Are Breweries Over Charging or Not?

Lawsons Maple Trippel was $30 last month. It sold out in 1/2 an hour.

If you look over at the Wine world, there is still a ways to go before shit gets crazy.

 

If people pay it there is nothing insane about the pricing. People are paying. Where I draw the line is where I know I can get an amazing bottle for cheaper that is worlds better than the flavor of the moment beers. That why I find myself with a lot of tried and true Lambics and local IPAs. Paying 20+ for an amazing lambic is no issue to me. Thinking that a new american brewery is going to match that skill level is laughable at this point in time.

 

With an avatar like yours, it's pretty hard not to get off track.

 

Hill Farmstead is an interesting case. They still charge only $10 for their 'shelf' 750s, which I think is a steal - I'd happily pay $20 for Arthur, Anna, or many others. Their barrel-aged beers get pricey, but the brewery has increased costs from the barrel, the time invovled in aging, and Shaun Hill's obsessive dedication to making sure each barrel is on point. In his AMA (http://www.reddit.com/r/beer/comments/1cea2d/i_am_shaun_hill_brewerowner_at_hill_farmstead/), he mentions that since barrel ageing is so unpredictable, he often has to dump barrels that are infected or taste off, which inevitably drives up the price of the bottles he does sell.

There are certainly breweries that price-gouge (ahem Cascade), but I'm of the opinion that HF isn't one of them.

 

I'm going with, the pricing is too steep...riding the consumer wave...of course I'll keep contributing

 

So, OP, you think all consumer products should be priced on a cost-plus basis?

 

The only way a brewery could be overcharging is if they are charging more for their beer than other stores are charging for their same beer.

HF, Bruery, etc. are not overcharging for their beer. The cost required to make the beer is irrelevant. Some may consider the beers to be too expensive, or not worth what they cost, but if the breweries are still able to sell the beer then that doesn't matter. Many non-craft drinkers consider paying $10 for a 6-pack to be too expensive. It doesn't mean breweries like Stone are overcharging.

We've already hit a point where many craft drinkers are not willing to spend higher prices for certain beers/breweries. I know there are many Bruery beers I wouldn't mind trying, but I'm not willing to pay the price for them.

I think this trend will continue, similar to wine & spirits, where you've got a wider range of pricing. Taste and effort to produce are not the only factors that are important to most people. Branding, availability, status symbol-- those are all factors for many, whether they admit it/realize it or not.

It doesn't really bother me. There will always be breweries out there making great beer at a reasonable price.

 

I think it's a mix, some is cost of materials, which will continue to soar because of all the new breweries competing for raw materials, and some is related to increasing profit margin. People forget that these are businesses and if run well, they should capitalize on profit when they can. If the product isn't good enough to sustain the prices, then I'm sure we'll see some adjustments. But I think it's funny when people complain about cost increases as if the breweries are supposed to sell things at a bare minimum profit. Or when people indicate that they should make things available to everyone, or offer higher bottle counts so everyone gets some. These are businesses that in order to survive have to make business decisions. Client loyalty and consumer expansion are part of that business, but entitlement shouldn't be.

 

To the point @MNAle is making, I'm not sure it's fair to suggest that the only worthwhile reason for the price of a product going up is because their materials and labor went up.

Beer is still a relatively inexpensive hobby compared to other "luxury" products, and I don't think the costs of labor and raw materials are significantly higher with wine than with beer. I simply think that the market for wine is more mature and therefore suffers from less consumer price sensitivity.

So I voted "other"--prices are increasing for a variety of factors that include, but are not limited to, increases in labor and raw materials. But I don't consider those price increases to be "overcharging".

 

I think it depends on the beer. IE What went in it how long was it aged? Was it a blend? If its a barrel aged saison, no fruit and it was aged 6 months to a year I don't think it should cost 30$ for a 750 when picking it up at the brewery. If the brewery can't make money selling them for 20$ or so then they should re-evaluate their business. On the other hand if people are paying it what can we do to stop it? If fruit is involved and you are aging the product multiple years then I understand a higher price tag. Once you are getting into $2-3$ an Oz for a beer it becomes a bit much. I appreciate brewers who try to keep the price point reasonable and I will go out of my way to buy from them and support them.