Evil Twin Pricing?

This is like shaming a girl that won't go out with you...

"You are so beautiful, yet so stuck up."

#Highschool

 

Sorry, sometimes I forget that lots of people still live is ass backward places where you can't just pull a single bottle or can out of the 4pk.

 

Haha I can tell by your handle and posts that you must come from the very pinnacle of forward-thinking America. A veritable utopia so progressive that any shop which would dare to disallow its 4-packs to be split up would be met with the wrath of every bearded man within its borders, leading to the shop swiftly going out of business and its owner being banished to a land far away.

 

Heh. Well, the handle is 10 years old and can't be changed, but the rest of your post isn't that far off. The vast, vast majority of grocery stores and bottle shops around here are more than happy to let you split 6pks. The only place I can think of that doesn't let you do it is 7/11.

Also, it's Portland, so the angry bearded people would have to climb down off their fixed gear tall bikes before bringing down their ironic wrath.

 

Well there is some truth that raw ingredients only make up a small percentage of the cost, but there are some instances where there is no reason for certain prices.

For example, take Westbrook Gose $12/6pk vs. Evil Twin NomaderWeiss $18/6pk (Made by Westbrook).
In this case, we are either paying for a price markup or the overhead that Westbrook charged to ET and then passed onto the consumer. Either way, as a consumer when it comes down to it, I don't care about their reason.

I can't envision gypsy brewing being sustainable going forward in craft beer, at least not as a brewers main brewing operation. How can it in a market where competition for shelf space is always increasing? Generally ET and Mikkeller beers are good, but are on average are 25% more expensive.

 

Evil Twin is pricey, but nobody's making me buy it. If it were cheaper, I'd buy more...

 

It has gotten a lot cheaper, since a lot of stuff went into 4-pack, 6 and 12-pack formats.

 

It's actually not. It's more like refusing to date someone attractive that has shit personality because of their shit personality or someone who has a great personality but you don't find them attractive.

 

I'd say you're both wrong, because it's making the assumption that the people complaining about the prices are also staying strong and not buying them (which I don't believe is happening in general)

To me it's like dating the hot girl/guy with the sh*t personality, and continuing to do so because you like the image, meanwhile complaining to your friends (or in this case internet strangers) about how horrific they are.

 

I agree that "craft beer" has become ridiculously overpriced. A local, and very good, brewery in Everett charges $14 a 4 pack (cans) for their 4.5% pale ale. And that's AT THE BREWERY with no distribution cost. That's $3.50 per 12 oz can or $84 a case. I know people that will buy it without any regard whatsoever for price just to obtain the beer. I kinda wish people would stop supporting this, but there are plenty of people that either have disposal incomes or that don't really know the value of money. But I guess if there is any sort of hype around a beer, you can charge what you want.

 

Why is it so hard for some drinkers to understand that the drinkers set the price? Since Evil Twin seems to be able to sell ever drop it brews than maybe it's underpriced.

 

Wow, very well said!!

 

They do brew their own beer... in other people's facilities... Doesn't mean they aren't brewing it.

 

Then go back to drinking your Coronas and Bud Lights like before craft brew became trendy. I hear those are still cheap.

 

Thats exaxtly what I was going to say, 9 dollars is very reasonable for that beer !

 

I only have one expensive hobby. Buying beer. So I don't mind dropping a little extra from time to time. Is it usually on Evil Twin? No. Is it sometimes? Yes. Do I buy the insanely overpriced stuff once and a while? Guilty. Weekly? No. Whatever. C.R.E.A.M.

 

I agree with everything you said.

 

Can someone explain what the author of the letter meant by this? "You’re already one of the biggest jokes of the industry with your childish sibling bickering..."
I assume I missed some kind of drama.

Gotta get that tick! Seriously, all of us probably have some degree of ticking tendancies. Even the guy who wrote that letter admitted he had tried several of Evil Twin's beers despite the price! I'm sure we have all purchased many many beers out of curiousity and those beers have never touched our lips again...we are not loyal customers and brewers know this. I think Evil Twin has just figured out that they can get a little more profit from our ticking nature.

Evil Twin pricing might also be purposely tapping into some consumer psychology, where a higher price makes some people unconsciously expect a better product, which has a real effect on how they taste and enjoy the product.

 

@aschwab @Pisthetaerus @rollom @Skwalk47

Hey - let's play a game for a minute.

1) anyone else notice the frequency of pricing threads recently on BA?

2) anyone else notice a lot of overpriced, dust-collecting bombers sitting on shelves past their code dates?

3) anyone else see the wave of people waking up and realizing that they're drastically overpaying for beer that markets itself as premium simply because of the high price point?

4) anyone else notice with all of the options out there, you can now get beer of similar quality at much better value, often paying half as much per ounce in certain situations?

What's the point in all of this? Well, ultimately the power resides in the people, as many in this thread have already realized. Don't like something, or think its overpriced? Then DON'T BUY IT. And this is EXACTLY what's happening, as per the 4 points above. We're seeing beers that are poor value collect dust, while the properly priced , high-quality beer moves briskly. In the end, it will all work itself out, as people will gravitate towards good value. So, there is really no reason to get upset!

Of course, you hear the argument "good wine is not $9.99 for a six-pack, so I feel fine paying $15 for a 22oz of beer."

This has conversation has already taken place, and folks are waking up (link to post).

Last point - and this is just IMHO, but should be in the ethos of any reputable manufacturer of goods:

If you want to maintain limited production of your beer - in other words don't increase the supply at all, then of course you can still charge what you want for your beer, and its justified by those market dynamics. Supply is limited, so price remains high.

However, if you increase the scale of your manufacturing multiple times, you owe it to your customers to pass those savings of economies of scale onto the customers. After all, they enabled you to scale in the first place.

Trust in the customer. Take care of them, and they will take care of you.

hilarious btw! love that video....

 

Well said. Which is exactly where I stand on things. I have noticed it on the local level as well, whether it be greed or just ignorance of the consumer, a local brewery came out with 750ml of "Belgian" style beers. They were OK, but they priced them above the exact same bottles from Belgium. Obviously, there beers did not move at all. Bars stopped having them on tap due to the prices, people didn't want to pay for a half pour for an OK beer made down the road. Pretty much, they got black balled from the local community.

Eventually, there was a change over ownership, and they started focusing on putting out beers at more reasonable prices and more acceptable formats - 6 packs at standard ($9-11) prices....along with changing the beer styles some. Apparently, they are doing much better now....

I do not buy overpriced beer. Hype will sell enough of them regardless. It baffles me what some people are willing to pay for certain beers when an equally good beer is half the price. But, that is their own money and their own choice. I don't care if hype makes a beer seem worth $40 for a bottle - no beer is really worth that to me. I can afford it, I just think it is a joke for a marginally better beer than a $15 one that I can get off the shelf.

I don't go around and tell people to not buy stuff, nor do I tell people that stuff is overpriced. I let them make those decisions. I have my own opinions about prices, and it has nothing to do with I can afford it or not (trust me, I can). I just am not going to waste my money on something I don't see the value behind. That goes for all beer in general, and not just Evil Twin (as this was not aimed at ET).