Maine Beer Barrel Aged Program!

25.99 for a 16.9 oz bottle right?

 

You're joking right? Lol

 

http://www.mainebeercompany.com/our-beers/barrel-program-1/

 

You're right, it's probably 30 bucks for a 16.9 oz bottle.

 

Well, if you index it to Russian River... Lunch commands a 50% premium over Pliny. RR sours are $13.5/375mL, so a 500mL at a 50% premium is $27...

 

The problem is that it's not period. It's "they make awesome beer and charge more than other brewers." Many think it's worth the price, given that it many of the beers sell out. Many don't. But it's not "priceless."

 

I dont mind paying for their beer at the bar, out of the bottle it is ridiculous.

 

Maine Beer Company makes great beers. The problem is that I can get a 6 pack of Nugget Nectar for the same price as 2 Zoe. I could go to Vermont and get a 4 pack of Heady Topper for less than the price of 2 Lunch. If Maine Beer Co. chopped 2 bucks off of the price of each of their offerings they'd sell out of everything.

EDIT: With that being said, if this barrel one beer makes it down to RI, I may entertain the idea of buying it. Price permitting, of course.

 

It looks to be brewery only

 

I think MBC has only been putting out about 3,000 BBL, but that production is due to increase this year. I believe that the Alchemist brews more than twice as much as MBC, and Troegs is probably somewhere in the range of 10-15x as much. I've always pegged that as the reason for the cost difference. As it stands in my area, I see half of their offerings sell out regularly, while I can easily find the other half sitting expired in certain stores.

 

Isn't this expansion putting them in the bbl range of Jack's Abby? I doubt they will plan to drop prices. Things like that rarely happen.

 

Good point, Shameus. Their beers are easy to find, but they're the same ones and they sit on the shelf for so long. Bummer, too. They make good beer and I'll stand by fresh Peeper being a favorite of mine (love it on tap), but the prices are tough. It's hard to justify two 16.9 oz. for what I can get in a six pack or four pack for cheaper.

 

Any on sale date info?

 

Maybe it's just me but I think Maine Beer really is better. I love Nugget Nectar but it's nowhere near as smooth to drink for me as MBC - small batch and bottle conditioned allows them to control quality and keep it very high.

The price point is unusually high but I feel like it's hard to begrudge a business for being aware of supply and demand. The Alchemist chooses not to make as much profit as they could - they've acknowledged this in interviews. They want Phish fans and college students to drink Heady. I think it's great but that doesn't mean MBC is evil.

 

I actually find MBC beers to be very inconsistent. On one hand, I've had excellent fresh bottles and some good bottles that have a month or so on them but I have also had extremely fresh bottles of Zoe and Peeper that would have turned me off completely had I not tasted the excellent bottles first. I've never had a bottle of Lunch that was all that good. I've had exceptional bottles of MO and some fresh ones that made me wonder what the hell was going on. The inconsistency keeps me away as much as the pricing.

 

From MBC's twitter yesterday:

@MaineBeerCo: Barrel Program I releases Friday. Brewery only, while it lasts! Open at noon. http://t.co/X3fJTsQOjR

A few people replied about the price and limits, but no replies back from MBC, as of this morning.

 

I thought the same until the move/expansion. I think the consistency is dead on now. And the Jacks Abby comparisons with quality/prices is mute now that they bumped prices for BA Fram and variants this year. They make great beer but their prices won't stay the same. MBC just started out high. Also, anyone that got to try BA King Titus/Dinner knows the quality of whats to continue to come out of the brewery.

 

Not really seeing as a Barrel Aged Baltic Porter from JA in the same price range as a pale ale or IPA from Maine Beer. JA's bumped prices are still low in comparison.

I have no problem that MBC has positioned their brand in the higher tier of craft pricing, but let's not be silly and think that because JA increased a BA porter by 2 dollars that now they are riding in the same boat.