Evil Twin Pricing & Thoughts

I ate at DBGB in New York yesterday (relax, I didn't pay full price, I know someone there). I drank a Hipster can. It was $6 and one of the 10 cheapest beers on the 200+ beer menu.

 

No way am I going to vote for you with my wallet without seeing 10 years worth of tax returns... a long form birth certificate would be nice too.

 

If it was this price in my neck of the woods I would have a mini-fridge full at all times. So. Fucking. Delicious.

 

You son of a... My jealousy teems over, I'm outta this thread! Unless Jeppe wants a lunch buddy!

 

Of course there are always exceptions to the rule, and if there's any place they can get away with those margins it's going to be New york. That area has one of the highest costs of living in America, and when the average pint at a bar costs $7 (or more) people probably don't get sticker shocked by a $13 bomber of beer. That said, those kind of margins are so far away from the norm that it's a statistical outlier. I'd also wager that whichever retailer that is probably gets called out often enough in the weekly "price gouging" threads, so you don't have to worry about divulging anything.

 

Excactly my point!!

Hipster at DBGB was one of the 10 cheapest beers on the menu. Other people find it way to expensive. Some has found Pretty Things for $8. I have found it at $13.

Are my beers more expensive than average? Hell yes. Are they the most expensive beers out there. No way (I see bombers sold directly out of a brewery for up to $20 or more quite often).

Unfortunately I personally don't make more greens on a bottle of beer than pretty much everyone else in the business. Less than 15 cent a can is probably less than most actually. Yet a lot of people who don't know the inside of the business like to call us contract brewers out for being greedy. Well guys, now you know the truth.

Have a great evening!
Jeppe

 

I pass on Evil Twin and Stillwater brews because of the price ( especially since there are so many beers just as good or better available ). Having skin in the game does count for something

 

that was ninja "modding". cute.

anyways, cantillon for $35, jaw drops. BUY BUY BUY

evil twin is $12-$15. COMPLAIN COMPLAIN COMPLAIN

*hopefully this is not removed

*sigh*

 

Now you're just being silly. Apples & Oranges, my friend.

 

Consumers have a right to complain about prices. It builds awareness, and enacts change.

That said, it's quite often not the fault of the brewery, and thus the venom should be appropriately directed. On imports, it's almost never the brewery getting rich on those exorbitant prices.

If you'd like to figure this out for oneself, simply go to any of a billion European sites that sell beer online and look at the prices. Ignoring shipping, look how incredibly low they are. The brewery is only getting a portion of that.

The beer industry has a long-standing problem with the middlemen. Until alcohol becomes de-regulated in this country, it's going to continue.

 

it's cost, the point is $35 for cantillon can be a massive mark up where i may pay $25. i am sure Jean does not bring down the hammer on distributor cost. so arguing over price can be totally irrelevant at times.

 

I honestly cannot believe I am reading half the stuff in this thread. It is the distilled essence of how ridiculous BA has become as of late. Jeppe is not only a passionate beer advocate, he's also a really nice guy. I will continue to drink his beer and I hope to have the privilege of visiting his shop again. If you don't want to drink it, that's fine, it's a free country. More for me.

Take some time to understand the problem (hint: in almost all cases, it's not the brewer). And calling someone out for occasionally enjoying a nice meal? Never thought I'd see the day. That's pretty low, folks.

 

Do you honestly think that if the three tier system were abolished tomorrow that breweries would simply ship product directly to retailers? There may be a few large breweries that could handle it, but the vast, vast majority of breweries (whether they're imports or locals) will still need someone to act as a middle man/men and get their product from the brewery to the retailers. As anyone who's traded is aware, shipping beer is fucking expensive, and the only way to keep prices reasonable is to (ideally) ship full container loads.

You might see a slight price drop if the exclusivity clause were removed, because then multiple distributors in the same region could theoretically offer the same products and would be forced to compete with one another on price, but it's not as though eliminating the three tier system will cause a 20% price drop.

 

You own 3 business' and don't make any money? Maybe you should re-evaluate your business models. Just a thought.

 

thats how gypsies roll brah

 

Jamil Zainasheff, who brews the other Evil Twin (Heretic Brewing), recently expressed on a podcast that he has very little control over what a beer is priced at.

For example, he might be able to sell a beer at a dollar a bottle (I'm making this number up) and make a nice profit, but if the market will support that beer at ten dollars a bottle, someone in the chain (the distributor, the retailer) will try to take that profit at ten dollars a bottle. I'm sure I'm oversimplifying what he was saying and I am definitely making up the one dollar and ten dollar figures, but I think the main gist is clear - beers will sell for prices that the market supports, the brewer does not necessarily set the price or the profit margin.

If you want the price to come down, you can try to not buy that beer, along with a few thousand of your beer swilling friends. Of course, it could backfire and they could go belly up.

 

I think in the very short term, Amazon would start selling beer direct from breweries (with strategically placed warehouses) and consumers would pay about 40% less than they currently do.

Amazon's volume pretty much bends the shippers over a barrel to get rock bottom rates that nobody else can achieve, and that takes care of the crazy shipping costs problem too. I'm sure they'd come up with some kind of "Amazon Beer Prime" where I'd pay $200 a year for unlimited shipping too.

Over time, the market would find even better localized efficiencies.

The point is, nobody even has a chance to improve the system right now because of the artificial barriers.

 

BTW, I've worked for business owners who have told me that they don't make any money... yet owned horse farms and Range Rovers. You don't get "rich" by telling people that work for you/buy products from you that you're wealthy.

 

I do know that at least some brewers are able to work with distributors to set suggested prices or negotiate price increases. While that's no guarantee of what a retailer will do, it certainly helps. I know that certain shops near me routinely charge around $1 more per six pack than most other shops. So I just take my business elsewhere.

But... my comments are only referring to US breweries. I have zero knowledge about international breweries and how those prices are determined.

Since I've had little of Evil Twin's beer I won't comment on that issue or whether it is over priced for what it is. What I will say is that while the OP came off as inflammatory, he wasn't outright lying as he's being accused of either. It sounds like just a bit of confusion. ET does sell smaller format bottles, even if they're not from the specific contractor mentioned. Their beer's price can get high on occasion (as Jepe himself admits), so if the OP wants to complain he can. Instead of feeling attacked or attacking him, people ought to try and explain the facts to him since apparently his place of work doesn't teach their employees the ins and outs of the industry they work in.

I'll close by saying that I do appreciate seeing Jepe posting. Despite some of his comments coming off as a tad over-defensive/harsh I appreciate seeing brewers who take the time to actively check in on how their product is doing or by interacting with the consumer from time to time. Obviously most of the subsequent users in here seem to have responded positively to Jepe's remarks.

 

This thread is hilarious.

You know what most people do when they see something they think is too expensive? Scroll past.