Are large format bottles done?

'Bombers' was always such a dumb term.

But yeah, large format bottles are nowhere near as prevalent as they used to be. A lot have switched over to12oz bottle (like Abyss), so maybe grab a 4/6 pack of one of those?

 

No.

In the US, the situation with craft 22oz bombers is drastically different now. What was once ubiquitous is now practically gone. 750ml Belgian imports are still around (thank God... and your best bet for what you are looking for), but the level of variety is much lower now. 750ml US beers designed to resemble Belgian beer in some form are still around but much rarer in stores compared to the past (it's probably easier to find such options fresh at breweries than stores... but antique beers collecting dust on a store shelf are another story). The other day I came across some old 750s of Celebrator and was struck by how attractive the packaging was:

 

I really like the the 750 bottle for certain events,especially for what you're attempting to do.
Day to day though im less of a fan and I guess others are starting to feel the same
As @BBThunderbolt stated 4 packs seem to be the replacement format

 

Seems like you should be able to find a lambic or a gueuze from 3 Fonteinen somewhere. It's available here, and this isn't exactly a beer mecca. As to the larger question, I don't believe the large format corked & caged / wax-sealed "fancy" bottles are going anywhere any time soon, at least as far as imports are concerned. We still see quite a few of these. As far as bombers are concerned, good riddance.

I'd recommend 3F Oude Geuze Cuvée Armand & Gaston, if you can find it.

 

Out here in Colorado it's 500ml at 750ml prices or higher. Quality bottle purchases are killing beer budgets. Especially for us retired folks! Happy hunting......

 

8-10 years ago here in the DFW area I carried easily 18-24 different 750ml beers. From Belgians to La Fin... to Boulevard to Southern Tier to.....you get the picture. I sold them aplenty. They disappeared fairly rapidly, as my distros just quit carrying them. It's too bad, because the market was good for them. Now I am only carrying Duvel and Chimay. Otherwise, I'm in 19.2 hoppy hell.

 

In CT I think 750s have really been taken out mercilessly by 4x16oz freshies. Like everything brewed at 12percent. That’s what I see in fridges at most places. Some time machines still carrying old bombers. I always quite enjoyed grabbing those on occasion. Pity

 

First, let’s not equate 22oz bombers with 750mL bottles—the volume is similar but the message they send couldn’t be more different.

But yes, I think the OP is right, the age of the corked/caged (i.e., “classy”) 750mL bottle is on the wane. And we are all the lesser for it.

 

I can still find Saison Dupont in 750 ml bottles. That would be my go to for this kind of thing. Boulevard's Saison Brett use to be that...but I don't think that is made anymore

 

The two “bomber” sizes were 22oz, which was very standard, and then a “true” bomber, or maybe what you’d call an imperial bomber, which is 25.2oz = 750ml

 

Bomber =22oz

I still see 750 bottles but baby of them also come in smaller formats at a much better price/ounce.

I dont think I have bought a dozen 750 bottles in the last 5-6 years. Prior I bought many.

The 19.2 can is the new bomber but the big differences are 19.2 is much better priced and 19.2 is mostly main stream high ABV beers. Main stream being not one off or hard to find beers like 22oz used to be.

Enjoy

 

This is one of my favorite beers, and for me, Saison Dupont in the other packaging formats in the US falls short in ways that go beyond romance and presentation. If the 750 stopped coming here, I think it would be a big loss.

 

The nickname "bomber" was typically applied to long-neck larger bottles of 20-24 ounces. The original 22 ounce bottles were popular briefly in the western US during WWII (since they used less glass and metal per ounce of beer) and the size was revived in the 1980s, initially by foreign brewers who used a variety of sizes.



As @zid notes, the 750 ml. bottles, sometimes champagne-shaped, sometimes corked and caged, were usually not considered "bombers".

 

22/25 oz 'bombers' have been shelf-turding here for the past five years. One store I frequent had an aisle dedicated to that format, but over the past couple of years they sold most of them off at discount. Another store still has perhaps six different ones. Other stores haven't had them for years. Few brewers make them anymore, and I'm good with that. Ironically I dig stovepipes, which are only slightly smaller...

 

What the 4 pack pounder cans didn't do to the bomber market. Stovepipe cans did. Bombers weigh a lot. Cans do not. Any self respecting self distributing brewery took a hard look at the numbers level of how much they could carry and how much it cost to do so. There was also a range of mobile canning operations that accommodated this emerging market. And away they went.