Russian River available in Dupont Circle (DC)

On Connecticut Ave.

Of course...

 

I have no doubt it'll sell. There's too much money in this city any plenty of people who like bourbon with said money that could drop 1400 dollars on a bottle like it ain't no thang. I envy those people. They're probably the only people left in town with a bottle too. It'll happen. I just hate that it will. One West's rent isn't low. People buy stuff there out of ignorance, convenience, or because they're in a pinch. It works for them. I don't know why they mark up the stuff we get locally that much; but I guess that works for them too.

I forgot about more ridiculousness.

BCBCS 16.99 per 12oz
Hopslam 10 per 12 oz

 

We need people like that in this world..ones who can afford these purchases be happy for them
I take pride in scoring a killer 8$ six pak..tonight was a win citra mantra
But more importantly RR brewery? Come on?

 

I asked the (usually a) sweetheart (except to homeless people) woman who's always cashiering at conn ave how 1w dupont stays in business... one word... "hotels."

 

This trend got hot 2-3 years ago and then has kinda died out over the last year. People were bringing a lot of out of market stuff into the city and for a while, it was easy to get Lost Abbey/Russian River/Surly/Cigar City and even the occasional Heady Topper, 3 Floyds and Alpine beer at Connecticut Ave. There was always a markup, but it usually wasn't an outrageous one (I would gladly pay $8-$9 for a can of Heady or Abrasive every once in a while). I chatted with Al at Connecticut Ave. about this and he said that it just got to be too much of a hassle, especially with all the breweries that officially distribute to DC now. I'd love if someone else picked up the slack! More power to you!

 

Miss those Alpine beers at Connecticut Ave Wine... ... but there are always other options!

 

Not saying he didn't say that, but I think the fact that more people know one can order surly online cut into THAT business. An over-rated, coffee bender etc etc for $8 per 16oz is 4x over retail in MN, and at least 2x what it costs to get it shipped to your front door, and no driving to // parking in NW. CCB is sold in VA quite regularly now. Wouldn't be surprised to see RR there again, if it was right for their business model.

Love conn ave. Not knocking them in the least. They had something going and I bought it, they adapted, I still shop there, sometimes. Not really for out of markets. They get a lot of 12%, and a good bit of shelton, allocated items for not too crazy of prices.

 

I guess there are enough rich beer/wine/spirits consumers nearby who don't have cars, or don't have the desire to shop anywhere else, or both. We'll all laugh at the prices, but it sounds like they know their clientele. After all, if people didn't buy stuff there they wouldn't be open.

 

There was also a lot of blowback from that event though, particularly surrounding the weeks old growler pours of HF. I wasn't there so I don't have a dog in that fight but, relatively speaking, it was a bit of dustup with HF/Shaun Hill. I wonder how that will affect this type of thing going forward.

 

or order them from here: http://www.bringonthebeer.com/russian-river-brewing.html

of course only when available

 

I know DC can skirt distribution laws, but logistically that doesn't sound like a profitable venture any way you slice it. Even if it happens, RR will not be part of it. You can't even find their bottled IPAs reliably in the surrounding area of the brewery or Bay Area and people let them know about it. No way would they thin out their current markets even more for to send to DC, especially considering they won't even ship bottles of the hoppy beers to Philly. And if it's some kind of venture where people are scooping up those beers at retail and hauling them back, the prices would have to be really high to cover costs. Also good luck getting more than 2 bottles at almost every store that carries PtE. Hell, it's even a limit of 6 at the brewery now.

 

What I don't get here is how the hell they got their $30 price tag for a $7 beer.

I get they need to make money, let's say 30% mark up on the transaction. A 40 lb box from Cali will cost about $40 so let's add $5 per bottle on the price tag to be generous. Then maybe they're paying the guy another $5/bottle to ship it (maybe, I don't know) so they're paying $17/bottle of pliny then charging a 80% markup on it?

Seems absolutely absurd no matter how you crunch the numbers.

 

it would take a robust infrastructure and sound business plan; but i assure you, it can be done - especially with RR. shoot me a PM for more information if you'd like.

 

Taxes and shipping costs usually adds about $15 to self imported beers. Pliny was $20 at Connecticut ave. It was $30 at One West and Barmy because they either bought Pliny from Conn Ave -or- just marked up the price like crazy as they always do.

 

Stopped into the store just to look around yesterday, they had warm Hopslam singles for $10 each.

 

Sounds like you found the right place

 

West Dupont had Cantillon bio and kriek 750s and RdG, Bio, Kriek 375s a few weeks ago. Large format was between $60 and $70, small bottles were $30.

My wife saw 375 Cantillon in SD for $30. Not sure if these prices are crazy bc I've never seen Cantillon on a shelf before.

That said, across the street Pizzeria Paradiso has Cantillon on their bottle list at $40 for 750ml.

 

If you just order it online and make a big purchase, it can come out to about $20-25 a bottle including shipping. But the order will be about $250-300 dollars.

 

Yeah, I've priced that out before. Just haven't pulled the trigger. Would need to prove to my wife that I can quit buying any other beers for a month before that happens. Haha.

 

In case anyone is interested, 1 west Dupont has a bottle of Black Tuesday for the bargain price of $99.99