Bars overpricing craft beer?

7 dollars for a beer at a bar/restaurant really isn't terrible...especially if it's Yeti!

 

This is my preference, too. One local spot near me charges $5.50 for everything. They simply use ABV as a guideline for how much you get. Less than or equal to 8% gets you a 16 oz pour, anything over gets a 10 oz pour. And during happy hour, everything is $3.50. That means when they've gotten goodies like BCBS, they don't hike it up to $11 for a 6 oz pour like some other places around town. I went there and caught a nice buzz on two pours of BCBS and my tab was $7.

 

I haven't been around keg pricing in like 3 years, but that sixtel of DD is likely far more per ounce than that 1/2 of 60 Minute. The higher cost for a smaller pour reflects this, and if they were to give larger pours it would present the following dilemmas: The tipsy quicksy thing which has been noted; potentially very cost prohibitive to purchase if intentions are to clear the same margin ($22 for a 16 oz. pour) and finally, more people pissed that the keg kicked before they were able to get a pour. Just my $.02.

 

yeah i try to avoid going to bars or drinking craft at restaurants nowadays, mostly due to selection but rising cost is a factor too. i prefer to drink at the source or drink at home. its more fun, less annoying (crowd-wise), and presumably as someone on this site, you've probably got beer there you've already paid for!

 

I see it as pretty close to what you would pay in in relation to a package store. Dogfish 60 is $10.00 a sixer or about .14 per oz and Devil Dancer is $21 a four pack or about $0.43 an oz. You paid $6 for probably a 16oz pour in a shaker for $0.30 an oz and $11 for a 8oz pour for about $1.30 an oz. The DD was still about triple the cost of the 60 minute. IMO Devil Dancer is good but not worth it in either place.
Myself at that bar, I would go for a Knob Creek for about $9 with a 60 minute back for $6

 

The rare opportunity I get to sit in a bar and sample beers, the last thing I am worried about is the price. I'm more concerned with the phone call telling me it's time to come home

 

Shout out to CBC Como, I remember they had Devil Dance on draft for 2/6.

 

It can definitely get costly drinking good beer at a bar. Thankfully
my local place has Union Jack for $4 during happy hour.

Other than that, it's tough to spend $7 for a Sculpin, etc.

 

Haha love this

 

Bar drinking is a suckers game

 

The ABV in a beer has absolutely nothing to do with the cost of said beer. The price you pay for that beer, is in direct relation to what the distributor charges the establishment, which in turn comes from what the brewery charges the distributor. Founders is one of the most expensive brewers on the market, regardless of abv. Besides that, you're comparing a Seasonal Tripple IPA to a Year Round Single IPA.

 

It can be...especially in "craft beer" bars. And unfortunately these days, the higher prices which some 'craft' beers command are simply not worth it.
Here in NJ it varies from place to place but, oddly, it's not all that uncommon to see locally made 'craft' beers selling at higher prices than beers that need to be trucked in from other states...and some very local products are priced higher than even some excellent imports. To add insult to injury, around here "locally made" has rarely been synonymous with "better".

 

The bar pays more for a sixtel of Devil Dancer than they do for a Half Barrel of 60 minute. Thus Devil Dancer is more per oz. Price and abv have zero correlation. Size of pour and abv do.

 

Your bar should be pricing on COGS. If they're not, then they're assholes.

That said - a keg of Devil Dancer is 3.33 times more expensive than 60 Minute, at least in DC.

That pricing doesn't seem ridiculous to me (though I would never buy a Devil Dancer for $11. I don't fault the bar)

 

That is a steal.

 

Kegs aren't cheap.

 

This is another reason I like the recent growth in the low-ABV or session beers... better options when I'm at the bar.

 

From a brewery perspective. 60 minute is an all year beer with outside fermentation vessels dedicated exclusively for it. Devils Dancer is a limited release beer that has have vessel space reserved for it.
From a servers perspective. No bar with its salt would dare serve you Devils Dancer in an imperial pint glass. For a wide variety of reasons. Demanding a 12% beer get served in an imperial pint is akin to printing this on your forehead for the bartender. "I'm here to get shitfaced."

 

I think someone else pointed this out earlier in the thread, a lot of places that throw the craft on tap and think they are doing you a favor tend to sticker pop you. Whereas if you frequent bars where that is their bread and butter tend to price the craft against each other in a more reasonable manner.

 

I'd be all over that. In the Boston area, you're looking at $6 pints of Boston Lager. That Imperial Yeti is probably 8-12 oz for $10+