so ronery

    p.s. am i wrong about bottle variation?
     
  3. maximum12

    maximum12 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,662) Jan 21, 2008 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Nah, you're just in the top 3. :grinning:

    I've never personally experienced any bottle variation; that's not to say it doesn't exist.
     
  4. Squidly

    Squidly Initiate (0) Nov 26, 2006 New Jersey

    I fought myself not to buy the EC at $34 in Philly on Saturday. I guess I should be patting myself on the back for the restraint...but damn it hurt to walk out of there.

    At least I had 6 of Russian River to soothe the pain.
     
  5. jtmartino

    jtmartino Initiate (0) Dec 11, 2010 California

    I like EC 20 year (white wax.) I'd buy more of it if it weren't $30/bottle.

    I know nothing about bottle variation since I haven't tried more than a few bottles. If it were cheaper, I'd buy more and could comment on the topic.
     
  6. jplopez21

    jplopez21 Initiate (0) Nov 14, 2012 Illinois

    Yeah, see I dont get that. Why the hell does russian river only distribute to the west coast and then nothing until pennsylvania.
     
  7. sandiego67

    sandiego67 Initiate (0) Feb 25, 2008 California

    Maybe someone in the distribution industry or retail liquor sales can explain why San Diego liquor stores will sit on product at higher prices while customers across the country can sell the same product for less.

    Eclipse was $32.99 to $34.99 at the 2 stores that I saw it stocked. Clem's Bottle shop is sitting an a lot right now. Are San Diego stores requiring a higher margin than other parts of the Country?

    I see the same price difference with the FW special releases, Abyss and other limited release beers. It seems that they sell for a lower retail price around the country.
     
  8. HopHead84

    HopHead84 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,144) Nov 29, 2006 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    This will demystify the subject:

    http://tinyurl.com/aonjsqh
     
    domtronzero, Xul and stupac2 like this.
  9. Earlycsquid

    Earlycsquid Initiate (0) Jan 7, 2013 California

    Just depends on where you go. Hanger 24 sell their Barrel roll series for $20 at the brewery, but most other places vary. I saw it at Whole Foods for $18.99 and then at my local bottle shop for $16.99.

    Even in L.A., it just depends on where you go. Vendome sells Eclipse for around $32. But you go across town and Ramirez had them for $29. So it's not just some San Diego vs the rest of the country sort of thing.
     
  10. Sebowski

    Sebowski Zealot (613) Jan 11, 2010 California

    LOL that the one of the first guy's always to defend North Coast pricing is always one of the first to attack FiftyFifty's.
     
  11. afrokaze

    afrokaze Pooh-Bah (1,933) Jun 12, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Back to the topic... trade for a Gourmet Haus Stuadt Blend (cobalt blue wax). Liked it better than this year's Rye and at least as much as 2011 EC 12/18.
     
    PaulStoneAnchor likes this.
  12. vurt

    vurt Grand Pooh-Bah (3,578) Apr 11, 2004 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Stranahan's in Colorado has already been asking breweries to stop using their name on the labels of barrel-aged beers, and refuses to sell their old barrels to out-of-state breweries:

    http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2011/10/stranahans_colorado_whiskey_wo.php
     
    Levitation likes this.
  13. lmchalmers

    lmchalmers Initiate (0) Jan 15, 2013 California

    Green is for the money and Gold is for the Honey's...Old Fitz was fantastic. Just bought a bottle for $28 the other night. Well worth the money.
     
  14. PaulStoneAnchor

    PaulStoneAnchor Initiate (0) May 30, 2009 California

    IMO, I would go with the EC12 or Mellow Corn or Evan Williams from this year's line up. Although, I really enjoyed this year's EC20, Grand Cru, Rebel Yell, and Mellow Corn! To be honest, you cant go wrong with the Rye as well. :grinning:
     
  15. Earlycsquid

    Earlycsquid Initiate (0) Jan 7, 2013 California

    I picked up the EC12 and Evan Williams. I was on the fence and I do regret not picking up the Mellow Corn simply because.... well, it sounded interesting. Hopefully I'll come across it at a bottle share as I really don't want to drop another $30 on these suckers.
     
  16. 3rdto1st

    3rdto1st Initiate (0) Dec 1, 2011 California

    We did all of them along with the associated bourbons for NYE. We felt it went like this:

    1. Elijah Craig 12
    2. Evan Williams
    3. Bernheim
    4. Old Fitz
    5. Rittenhouse
    6. Rebel Yell

    Interestingly enough, we ranked the bourbons the same way, except we felt bernheim was better than Evan Williams, and Rittenhouse was better than Old Fitz. The consensous was that Elijah was the most smooth and had greatest "drinkability" and Old Fitz had the most bourbon character. If I could only grab one? Elijah. If I could grab 2, Elijah and Old Fitz just to see the comparison.
     
  17. DRBiser

    DRBiser Initiate (0) May 4, 2012 Maryland

  18. Levitation

    Levitation Initiate (0) Aug 7, 2009 California

    just this year.

    i tried some eclipses in late 2010 and found them pretty bad. i attacked their quality, but i didn't say they were overpriced for a barrel-aged beer. $25 or so is in line for most -bal aged stouts.

    incidentally, the brewer jumped on my ass for saying the bottles were bad (they had strong elements of ash and char). after reading reviews and other threads, i got clued in to bottle variation and presented my findings. he flipped his shit. he was especially livid after i called him out for hyping pvw eclipse's value in someone else's trade thread. not that that's relevant here, i just find it funny.

    two-ish years later, the price is $8 higher per bottle, and it has surpassed the price of the underlying whiskeys. now, as you stated, i actually am attacking the price. btw, north coast is cheaper per oz ($23/16.9 = $1.36) than eclipse ($33 / 22 = $1.50).

    i also tried a few of the 2011 bottles after people told me they were better. they were, but i had two bottles of the elijah craig 20 (white wax) and they tasted different. so clearly their problem isn't under control. and to raise prices yet again despite not dialing that in is just ridiculous. so if anyone is contending that i haven't at least tried a few eclipses before making my criticisms - i have. and yes, i'm vocal, and i'm an asshole, but i'm quite willing to reverse my position if new evidence comes to light. so far, none has.

    north coast's pricing is definitely off for some areas of the country where the bottles linger. the stores i frequent run out of bottles in 6 months or so, which i think is good pricing. but i've been to several stores with 2011 and 2012 eclipses side by side, which i think is an issue. if you can buy a vertical off the shelves, it's probably overpriced.

    and again, let me reiterate that there have been multiple threads on eclipse bottle variation (in past years) and prices (several just this year), which are important: it's not like i'm the only guy saying these things.

    i think eclipse would be ok as a $12 beer. abyss should be $18 and parabola should be $25.

    interesting info, thanks for the link. i wonder if this will become a more widespread thing.
     
  19. Beerandraiderfan

    Beerandraiderfan Initiate (0) Apr 14, 2009 Nevada

    Doubtful if those bottles sell by January 2014.

    FiftyFifty already sold out its futures (quickly), and sold the rest to distributors (quickly). Whether they sell out in the next 11 months will determine if a price reduction could occur in the future. If a merchant can't move that product, then they won't order more next year. If the product moves, they'll probably order more.
     
  20. Sebowski

    Sebowski Zealot (613) Jan 11, 2010 California

    Good point nothing you posted is relevant here. In a thread asking which one of this year's is best.

    Love how you take the highest markup you've seen on the most expensive variation and state it as the universal price for a bottle of Eclipse. If you didn't do that your per ounce math wouldn't work out in your favor. I love every Eclipse I've had. I would never pay $33 for one though. That is just over my price range for it. I will keep buying them on preorder for much less than that.

    Your in SD, right? Several stores with 2011 Eclipse? Name them or GTFO. Meanwhile I still see the BA Old Stocks around.
     
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