Barrel Aged Beers and Pricing

I haven't had that many barrel aged beers, quite a few were one offs, but GI BCBS has gone up every year since it came to Casper. So, naturally, I haven't seen a drop in prices. You fellas in Colorado are lucky, I reckon.

 

In my opinion barrel-aged stouts and barleywines, when done right, are the best things on the market. thing is, younguns are running to any IPA they can find.

 

Which 4packs are you seeing in NM that qualify?

 

I would say supply (I have seen more BA beers on the shelves) and competition (more brewers brewing said beers).

 

Ahh..the Odell Barrelled Treasure...I bought a 4pack and drank 1. Gotta do a review. Prost!

 

I thought I've seen on here that high-quality bourbon barrels are becoming harder to find due to demand, so that should actually push prices up a little you would think.

 

IDK- I am trying to wrap my head around a barrel aged stout costing north of 25 bucks when 12 year old scotch doesn't cost much more. I know there are factors that explain at least some of this discrepancy , but if anything it seems barrel aged stouts and wild ales are still going up in cost- at least here in New England and amongst the "it and hyped" breweries across the country.

 

I'm sure the number of brewers wanting to use high end bourbon barrels is declining due to cost and supply. I'm also sure many brewers are saying "Yes I'll take those bourbon barrels even though they once carried BillBob's Bargain Basement bourbon".
I believe there was a thread regarding differentiating quality BBA beers from the non-goods, and I don't think I would be able to tell the difference.

 

I'm pretty sure it depends on location, location, location. As I mean state, region, how its distributed and by who. Also each bottle shop and what the owner wants to charge.
I've seen soo many different fluctuated prices on different BA beers, big and small, at different stores thru out MI. Some good for the price some ridiculous for others. Haven't really seen a difference in the last few years on prices, tho.

For instance, BCBS has been the same price for many years around here. Granted it also depends on each store you frequent. Anywhere from $9.99 to $20.00 (gouge) But has not changed for many years. As well as (i.e.) Dragons Milk. Usually goes for $16.99/4pk at most local beer store/grocers.
Yet a few places carry it for $12.99 all day

Go figure...

 

One thing to consider is that the infrastructure for distributing used spirit barrels is probably much more robust than 20 years ago. This would mean that a craft brewer in 2000 who wanted to bba a beer would likely require some fairly concerted effort on their part to coordinate obtaining those barrels. This process is much more streamlined now which probably contributes a bit to the increased cost of the barrels but also cuts out the cost of the employee who was previously charged with the acquisition
In general though I have not noticed any large declines in bba beer price

 

As others have already said, the move away from large format bottles, especially those with contemptible corks and cages, are helping drive down the cost per ounce of barrel-aged beers.

And the market is completely saturated with high-quality barrel-aged offerings right now. I went beer shopping last night and I had a very difficult time deciding what NOT to buy. Soooo many wonderful offerings in small-format singles and four packs. Quintuple or omnituple or whatever the hell it was big bad Baptist was an EASY pass.

Ten years ago barrel aged beer was a relatively rare treat, maybe a couple per month, and without all that much variety. What a time to be alive... My basement has more variety than any place I shopped 10 years ago.

 

To me it seems that many beers that were once more limited are now widely produced and therefore more available. The greater availability of product doesn't allow for retailers to mark up to the same extent that they once could with a rarer product.

 

I don't think we've seen a price decrease in AZ for barrel aged beers from our local breweries. Around $1/oz is pretty typical and has been since I moved here a little over 3 years ago.

 

Haven't noticed any price reductions in the Bay Area for Barrel-Aged beers. Pricing is either holding steady or getting more expensive. Then again, every thing in California is expensive, so it's all relative.