$15 pint of pale ale

Alright folks, time for some business math.​

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A Maine beer 5.16g keg costs a bar $110 in Boston. You get approx 40 16oz pints or 55 12oz pours from the keg. The cost of 1 pint to a bar is $2.75. If the pint is selling for $15 that means Meadhall is working on an 80% margin for draft. In all fairness, that IS industry standard. To put it in perspective, a Sierra Pale 5.16g keg costs $64. ​

 

I did something similar in December, but started at CBC, the went to Meadhall. They were out of 2 or 3 things listed, and were down about 20 taps because a DFH tap takeover was in 2 or 3 days, so they didn't want to put new beers on. Had 1 beer and was done.

Also, my buddy got a pint of Double Crooked Tree for $13 without looking at the price. Kicker: it was flat and tasted dirty...

 

80% margin is the industry standard for industry-standard beer. It's not the industry standard for $110 1/6s, is it? Just like with bottles, the standard markup on a percentage basis goes down as the price goes up (bottles of SNPA are $5 (5x retail) but $7 bomber are maybe $14 (2x retail)), right?

 

Come to the burbs Jimmy's Mansfield MA Peeper, MO, and Lunch have all been on tap at some point 16oz under $7

 

$110 is high for a 5.16g keg of a pale ale, that why's i put the Sierra in for comparison.

 

Isn't it industry standard to mark up expensive kegs less on a percentage basis though?

 

We're starting to see less of this, and more of bars selling smaller pours.

 

I've had a number of their entrees and appetizers (which are particularly good), and I'm never disappointed. I just always go for two pizzas because they're dependable, delicious, and ready to bring for lunch the next day. I personally prefer Lord Hobo's food, but there isn't any going wrong. I haven't had the short rib poutine yet; GF wanted nachos when I was there on Monday.

 

Hopefully it's more poutine-y than the original one they put on the menu, which was comically lacking in the quantity of cheese and gravy.

 

This. Couldnt agree more on the pizzas at CBC.

 

Meadhall has sucked from day one and has shown zero sign of turning things around. It's actually pretty impressive as I think you'd really have to try hard to continue sucking so much.

 

Absolutely this. In some other cities in this country the beer drinking community I think would just refuse to pay these prices. You also have people (bar owners, breweries) that truly respect the product they are selling and the customers they are selling to, which you just don't find as much in Boston.

 

What's sucks is that people continue to support them and same with MBC, nothing will ever change in either case.

 

Yeah I mean you have a crowd in that area (Kendall Sq specifically) that probably doesn't really think twice about the price they are paying, and aren't really BA types, so that's an issue. But the real shame is that BAs and even Beer Advocate continues to support Meadhall.

 

Bros have said it's because the space is big and they like the owner. They consider the pricing no worse than any other place in town.

 

That was my experience on my first and last visit, my party of 3 had 6 beers total, but had to order 10-12 (can't remmeber the exact number) because they were out of a lot of stuff. and they weren't rarities, one was smuttynose porter

 

meadhall serves pints of no beer, 14oz is the glass size, so your probably getting 12-13 oz pours, which points to a 700% mark up. if someone wants to defend meadhall, by all means do, but just realize they are not doing the 500% markup standard

 

They serve many beers in standard shaker pints. Not sure of any bar that fills the glass to the brim with no head. For instance, I ordered a Green Flash WCIPA and received what I would consider a standard 16oz pour in a standard Green Flash branded shaker pint.

 

JUST TRY AND STOP ME!

 

Pricing rants are really a PSA to these people, even if the ire is directed elsewhere.