Why is Beer So Expensive!?!

Scale of brewing reduces costs. Malt costs become cheaper when going from a pound to a 55 lb sack, to a Supersack, to a truck load, to a railcar load.

I know breweries that buy premilled malt because they don't have a mill, that costs $1 per bag. That adds up.

 

Oh yes I see your point about bringing in patrons on off nights now with non-beer related forms of entertainment. But I guess I was focusing on the title of the post and ideas for breweries to provide options for cheap beer without going bankrupt in the process.

 

Doug Veliky, aka BeerCruncher, aka beeraficionado 's videos are the best I come across in this field. Miss following him beyond Substack with Twitter impossible and TikTok getting there without a login.

Here are a few tik tok links I have which may be of interest to you and others interested in costs breweries face.

Would a $4-$5 12 oz draft pour of a high quality lager draw you in?
Would they draw in your non craft beer friends and family?
https://www.tiktok.com/@beeraficionado/video/7324489666579795242

6 X 12 vs. 4 X 16
https://www.tiktok.com/@beeraficionado/video/7163817306286476590

Costs = Beer vs. Hop Water
https://www.tiktok.com/@beeraficionado/video/7211293075145084203

Format Pricing
https://www.tiktok.com/@beeraficionado/video/7164563577578327339

Barrel Aged Stout Costs
https://www.tiktok.com/@beeraficionado/video/7259553832106020142

 

News flash. You bought the ticket. You, and other ticketed passengers are seated at the bar, also awaiting the flight. The movie is your choice to buy in to. It is reserved for ticketed patrons. So, is the sportball event. That gun is held up at your request. So. It sure manages to explain the perspective of a slightly paranoid consumer. But, that angle doesn't take a loan out against an owners house to fund a brewery expansion which an independent brewery may do where those last two tap handles with something local come up. Nor the dilemma of having to spot buy x name of hops because it can't afford to secure a years supply for themselves, yet. Which is something many of those breweries often deal with. Sometimes, on a weekly basis. Nor pay more per can because it can't afford the upfront costs the extra room takes up, which happens when you have minimum orders with 6 mos turnaround time. Nor does it have to value in any of the other usual daily fun of independent brewing. Such as factoring in the cost per square foot on a lease to make the fun stuff, and also afford room to stick it in a barrel for x number of months or years and factor in the costs of the above independent realities to justify selling an 8oz pour at $10. Which will then value in additional staff, with their academic bonafides, and salary requirements. Specialized equipment. Dedicated clean space. And so on.
Supply and demand are a brewers reality when they are smaller too.

 

I think they even said something along the lines of "this is outside of our area of expertise to explain" or something like in the video. They're a homebrewing channel, trying to sell high-end homebrewing equipment, and I think they just saw an opportunity with their platform to 1. capitalize on a trending topic and 2. trickle relevant information down to their relatively large audience on YouTube.

But I think I'm more trying to approach that analysis from my professional background and YouTube background.

Could they have gone deeper into the detail? Yes.

Would people actually be interested enough to watch someone talk about that for twice as long? I couldn't say. I have my doubts day-to-day in my work and in my video-related spare time.

If anyone could do it, I think they could with how well they film, script and edit videos, but it would still be a tough task, even with lots of planning and research.

The more and more I learn about beer and want to understand or relate to it (depending on my mood) on the business side, the more I seek out Doug's content.