Fifth Hammer Brewing

One of the guys at Milk and Hops I'm friendly with told me to keep an eye out for this brewery. He spoke pretty highly about them.

 

There's gonna be a soft opening this weekend.

UPDATE: Opening Friday, October 6th at 3pm! But also pre/soft/somewhat open now and serving our first three beers! Come on by!

 

I think I'll check it out Friday after work if anyone cares to join. Love having another close brewery by me.

 

I stopped by yesterday for a few samples. Cool place, real nice guys and the beer was good. Their farmhouse was the best of the 4 they had available and the pilsner is fantastic. According to the guys working, a NE IPA is in the tanks now and a crowler machine should be there any day now.

 

A great Pilsner and it’s only a 20 minute walk from LICBP? I’m in there

 

Fifth Hammer had their first can release a week or so back. Anyone else try it?

 

Cans have started hitting shops in Manhattan and Brooklyn. I picked up a can at St. Gambrinus yesterday. I was a little let down by it to be honest. I think it might have been the combo of the grain bill and english yeast they used. I do like that they put all that info on the can though.

 

Owner/brewer was on the most recent episode of Steal this Beer

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=913673885446272

Still not sure about the 8 oz cans in 4 packs, guess that depends on the beer. Also still haven't had any Fifth Hammer beer, though, and I'm sad I missed out on the PB&J fest for NYE.

 

I think the 8oz cans are great for these Imperial/darker beers. And the price is right at $4 a can. I hope it’s a trend that carries over to other local breweries, I’d rather buy 4 smaller cans than a bomber

 

I like the format, and this price is definitely reasonable to me compared to other 8-oz cans.

 

How do you figure that the "price is right?" I realize you can compare it to a $20 bomber and it'll look like a better deal... but at the same time, it's over 50% more $ than a typical four pack at Other Half (to use just one comparable example that's already expensive).

 

Other Half stouts are usually $12-$16 for a 16.9oz bottle.

 

I don't keep up with most Other Half releases, so I'm sure there are exceptions to what I'm saying, but I've seen them put out barrel aged stouts at the price you are quoting more recently... and 4 pack 16oz canned stouts that are closer to the $16-22 per pack range. I'm not trying to say that Fifth Hammer isn't pricing things according to their needs... or anything bad about a beer I haven't tried... but I'm scratching my head that a consumer would call attention to that price saying it's "right."

 

Agreed. For example, Sixpoint sold their BA 4Beans and 5Beans for a six pack of 12 ounce cans for $20. 72 ounces for $20 from a well known, established brewer or $16 for 32 ounces from a new brewer, Fifth Hammer pricing looks bad.

 

I'm torn on the 8oz format. On the one hand, it's quite nice for bigger stouts rather than having to crack a 16 oz can or bomber. On the other, per oz pricing is still important. I imagine that the fixed cost per can is not much lower for the 8 oz format for the brewers, but that would be for them to answer. In a vacuum, 50 cents per oz for a non-barrel aged porter direct from the source isn't a great value. Certainly not worth praise on pricing at the very least. But you do have the 8oz benefit.

To ignore beer quality, let's just take as a random example, LICBP sold 4pks of 16oz Carnival Bake Sale for $20 which works out to 31 cents an oz. If they also packaged the same beer in 8oz format what would the max per oz price you'd pay? For me, it's not that much higher.

 

I’m glad it’s not just me. When I saw several people (who all tend to speak common sense) praising the pricing I was freaking out about whether I was smoking crack or the rest of BA was. That translates to a $32 16oz 4-pack

 

Let me elaborate so I don't come across as being single-minded. Back when bombers were far more popular, I often paid the same price per ounce for certain breweries... let's say about $10 a bomber. I knew it was a luxurious purchase compared to beers sold under a different pricing model, even if it didn't feel expensive when compared to many other bombers only. I'm not accusing Fifth Hammer of having beers that are too expensive. No brewer prices their beers in a bubble. Everyone is in tune with the market around them, and customers are conditioned to accept certain things. If someone pops up in the Other Half threads with a little sticker shock about a $20 4 pack, that customer might ask if this is the going rate these days, and other people will probably post that "yes, it is... for a brewery release of a DDH beer in NYC," or whatever.

When I see a post about a $16 4 pack of 8oz beers, personally, I get sticker shock even though I've paid that and then some for other beers in other formats. I wouldn't think that about an $11 bomber because of conditioning (rather than math)... something that we are all influenced by. Regardless, I still wouldn't make a post that the price of the $11 bomber seemed right. So when someone posts this about a 4 pack of 8ozers (an unusual format), I'm wondering: What was the conditioning in the marketplace that would make someone state this? (and that question was what I was really wondering)

The 8oz format will probably help Fifth Hammer win customers if the only other viable option would be a $32 4 pack of 16ozers. That would invite too many negative comparisons to other products. I compared it to Other Half because that seemed like a reasonable market comparison. But the big difference between the two breweries is reputation of course. Are people willing to spend this $, on that beer, from a brewery without much of an established reputation yet? Gotta wonder. Breweries need to be aware of the perceived value of their beer. It's critical. If Fifth Hammer prices their beer too low, they also run a risk of establishing a low perceived value with their potential customers from the get go. That's not necessarily a good look either.

 

Forget about the price, I'm not a fan of the 8oz can at all. Maybe I'm just an alcoholic, but I want 12oz, minimum.