Deschutes prices in Philly?

Discussion in 'Mid-Atlantic' started by Giantspace, Aug 22, 2013.

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  1. Giantspace

    Giantspace Pooh-Bah (2,879) Dec 22, 2011 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Howdy,

    Deschutes just came to Philly and its now all over. Seems a bit expensive. $41 a case plus tax on the basic beers. Is this a good price? I saw Black Butte for $12.99 a six pack the other day and thought Founders is $10.99. Just wondering the prices around Philly and in other parts of the country for these beers before I buy any in bulk. The few I have had were nice but there are other for less.

    Enjoy
     
  2. rather

    rather Initiate (0) May 31, 2013 California

    7.99 for pretty much any of their 6ers in socal but some mark up to 10-11
     
  3. raynmoon

    raynmoon Initiate (0) Aug 13, 2011 Colorado

    Right on da money$$$
     
  4. Eaglefan344

    Eaglefan344 Initiate (0) Oct 22, 2012 Missouri

    I'd say it's usually $8.99 for a 6pk here.
     
  5. anteater

    anteater Pooh-Bah (1,852) Sep 10, 2012 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    12 packs of black butte and mirror pond are about $13 at the grocery store in Oregon. $41 is definitely steep in my opinion, they're good beers but you should be able to do better for the price. I used to buy a case of Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout for $40 in PA, that's one of the only things I miss about that state....
     
  6. Giantspace

    Giantspace Pooh-Bah (2,879) Dec 22, 2011 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society


    I just picked up two cases of BCS for $35 each, last years batch.......Its good ..........Guess I will stick with other beers and occasional Deschutes sixer. Victory is $33 out the door.


    Enjoy
     
  7. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Yeah, the six-pack prices in PA are ‘askew’ for some reason. If I was in the market for a case of Black Butte or Chainbreaker I personally would not have a problem paying $41 for those two beers. Needless to say but I would prefer to pay less than that but 40ish for those beers are not too bad. I just say “no” to paying 13 bucks for a six-pack though. Hopefully the six-pack prices will ‘rationalize’ with more time in the market (once the ‘newness’ wears off).

    Cheers!
     
  8. shadowane

    shadowane Zealot (607) Sep 7, 2007 Pennsylvania

    It's not for some reason. It's because the prices in Philly blow ass and are super high on everything.
     
  9. FatBoyGotSwagger

    FatBoyGotSwagger Grand Pooh-Bah (3,728) Apr 4, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    it is the three tier system.

    We have all the cool beer for sale at prices higher than MSRP. A man is forced to make a choice..
    Buy cases or nothing at all, that's how I see it.
     
  10. GuinnessAtRogerWilco

    GuinnessAtRogerWilco Initiate (0) Mar 20, 2013 New Jersey

    The way I understand it is in PA you have 3 choices for buying beer: a beer distributor in which case you can only buy beer by the case, corner bars that jack up the prices of 6pks like you're buying a 12pk and bottle shops that don't fleece you like the bars do but they know you don't have any good options so they add a little to the price. And probably in the city you're paying higher than outside of the city due to the metropolitan mystique.
     
  11. FatBoyGotSwagger

    FatBoyGotSwagger Grand Pooh-Bah (3,728) Apr 4, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Bottle shop prices fleece the shit out of you.
     
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  12. JimsArcade

    JimsArcade Initiate (0) Jan 20, 2004 Pennsylvania

    Yeah, bottle shops are the worst for $/oz.

    As for Deschutes, besides all the points discussed, I'm sure another reason why there's such a discrepancy between Philly and West Coast prices is that Philly is their only East Coast market. That's a lot of shipping expense that has to be burdened by one small region of the country. Hopefully if they can widen their distribution out East we could see better prices as a result.

    Then again, similar Dogfish Head beers brewed a little more than 100 miles from Philly aren't much cheaper than Deschutes. (However, I forgive them for this because I can get cases of DFH beer at local distributors that are less than a week old.) :sunglasses:
     
  13. FatBoyGotSwagger

    FatBoyGotSwagger Grand Pooh-Bah (3,728) Apr 4, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    The best Deschutes beers I have had access to and paid straight cash for were Black butte(last year, I did not see any this year) and Obsidian Stout this year. Both cost as much as Deschutes Ipas and Pale ales but taste much better and stay fresher for months.
     
  14. xnicknj

    xnicknj Initiate (0) May 25, 2009 Pennsylvania

    The only way you can get a halfway decent price on anything in Philly is to buy a case or go out to the burbs, and even that doesn't work sometimes. $40+ for a case, plus the lovely 10% tax makes the Deschutes pricing high here no matter how you slice it. At least they make fantastic beer - I'll probably go for a case of Black Butte when it gets colder.
     
  15. shadowane

    shadowane Zealot (607) Sep 7, 2007 Pennsylvania

    I mean, that's sort of the answer, but not all of it. The three tier system exists elsewhere and they don't fuck you as bad as Philly does. I think the issue is actually at least three fold (probably more that I just haven't thought about):

    1. Taxes are pretty damn high. At bars, you automatically pay 10% more. At bottle shops, some will roll the taxes into the bottle price so a $15 bottle is actually like $14. There are probably other taxes that screw us too.

    2. Bottle shops are crap because they are forced to have food that at a lot of them is just a wasted cost. I don't know if I've ever seen anyone eating at one of the shops I always visit. It's just overhead that is a useless waste of money.

    However, given that our "three tier" system is really like a four tier system, it's also probably that as you said.
     
  16. shadowane

    shadowane Zealot (607) Sep 7, 2007 Pennsylvania

    Actually I think cases have a regular 8% tax. Not 100% sure though.
     
  17. xnicknj

    xnicknj Initiate (0) May 25, 2009 Pennsylvania

    Hmm, I thought I distinctly remembered looking at my receipts and cursing the city every time I bought a case. I'm going to the distributor today after work so I'll double check that.
     
  18. MrRockstar

    MrRockstar Initiate (0) Sep 9, 2006 Pennsylvania

    I'm pretty sure you're right that within Philly city limits tax on alcohol is higher just like state sales tax which is 7% in the city 6% outside
     
  19. shadowane

    shadowane Zealot (607) Sep 7, 2007 Pennsylvania

    Nah, there's an even higher alcohol tax that bars have to charge of 10% which is what he was talking about. But I'm pretty sure cases just get the regular 7% or 8% sales tax, whatever is. I probably should know this living in the city, but well I never pay attention.
     
  20. mythaeus

    mythaeus Pooh-Bah (2,050) Jul 22, 2013 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Philly sales tax is 8%, which is what you pay at distributors for cases. Liquor consumption tax is 10%, which is what you pay at restaurants, which I believe includes these bottle shops that required to be serving food.

    Al
     
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