AleSmith Speedway Stout Cans

I would love to be able to find this one here in Las Vegas! Looks like a great beer.

 

Yeah, bomber is only the 22oz, I'm sure because of the B-22 reference (at least that's what I've always assumed). I would doubt they'll keep both though. I am trying to think of beers that are sold in varying formats and can't think of any, not counting the magnum bottles that are just for fun.

What I CAN'T find out is how much these suckers cost!!! I won't know how to feel about it I do so. I was really hoping for a ~$15 4-pack like Even More Jesus and Biscotti. If it's $6 a can, that's no bueno.

 

Almanac started canning Barbary Coast w/coffee; picked up a can for $6 the other day and saw another store for $7. I'm assuming it will fall in that range

 

I bet single cans will be 5$ at the cheapest, $8 at the highest.

 

It seems the brewery is charging $8 per can. Not sure if they typically sell over retail to not compete with stores like some breweries do. It also appears these will be sold individually so any 4 pack will need to be 4 singles.

 

That was my fear. Barbary Coast is a good example actually. I've passed it over every time for that reason. Even Xocoveza is a much better deal at $18 a six-pack. Too many other better options, which is too bad because I'd choose Speedway over them.

 

Just saw these at one of my favorite shops that is always fair in pricing (part of the reason I like it). Listed for $8.59 a can. Seems high, but on a price/ounce basis it isn't. Can is ~$0.536/ounce compared to a 750 ml bottle, which is $13.49, comes out to be $0.533/ounce. Negligible difference in price. Definitely prefer cans if price is the same. They're lighter and can go places bottles can't, such as the beach or a hiking trip so I'm happy with this move by Alesmith. Now if they would just can .394 Pale Ale already!!

 

Right, but part of the benefit of canning is supposed to be a better price point, not the same (or in this case, slightly higher) price point. Even a $25 4-pack would be over $10 off the six-pack-equivalent. I find it hard to believe that Alesmith couldn't find a heavy profit at that price, but would love to hear the argument. I get not being able to sell BBA imperials in that format, but a coffee stout?

 

$8 a can? Wow. I like this beer a lot but right now I can get Imperial Biscotti Break and Even More Jesus at $11-$12 a four pack (16oz cans). I like Speedway more but not enough to pay double for it on a steady basis. I'll probably grab one can and that's it.

 

Yep. I never buy Speedway because of the 750ml format. I won't be buying $8 cans either....oh well.

 

I definitely agree here. Honestly, I never purchase Speedway because the price is outrageous for what it is, especially with all the the other great options at cheaper prices. I was just trying illustrate that it is essentially the same price in the new cans because at first glance I think most people would see $8 cans as a price increase. It's disappointing that they didn't lower the price with the new cans like Port Brewing did with the recent canning of Mongo and High Tide. I have bought at least two sixers of each of those in the decently priced can format and would likely do the same with Speedway if there was a similar price decrease.

 

Yeah, at least it isn't an increase; good point. And I was speaking to the beer community at large in that last part, not you specifically. That wasn't clear.

Pizza Port is a great example. I almost never bought Mongo anymore because it always sat around. Now it flies off the shelf. Even if that's partly due to novelty, it is still good business. I guess we'll see how this batch of Speedway sells

 

This is one of my favorite beers and I'm glad to see the new format. Even if it's not in 12 oz 4 packs, which is definitely preferable. I like it better somewhat fresh, inside of 1 1/2 years and cans tend to age slower.

 

Same with me. While I am a big fan of Mongo, I never bought it because I try to stay away from the bomber format if possible and freshness was almost always an issue. With the price decrease I now view it as an option almost every time I see it in the store.

Like you said above, I'm sure that the cans will increase Speedway sales to some degree just due to the novelty of the cans, but without a decrease in price I could see that wearing off pretty quickly. Hopefully, they realize this and lower the price at some point. One of the best examples of this for me is Great Divide and BA Yeti. That stuff used to sit at $30/bottle in years past. I think they figured out that price point didn't work and lowered it to ~$17 this year IIRC. I was more than happy with that price and purchased a bottle and I think others did as well because it is all gone while older vintages still collect dust at some shops.

 

But what's the story behind such a drastic price drop? Either the old prices were drastically inflated AND out of step with other brewers' products... or there's been a change to production and/or overhead that allowed them to lower the price.

 

I'm sure that there is something going on behind that scenes that we're not aware that allowed such a steep price cut, but I also think that a part of the price drop, based on what I have seen and heard from others, was lack of sales. Even if something did happen that allowed them to cut costs of production, if it was selling well at $30 they would have likely kept the price point there and just enjoyed the higher profit margin.

 

Seeing cans of this next to cans of Even More Jesus for half the price; is there even an argument?!

People want a price decrease for moving to cans, I get it, but breweries are charging $20 4-packs for anything hazy and in cans, and we hear no bicker.

For what the beer is, it is worth it. But there are better options out there.

 

It's unclear what you mean here, but $20 4-packs are an improvement over bombers and 750s, right? Those hazy IPAs are being sold at a $6 bomber equivalent. I'll take that every day.

What I'm curious to know is the cost of making a hazy DIPA vs an imperial stout with coffee. Anyone have some knowledge in this area? It seems like people expect IPAs to be cheaper, so they are. Son of a Baptist can't be that much cheaper to make than Speedway, right?

 

I'm a big great divide fan,but they need to drastically decrease the price point on all their BA beers. The regular hibernation ale is $11 a six pack, but barrel age it and throw it in a bomber and its a $20 bottle. It doesn't cost that much more to barrel age typically, charge me 10-12 and I'd try it, but until then I'll just have to stick with the base beers.

 

I think part of the reason, for me at least, is that a $20 4-pack is pretty much the standard cost across the board. If you're in the market for a hazy IPA pretty much all of your options are about the same price. With everything in that category being essentially the same cost nothing really appears overpriced. Now, whether or not you think these hazy IPAs are overpriced as a general "style" is an entirely different argument. If you do like the beers, you just deal with the price as that is the standard cost of entry. In the case of Speedway though, if you're looking for a coffee stout there are plenty of cheaper options to be had, such as Even More Jesus that you mentioned above for half the cost.