Beer is Expensive

i assume you never saw the 90dollar four pack of TG Term Oil Smores Stout

 

Back in May I started a thread (which included a poll) entitled: “How high are prices at your local brewery taprooms and/or craft beer bars?”

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...ewery-taprooms-and-or-craft-beer-bars.667211/

I entitled the poll question: “What is the highest price for a pint of beer at your local craft beer bars/taprooms?”

A result of the poll was that 56% of the BA participants indicated that the highest priced pint at their local was > $8.

My viewpoint: yeah, craft beer is now (2022) expensive.

Cheers!

P.S. Given the situation of how inflation is impacting everybody, I personally am getting concerned about high energy costs given that winter is approaching (e.g., high heating bills), are these high beer prices sustainable?

 

Don't know about you guys, but I'd be willing to take a 20% paycut if all prices also dropped the same

 

In other news, the sky is blue.

 

I'm seeing an astonishing amount of really expensive beer gathering dust on the shelves around here. 4-packs from boutique breweries like Equilibrium, Finback, etc. that are priced near or above $25 and are four months old. The problem self-perpetuates, as the longer the beer sits, the less likely informed customers are to pay a high price for it. And who other than informed customers would pay that much for four beers in the first place?

I don't see how this is a beneficial business model for anybody. Breweries end up putting substandard product in consumers' hands, tarnishing their reputations. Liquor stores end up with shelves full of product they can't move. Distributors hawking the 'next hot brewery' get their take in the short term, but must eventually lose the trust of their retail establishment customers and the brewers whose products they sell.

Meanwhile, I'll keep buying fresh packages of reliable standbys that move fast and always hit the spot.

 

I see my social security check is going up 8.7% next year, I will finally be able to buy a Goose Bourbon County Stout......or 30 cans of Miller High Life.....life's short, drink good beer......

 

It's a concerning trend to me considering beer has already been losing popularity so if more craft/expensive beer sits and takes up shelf space, the more shelf space will eventually be given to other products that sell better.

As for me it's kind of the perfect storm right now, as I am drinking less beer for health reasons and I don't care about the hot new beers as much anymore and the prices are getting too high for my liking so it's pushing me into some other options (but even then not too many, as my alcohol consumption across the board is down by choice). These days if I am in the mood for a beer a "macro craft" like DFH, one of the locals that is still cheap-ish e.g. Sly Fox or an AAL will usually do just fine.

 

The expensive IPAs and fruit sours are usually worse than the $3 ones because they think overloading on fruit or hops or whatever makes a beer better, when in reality it almost always makes a beer one-dimensional at best, often just a mess.

 

I've seen 450 North slushy 4 packs in my market for 35-40 dollars. No. Just no.

The high prices have "forced" me to investigate offerings of other local breweries which are often lower in price and I've had some very rewarding taste experiences as a result that I might not have otherwise had.

 

Yeah, it’s ridiculous. Personally, I was in a position where a lot of the really highly priced beer just didn’t sound appealing to me anyway (I don’t care for most hazies, light fruited sours, or pastry stouts). But it’s here nor there because I recently quit drinking, and NA beers are cheap and better quality than they’ve ever been IMO

cheers

 

Homebrewing ingredients are going up as well.
A 35# jug of LME went up 10 bucks since the last time I purchased it!
I'm sure co² is going to skyrocket.
What boggles my mind is how/why someone would pay over 100$ for Anchorage's Deal w/the Devil.
There is just no freaking way, I don't care how good they say it is.
What boggles my mind even more is that they actually sell!?
I refuse to pay over 10bucks for a 12 oz bottle of beer. Even if is is 90% alcohol.

 

Yup, Sly Fox is a good deal: high quality beer at a relatively speaking affordable price.

I will soon be drinking a can of Sly Fox Oktoberfest beer.

Cheers to Sly Fox!

 

Hazies and fruited kettle sour beers seem to have gone up the most. The cost of hops and fruit have definitely impacted that. Also, probably the demand as well. I find myself content with larger regional or local breweries that I can get at places that are not expensive bottle shops like Sierra Nevada, Firestone, Pizza Port, Coronado Island, Enegren, Beachwood, Kern where I am not paying over $20 for a 4 or 6 pack. I mix in the occasional local favorite like Green Cheek, and North Park. I also homebrew so I always have some type of beer on tap.

but I agree the costs for take home beer is about the cost for draft beer. Which, had also gone up. I would say the average price for a draft beer is $8 with many running $9.

 

Reasons to be very selective and support your local breweries with a pleasant visit.

 

I'm generally a bit fan of variety in my fridge so I tend to get a couple 6 packs instead of saving money on a single 12 pack of single beer....sometimes along with variety, I have some beers in my beer fridge that I never seem to make my way through so I end up giving them away to co-workers, friends, anyone who wants them. Usually if I have a good week at work, I may splurge and get that expensive 4 pack of something I'd really enjoy. Now...I also have plenty of whiskey, bourbon, etc...but I keep gravitating towards having a beer mainly because I do appreciate it being a much lower abv than spirits. I do appreciate a lil' bit of bourbon as a night cap however. With the Holidays coming, I grab a couple winter staples and then a majority of it will be Celebration IPA for me. I can see my buying habits changing slightly however probably not much.