Breweries Privately Contacting You

when beer goes to Distro...the brewery has to split profit between the three tier system 1/3 brewery, 1/3 distributor, 1/3 bottle shop when you get it direct from the brewery they get 100 percent profit.

 

I had a brewery comment on a poor review I gave. They asked "Thanks for trying our new offering, what do you think we could have done to make this beer better?"

I replied with "Make the beer better."

 

To whit the question- why is the brewery charging more!
Only explanation is they are gouging their customers. An agreement to match price of its local stores to not compete is one thing, but overcharging is just a dick move

 

This brewery is charging their customers the full replacement value of $150 for each keg. To go along with your example, this would be the same if a Hertz charged the full replacement value of $22,000 for a deposit to rent a 2014 Honda Civic...but they don't. There are ways to deter theft rather than force your customers to cover those costs. Usually a signed agreement and a scan of an individual's drivers license is enough to deter folks from stealing.

 

The bottle shop buys kegs from them on a regular basis, you might buy one keg. So of course they pay less than retail price. But I would ask the brewery to match the bottle shop price - I'm sure most would go for it instead of the losing the direct sale. Sometimes in this day and age it still pays to make a call and check first before getting upset and posting about it online.

 

Kegs don't grow on magical keg bearing trees.
Kegs are pricey to get, and you have a specific allotment of them as a small brewer which are kind of a big deal to keep in motion and to have the constant knowabouts of where they are, and also a way to cover for them. Losing (track of) them is kind of a big deal when you have a lot of money in motion as well. Spending money out of the deep pockets of the someone was a dumb ass fund for a lost keg or two is kind of irritating.

It's cool that they got in touch with you, and a weird way of saying- "hey, we want to get you our beer day of fresh because we like you."

 

A deposit, which is returned when the keg is returned. No?

I would be more concerned with the higher charge for the beer vs. the liquor store.

 

I personally wouldn't have minded them contacting me, the Keg deposit I can understand, but the cost discrepancy, that I would go back to them on.

 

Damn, a brewery charging at or over retail?
Sounds like Griffin Claw.
I rarely buy their beers and have never visited the brewery, 15 mins from my house.
Problem solved.

 

As many have said nothing bothers me other than the price discrepancy. I would have politely let them know that I would rather buy it fresh from them, but their pricing makes that impossible.

 

Right but what do you gain by keeping it if not scrap value? I mean I have kegs for hombrewing but it is completley different than commerial kegs. So I see no reason to keep a keg from a brewery.

 

Yes, the deposit is returned. But, you do have to fork over the money upfront. Unlike say renting a car where they don't force you to fork over the full value of the car and then reimburse you once returned. I think a written agreement to agree to pay the full replacement value of the keg is more than fair instead of charging for it upfront. And in this case, that $150 charge doesn't include the beer. In my experience, a deposit is usually more like $30-50 and the charge for the beer itself can be anywhere from $70 (macro) to $200 (micro). Let's split that and say the value of the beer (the liquid itself) is another $100. That puts you at $250 already, for the deposit and the beer. But, then let's say you also don't have a tap, and you don't have a kegerator so you also need to rent a tub, that's another $25 deposit for the tap and another $10 for the tub. Oh and you forgot ice, so throw in another $5-10 for a few bags. That puts you right around $300 for an ice cold keg. Sure, once returned, you'll get your $150 keg deposit, $25 tap rental deposit, and $10 tube deposit back, but you've just spent $300 on beer that costs $100 by itself. That extra $200 is what is called a barrier, otherwise known as a deterrence. Remove the $150 keg deposit fee and you instantly increase the likelihood of consumer interest.

 

Yes, but the bottle shop still needs to mark up the keg to cover their costs (lights, rent, etc...) and make a profit - the fact that they can do this, and still be at retail to a customer $30 a keg cheaper than the brewery means the brewery has an outrageous markup.

 

Fair - and I agree, the price is the big problem here, but they weren't exactly polite to begin with - they basically called the guy out for buying it somewhere else. I might be misinterpreting, but it seemed like a pretty blunt exchange from the brewery, so I wouldn't feel the need to be especially tactful in my response...

Edit - I think if the brewery had tweeted back to him:
'hey that is awesome, hope you enjoy the keg. FYI we sell kegs direct to the public at the brewery next time you want a super fresh one!'
- this would be a different (well non-existent really) thread. It just seems like a rude exchange from the brewery, when they could have made this into a very nice, polite and positive thing with a customer.

 

Possibly a brewry "drunk post".
That would explain it.

 

I wouldn't care for that at all. I think that's crap. They're essentially sending you a private advertisement. People are all too willing to just accept the bombardment of advertisements thrust upon us. If people are going to advertise to us then we must get something in return. Beeradvocate runs banner ads, what I get in return is beeradvocate. Commercials popup on my pandora stations, what I get in return is music. Privately contacting you and sending you what is, in my opinion, a commercial, comes with no compensation to you. I see it no different than if I were to start randomly beermailing people on this site saying "I'm selling an old coffee table for $20, you interested?" If the brewery wants to know why people don't buy kegs from them then they should post a thread on a website such as this one and get feedback. They get their feedback that way and you don't have to be victimized by them cramming their marketing fist into your world. I'd tell the store that you bought it from that they did this.

As for them charging more on the keg fee? Whatever. You'll get it back (though I do think a signed form, with a credit card number on file ala a hotel check-in would be much better and deter less people from buying kegs).

As for them charging more for the liquid? That's whack. They shouldn't be selling it for more and then expect you to pay more and get curious as to why you didn't.

 

My thought exactly.

 

New Glarus sells their at or over retail as well. It's always less expensive to buy it from somewhere else. They're honest about it though, saying they aren't looking to undercut their retailers, especially those they are just down the road from them. One more reason they are a world class brewery.

 

I like the idea of having a replacement agreement. Heck, in MI you have keg registration tags with your information, so why not a another form to agree to replace the value?

 

True - that is more a non-compete thing as you mention. They are also not much more expensive are they? They have to cover the cost of the awesome outdoor picnic area they provide for free to any visitors, and you are allowed to buy the beer and just chill out all day in their gardens right?