Mathematically best beer value?

I would make the following change to your formula. price / (oz * abv) divided by (BA Score/100)

So I think I paid $86 for a case of Heady Topper last time I was in Vermont. That would be:

$86/(384*8.0)= .028

I would then divide that by the BA score of 100/100 and it would equal .028.

Now suppose I take your Stone IPA measurement of .014 and divide it by 94/100, I would get basically .015 or not much difference. This is how it should be on a highly rated beer. Apply this to your lower-rated beers and it will close the AU gap a little bit more quickly.

Personally, the only calculations that I make regarding alcohol involve how many beers I would be able to drink and still be able to take care of my kid/work in the morning.

 

Vodka the 1st anyway

 

I don't generally drink to get drunk, so this formula is broken for me. If I am drinking to get drunk, I'll buy a sixer of something New Glarus, Sierra Nevada, Bells, Great Lakes, or North Coast, since all are roughly $7-9 a pack.

 

Having enjoyable low-priced craft beer on hand certainly makes sense and I don't think anyone here would question that.

What leaves me scratching my head is that you add ABV to your equation. Why do you insist that higher ABV constitutes a higher value?

 

When it comes to cost vs. quality my trophy would go to both Stone & Founders

 

No doubt. But it does bring up some interesting points. If you're just having one of those days where you don't care so much about your beer, then this formula works. If you want to decide more on taste and other factors that can't be quantified, then this is awful.

 

That soft spot is called an ulcer.

 

It seems to me that common sense is lacking in the whole thread. You're basing your purchasing at Costco entirely on ABV and yet rejecting suggestions that there are cheaper options (Bud, vodka etc) when ABV is the primary factor. Either you're shopping for cost only, or you're adding other factors but not including them in the equation.

 

God I hate PA... SN, Bell's, GL, NC are all in the $10-14 range for a sixpack

 

As you started this thread and in doing so claimed that you'd come up with a great mathematical formula to establish the "best beer value," you firmly anchored your formula as:

The best value beer is a craft beer with the highest alcohol content and the least price.

That's your claim in its simplest & clearest form.

Nearly everyone in this thread has taken exception with your idea that the sole criteria for value in a craft beer is its alcohol content per ounce adjusted by price.

I've come to the conclusion that you can't (or won't) defend your original claim. So it's safe to conclude that this formula is useless.

 

1/2 BBL of yeti for 45$

 

Sorry - I can't do this calculation. Even if I take my shoes and socks off, I don't have enough digits.

 

So if you find a case of Stone at 1.4 cents per ABV and SNPA at 1.5 cents but the SNPA is fresher, you still buy the Stone?

Also seems to me by limiting your algorithm to craft beer, the unspoken criteria is also taste or you would simply include all beer.

 

I always calculate Ozs per dollar. 6 pack of torpedo is 8$, 72/8=9oz per 1$. but a 4 pack of pint cans is 7$ so it's slightly better value at 9.14oz per 1$.

abv does come in the play but not mathematically.

 

someone make the formula work for this

12 oz can... $1.59 4.2%

brain no work good

 

My common sense dictates I buy my beer based on how much I like it's flavor, not ABV.

In fact, there are situations where the lower ABV beer has more value to me than a high ABV beer. For example, if I have to drive somewhere... Try factoring the cost of getting a DUI into your ABV value calculator and see how economical it is.