Supporting my local brewery is costing to much...

Yeah, they can charge what they want and you don't have to buy it, but you also have the right to complain about it.
$25 for 6 of any beer is steep, much less a new beer from a newish brewery.

 

You say you've gotten to know these guys. If it were me, it'd be hard for me to not ask them straight out about their pricing strategy.

Of course, if it were me, I would have also walked out the first time they charged something in neighborhood of $25/growler.

 

Wow, sad to hear. I was excited when I heard they had 6 packs available of a new IPA but $25 is crazy.

I often complain about really expensive IPA's. I understand when you have a bourbon barrel aged stout that took up resources and expense for 9 months to create BUT an IPA which may have used a more expensive hop, to me, should not cost so so much!

I get why breweries can charge so much but with great beers like celebration, flower power or 2 hearted to name a few that don't cost an arm and a leg, I try to limit more expensive options. That's me though, to each his own.


One final not on barrier, and all breweries for that matter. I HATE when they sell beers at a higher price then what's available from a distributor. There's no middle man and this is your most loyal customer. It's an opportunity to say thank you or win over new customers. I just don't get it.


Good post, interesting

 

I would be politely telling them that 25 dollars a six is way out of my budget. We all (almost all) want to support our local breweries and will pay a premium to do so. That premium has it's limits that are different for everyone. For me that is only a couple bucks a sixpack. And 2 bucks a sixpack will not even get my loyalty, just an occasional sixer.

 

I had a similar approach early on with them (i.e., go often, support local). I think I stopped going more because they continue to put out ok beers and just aren't doing anything interesting IMHO. Not sure of their long term plans but other local breweries are very quickly surpassing them in terms of quality and distribution (e.g., SingleCut, Finback, Other Half).

The price of these bottles are crazy. Even if they put Money in bottles, I would still pay no more than $15/6-pack. I wish them luck.

 

Not that $25 for a sixer of an IPA is cool by any stretch, but re: distributor pricing, it wouldn't really make sense from a business standpoint to undercut local distributors/stores selling your product. And I know your point was breweries in general, but I believe Barrier self-distro (at least they used to)

 

^ that's definitely a good point for why they would do said practices but still frustrating.

 

$25 for a sixer is pretty nuts, but I am sure part of that high price is due to high ABV, but even so still very expensive. As others have said since you have a good relationship with them ask why so expensive and provide your feedback.

 

Can't blame you for your frustration. I'd be more than willing to pay a premium to support a local brewery producing quality beers but that willingness has a limit. When a local product is far exceeding the cost of a "world-class" beer in the same category it's hard to justify that purchase.

 

They could've put the beer in a 22 oz. bottle and charged $8... (Stone Enjoy By costs at least this much) And this post wouldn't exist...

 

And if I recall correctly the bombers of BBHCFM they put out last year were $10.

 

?

So you would have been fine with the same cost per ounce in a different sized bottle?

 

You are correct. Daddy Warbucks and Submersion (years 1, 2 and 3) were also at 10$. It seems they have a pretty flat rate.

I had no problem paying $10 for a few bottles of the first Submersion as it went towards getting the brewery back on its feet, but I had a hard time buying more than one this time around.

The first version of Rock and Roll was, if I remember correctly, much cheaper than $25. Not sure of the price hike this time. Next time I am up there, I'll have to ask.

 

I agree with OP wholeheartedly... I try to make a point of supporting sixpoint, barrier, barrage, transmitter, rocky point, etc but some of these places have prices that don't add up when your talking about getting a product from the source...sixpoint has a couple different levels of markup before it gets to my hands and their value is still better than some of these places prices that have no markup..what gives

 

Economies of scale

 

Despite the fact that his point ignores that the bottles are being bought at the brewery, @dar482 hit the nail on the head. When I first saw the post with the asking price, I was really surprised. Then I realized I recently bought two 22oz bottles of Cutie Pie (a Pretty Things IPA) for about $9.50 each... which is more $ per oz.

It should be pointed out that Barrier is really a draught operation (any bottles being sold are an anomaly). Living in NYC, when I first visited their taproom, I was very happy with the comparatively low prices of drinking beer there. Buying the regular offerings at the brewery is a good deal.

 

Yeah, keep that little nugget of knowledge tucked away any time you reach for a bomber. Multiply that price by three and ask yourself if you'd really want to pay that much for a sixer of said beer.

This is exactly why I'm thrilled about Victory at Sea being sold in six packs. The one time I bought it at home, it was $10. Saw a six pack on the shelf yesterday for $14. Uh.....yes. Yes please.