Pipeworks Releases and Updates (2019)

I stand by it, craft beer never used to be an expensive hobby. Even if it is more expensive than macros, it wasn't "expensive" in a vacuum.

 

Neither were baseball cards. Now they are. Once something gets popular, people start to make money off of it.

 

This is a Pipeworks thread .....right??!!!......

 

Definitely not denying that either, people were just denying that craft beer used to be a cheap thing to indulge in which is why I've been pointing out that's false.

Totally get things have changed and a lot of things have changed for the better as well. I think I'm making a bit of a stink about this particular pricing because Pipeworks is one of my favorite breweries and for a long time they've been very good at the balance between price/quality/quantity.

 

Man, good thing y'all didn't got the 16oz bottle route @NOTpipeworks (or maybe it was 16.9oz)

 

DisposableIncomeAdvocate

 

This devolved into more of a discussion that I intended, but I'll say one last thing that maybe explains what I meant more. Expensive is a completely relative term. If a 6 pack of craft beer is $2+ more than a 6 pack of standard macro, its more expensive.

I can't vouch for early-to-mid 90's, as I didn't start buying crafts/imports until late 90s/early 00s. $3 Rogue bomber was for sure more than the standard $2 quart/40oz options in my experience in college. Same for 6 packs of any craft I ever came across at that point. There has never been a point in my beer purchasing life that a craft was cheaper than macro.

Again, I'm not saying its a rich man's game, but it definitely isn't a poor man's game. Its the same with shopping at Whole Foods (as an example). Sure, it's going to be more expensive, but I'm buying a higher quality product. And for sure, prices have gotten much worse (and that gap between the two has grown), however, options have multiplied immensely. So there are plenty of reasonable priced options (respectively).

TLDR: Its Mikerphone's fault

 

Since a lot of premium 4-pack are around $20 I was expecting $5 a can. I was a little shocked by the $7 price point. I expected the costs to go down much more like the other canned beers did when they went from bombers to 4-packs. I figured $2 wasn't a deal breaker so I bought two cans to try with people. If the beer was good I would have no trouble going back and buying more but it was a big let down. The appearance was bad and the raspberry overpowered everything. Hopefully they go back to the original recipe next time.

I enjoyed my 4-pack of Lizard Kind much more at almost 1/3 the cost.

 

I heard Infinite Citra was coming. I'm super stoked for all of these.

 

Really interested in the Helles

 

That's what I was afraid of. Scarlet Betta is not very good, it's gotta be the raspberry puree.
Agree, original Sure Bet is outstanding.

 

They nailed their Schwarzbier way beyond my expectations so I am pretty optimistic.

 

I'll toss my $0.02 in: $7 a can is a lot for IPAs, and I won't be buying it. The stouts I'd be more interested in, but there are just too many great IPAs for cheaper.

The Helles has me stoked, but I also have a price issue with PW lagers. They're always really good and worth the money, but I can get Dovetail and most imports (plus other craft) that are as good or better, and PW lagers are excellent.

 

Open Bottle was selling for 8 a can of RSB. I get that theyre trying to give the consumer the option to buy just 1. But 7 to 8 a can is absurd when the market is flooded with so many great IPAs at 2 to 3 bucks a can cheaper.

 

but, but, it's the bomber argument and cost per ounce

 

(original) sure bet is great, but it's only sought out by those who've tried it before.

i see no way even a middling craft drinker is going to be perusing the shelves and want to shell out 7-8 for a single can, pre-tax.

and as mentioned already, for those of us degenerate drinkers, there are simply better options on the shelves these days

 

Has any actually tried the new Sure Bet? Better than the original? Worse? Have they turned it into a NE IPA?

Just curious on the beer itself.