Eclipse Worth The Price?

Who exactly made up your competition? I see Pelican on there, but I don't recognize the other brewery. Is it fair to guess that the BA category was rather poorly represented since this is a German festival so the lager categories were the fiercely contested ones? Because if so, congratulations?

 

I can't believe they're selling for $30 a pop in MA.

Especially when 4pks of bourbon county still abound for $21 or so.

 

How would you refute the price/value thing if you were the brewer/owner?

I would mention 1) three tier distribution v. reserve price 2) quality, and link other awards/opinions, not my own 3) economies of scale 4) real estate prices 5) normal offering prices ($6.25 for 14oz of golden ale!) 6) CA taxation issues = yeah, ours is probably higher than the average -bal price, for all the aforementioned reasons.

And yes, then I would say, if you don't like the price, don't buy it. Freedom rules.

You gotta like a guy who "likes" your comment calling him sad.

Todd, Alicia should hire a PR guy for yall. Will work for Brandy Eclipse.

 

i think it's slightly overpriced. from OP, with the 3 tier and shipping to philly, it would be nice if the final price was closer to 30 instead of 35, but even if the wholesale price was lowered, the final retailer on the east coast would probably still sell it for 35 because it's eclipse and eclipse is eclipse is eclipse. I like the beer, i will continue to buy it, but there are other bba stouts i prefer.

 

i wouldn't. do i sound like someone that would do well in pr?

ya that was pretty cool.

so, any comments on bottle variation?

 

I got Rittenhouse Rye, Old Fitz, and Mellow Corn at Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting for $22.50, I suppose ~$25 after tax (they are out now, but had them for a decent while). Now, everywhere else I've found them is like you said $30.

 

You state your position/info clearly and concisely. I prefer that to "Here at ___ corp, we value your input, and we're sorry that your issue has arisen, we will do our best to resolve the matter (but some arbitrary in house rule prevents us from actually addressing your substantive complaint)."

Its why Dana Perino and George Stephanopolous were good press secretaries, and why Jay Carney and Ari Fleisher sucked.

 

After trying the Rittenhouse Rye '11 and '12 side by side...I am so freaking glad I have so many and different Eclipse. Worth every penny.

 

well, my response to "why is ____ so expensive?" would be "because we can get away with charging that much." i wouldn't last a day.

 

If you glance through the other winners from the USA there are many notable barrel aging breweries participating. There were over thirty entries in the category. Who entered what category is not disclosed. There are at least two breweries repeatedly mentioned in this very thread who participated in the European Beer Star and it would surprise me that they didn't send their barrel aged beers. I'll leave it at that...glance the winners list and you decide...

US breweries represented the second largest number of entries only behind Germany. It is not a festival but rather a competition along the lines of the World Beer Cup. Blind judging, style guidelines adopted from World Beer Cup. EBS is essentially only behing GABF and World Beer Cup in 'prestige'. Not knowing about it is well not being informed...

Fans of Iced Eclipse should look on same page for Ultra Strong Beer...

I know that the detractors will detract and I can't worry about their dislike for the product. I guess that is what Beer Advocacy is all about. I feel they are in the minority as the demand grows in the US and outside as well. Eclipse is in Japan and we're in negotiations for Great Britan and Germany.

As I am sure you will all agree the best way to show support or protest is with your dollars. We invested over $100K in equipment over the last two years allowing us to handle the product as gently as possible in all stages of production. In 2012 we marked bottles with bottling run numbers as a means to track 'so called' bottle variation. Each bottling run number represents approximately 600 gallons of Eclispe (12 barrels evacuated into bright tank, chilled, carbonated and sent to bottling line). We did this to acknowledge that Bottle run 1 and Bottle run 2 could indeed taste slightly different based on the fact that the individual barrels in each run once blended will affect final flavor. Each barrel is tasted by 4 or more people with trained pallettes looking for off flavors etc. No barrel is added to a bottling run if any taster detects an undesirable flavor or aroma the barrel is isolated and examined via plating at a later date.

Thanks for the bandwidth. I don't care to respond in this manner as there are those who see it as pimping etc. If you read all the posts I would prefer to say I'm responding to unjust statements that need to clarified.

Cheers!

Todd

 

But the prices people are complaining about are not what the brewery charged consumers ($22). Its what some retailers are charging ($30+).

I think I witness palate variation moreso than bottle variation.

 

Eclipse is one of my favorite BA beers. This is the second year I've bought futures. I will more than likely buy them next year. I've bought multiples of each but if I missed out on the futures, I'd probably just buy one of each. Futures = multiple bottles. Retail at $30-$35 = one to two bottles at most. If retail was $20-$25 I don't think they'd be on the shelf to long.

 

niiiiiiiice

fair enough, though i thought the futures sold out in an hour or something. most people are stuck paying the $30+.

 

Worth it once, probably. Worth it every year or would I want to buy all of them, probably not.

 

I hope California Craft Distributors gets a bigger allotment than Japan , GB and Germany? Relatively speaking.

 

I treated myself to one bottle few weeks back, It was the Old Fitzgerald. Delicious, but the price stopped me from grabbing a few more. (27$)

 

Way overrated / overpriced for a BA stout that doesnt stand out

 

No: When BCBCS, BA Raspy, and Parabola are available for $10-$15 less on the shelf.

However, the price makes them linger... so it might be worth it for convenience factor.

 

I wish we had the physical plant of any of the breweries mentioned. Sadly, we don't have the financial backing, the buying power and the capacity to brew as much as they do either. Not making excuses we did put the beer on the market... As the product moves through the three tier system all parties need to make margin and a profit. Simply put our wholesale price is well below the 'futures' price. What happens beyond our doors is interesting. Transportation, taxes, warehousing, delivery to retailer, retailer marketing etc. I'm not complaining it is just an interesting examination of the economics beyond the brewery doors.

 

Plug: I think you'd do well in Texas. We are completely lacking in good barrel-aged stouts.

I don't even qualify for "No" the 99% of the time BA Raspy isn't on the shelf. I have to trade for anything else.