Exactly. And it’s not even like this just a dollars and cents thing. Is the expensive ass beer even better?
Yes, I’m sure the definitions of great whiskey vary wildly. How much is a four pack of Rasputin? $15? Considering some of the beers I’ve seen in this thread are $100+ that leaves a solid $85 for the whiskey. If you can’t find a great bottle for that price then you’re doing it wrong.
I've pretty much stopped drinking hard liquor, but anything over $40 for Bourbon or other North American whiskey (the Canucks do make some interesting stuff) is either bragging or I don't have a refined enough palate for it. $80 for Scotch; Irish is high Canadian to mid single malt Scotch. No idea how anyone can afford Japanese anymore. I remember when it was priced the same as entry level single malts. Fun fact: a buddy's paycheck bounced once, so he went behind the bar, downed the bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle, and walked out.
By picked up, do you mean trendy? There is definitely bourbon-barrel aged wine out there. I had some in Santa Barbara. But it's not ubiquitous where every winery has to have one.
I always wanted to order a shot of this and tell the bartender to leave the bottle, like they did in the old Westerns. It would be epic.
When it comes to Ayinger beers, my local beer retailers sell them a four-packs of small bottles. A pretty simple 'solution' for me is to pass on these beers and purchase high quality US brewed German style beers which has multiple benefits: Fresh beer Six-packs of 12 ounce cans for 10-12 bucks. If we all decided to not pay these exorbitant prices the importers/wholesale distributors would need to adjust the prices downwards. Prost!
I can’t even consider Ayinger, they’re always priced way above what I would consider to be a reasonable cost ($20 for 4 x 11.2 oz Oktoberfest/Maibocks/Celebrators). I basically choose between Spaten Oktoberfest, Paulaner Munich Helles or Krombacher pils. Honestly the last time I was at the distro I picked up some Eichbaum Helles lager and it turned out to be an incredible beer, and I think I paid like $5 for a four pack of half liter cans
Also to your point about US versions, I’ve been enjoying a lot of Brooklyn Lager lately (technically not a German style, but close enough), around $9 for a sixer
I paid $12.99 for a 4pk of Ayinger Dunkel 11.2 oz bottles recently. Then I realized the next haul that Waldos' 12oz 6pks for $13.99 is a much better deal on many levels. When we see how much Ayinger costs drinkers in Germany, it kinda puts the brakes on that beer for me.
Yes! Lagunitas has some really fair pricing for their beers, especially bangers like the Waldo’s ale or the willetized stout. Similar styles by different breweries really can’t compete value wise.
