Are Breweries Over Charging or Not?

Also while no one craft brewery comes close to dominating the craft beer market, because SOME customers are loyal, firms do have some market power. That is they can raise their price and keep most custumers, or lower it and not gain the entire market. In contrast to a pure commodity. (NOTE most branded consumer products are like that). While no one would call them monopolies, from a technical viewpoint there pricing problem is equivalent to that face by a monopolist. IIRC this is called monopolistic competition in the literature.

 

That is to say that different craft beers are close, but not perfect substitutes.

 

TG has actually been charging less! When they started to put P Sue, G Nugget, Dorothy's and Rover in 12 oz 4 packs they kept the 4 packs at about the same price as the bombers has been.......so instead of $8-10 a bomber its $10 a 4 pack.......22 oz --vs-- 48 oz!!!

 

There's a poll that only a partisan organization could be proud of. I can click Other but apparently a simple No is not a possible answer.

 

Brewers aren't overcharging.

Beer drinkers are overpaying.

(I'm confident that someone in this thread has already made this point.)

 

If people buy them the breweries will keep charging those prices. You mention Lost Abbey as an example, for me they are very overpriced, good beer or not. But that is only me because I wouldn't pay so much for beer, even if it had edible gold or it was the most amazing beer ever. That's just me.

I'm sure other people either have the money and don't care because they feel it is worth it, or they are just riding the craft beer hype train and just paying money because of the ratings and hype.

For example, I'd LOVE to have a glass of Pliny the Younger to try this "Holy Grail" beer, but if you handed me the glass in exchange for, let's say, $25, I wouldn't accept.

 

No such a thing as over-charging. You're just seeing different breweries finding the sustainable market level pricing for their products.

 

agreed...#'s are fucking stupid.
#HashtagNation

 

Free market at work. Craft brewers charge what can get away with if they are smart -- to maximize profit and sales. If they charge more than the market is willing to pay beers sit in shelves and sales sag. I always get a kick out of folks that take it personally that a particular brewer is charging $xyz for a particular beer. Get upset over the price of diamonds or makeup or a stupid J Crew T shirt made in China at a 10k % profit margin -- but don't sweat your brewer charging $3 bucks a can....

 

Looking at this from a brewery pint for pint, or growler for growler perspective leaves me puzzled many times.

I often look at breweries that are established vs. the newcomers. Around NM, the standard pint price is around $4.50-$5.00 at the majority of breweries. Happy hours and special priced days do exist, along with mug clubs, but for the most part, I am finding it very very hard to support the new guys who treat us like guinea pigs for the first 5 months.

I'm a price and value sort of guy. One new brewery jumped in and set their growler prices some $2-$3 above others just recently. I think they may have lowered it a touch since then. But they are still setting a higher standard with questionable "higher quality". Ultimately it is up to the consumer to decide, which scares me.

I have found that I am getting edged out constantly. I either need to earn a higher income, or get out. It reminds me of gentrification of neighborhoods in an odd sort of way. A group of people who are more than willing to drop their money on just about anything that is craft. They raise rents around you and soon you can't afford to live where you grew up. I want to support the established players. Yet they seem more than willing to raise their price to match what other crappier places are charging. They don't want to be seen as budget.

Which leads me to my next question. Has anyone seen any new breweries who started selling their beers for cheap from the onset? To not get in on the ground floor and work your way up and CHARGE more than established breweries right away puzzles me. But that's at the hands of the consumers I guess.

I personally feel that many places aren't deserving of the same priced items as others. Yet at the same time, I don't feel like the great ones are undercharging. I want the guinea pig breweries charging less, and the established staying the same. But thats wishful thinking.

 

Kinda reading everyone's comments. Damn! 40$ a bottle. What the heck are you buying?? Tree House sells there 1pint Julius American Pale Ale for $3.75 each. Trillium is selling a 64 for $20 a bottle roughly for there Fort Point. To me those are solid prices but it can become to much when you can't stop buying it because your spoiled by the quality. It becomes worth it based on the fact it's better then a high percentage of beers. BUT it's just like all hot commodities you pay for what you get.

 

I have a suggestion for you: homebrewing.

One of the beer styles I really like are Trappist style beers but the idea of paying $100+ dollars for a case of Chimay/Westmalle/Rochefort, etc. just rubs me the wrong way.

I homebrew a Dubbel that I like better than any of the Trappist brewed Dubbels. My material costs for making 2 cases of Dubbel is well south of 50 bucks.

Cheers!

 

I'll just add just because you paid that much doesn't mean that's what the brewery charges. If you buy it there I can see your complaint though. A few you mentioned I know don't sell at the prices you said.

 

I will quote the Lem Matlow of the Jack Daniel's lineage, "All goods worth price charged". If the beer looks interesting/tasty enough to you you will buy it regardless of the price. There are some beers that after tasting you would feel are over priced at which point you don't buy them again. A brewery will not succeed if everyone who buys their beer feels its not worth the price and doesn't come back for more.

 

No, if you have to stand in line or chase a truck to buy something the price is obviously too low.

 

Ballast Point? Yes. Everyone else? No. That is all.

 

I've spent over 100$ on a single bottle of beer a couple times, overcharged or not I'm an idiot.

 

Craft beer is no different than anything else. It's all about the price point. If people are willing to pay $30, they're damn sure not going to charge $20. Simple as that.

 

I have a hard time with Hoppin Frogs prices, and Ballast Point in particular. I love Fifty Fifty brews but $30 is steep, only a few are worth that price. I think there's enough competition to keep things even keel, so I think most are quite fair.