Ballast Point Files Paperwork for IPO

I think their ability to raise prices is lower than a lot of other breweries since they are already high. The value of stock is never really related to a company as it stands today, future expectations are priced into the current share price. So in that regards, I think I would feel the same way as their ability to push margins higher with price increases are lower (at least in my option).

 

I feel like a broken record repeating essentially the same thing in every thread where there is "Brand X's sixer of beer costs ~$15. Overpriced shite.". It just doesn't seem to generally get through to people so now I'm trying to understand why this is the case. It's possible people only compare format prices against each other. So sixer prices against sixer prices (e.g., $16 Sculpin vs $9.99 which seems to be a common price point for sixers so the Sculpiin is a ripoff of course) and bomber prices against bomber prices. I need to do a study. Maybe BA can fund me

 

Rational / intelligent shoppers definitely seem to be in the minority and it is not just craft beer. Many people are much more comfortable making emotional decisions and end up paying more for less. Helps my business so I quit complaining.

 

FWIW, that is how I evaluate things. I am a rational shopper.

@ACGypsy won't be getting help from me.

Cheers!

 

as a former econ major, this reads like poetry... i'll be watching the ticker and rooting for them since we were drinking their beers for so many years... out of sheer curiosity.... they'll surely widen their spirits program

 

you're supposed to be comparing six packs to six packs. bar consumption is different from home. sixers of all BP beers are over-priced. They can price it at what they like but I reach for Sucks and others any day over them it, not because I'm a cheap-ass, but because of comparative value.

 

which means it'll be the other side that gets squeezed slowly, the expense side... staffing, occupancy, ingredient, packaging cost, etc.

 

That's kind of my thing with Sculpin, too. For one thing, it's more like $13.99 'round these parts, but I also cannot think of of a comparable IPA in six packs available locally that isn't the same or more. People don't seem to scoff at $8 bombers of similar beers. I'll take the 6 separate servings at an often better price-per-oz than many other IPA/DIPAs around. It's certainly among the better of the readily available IPAs and, yeah, it would be awesome if it was a $11 sixer but at the same time, I'd be hard pressed to find an $11 six pack that I like more.

Edit: I do see that Sucks has been mentioned and that is a good comparison, tho I strongly prefer Sculpin. Other Lagunitas beers are better values than Sculpin, tho. I also like SN Hop Hunter enough, but haven't seen it fresh in a while.

 

Money is money to me. If I want BP and the options are go out and drink or go to the store, I'll compare the two.

 

Then why not start comparing getting a jug of liquor to beer?

 

Well, I suppose I could state that you are fortunate that you can find Sculpin for 14 bucks vs. the 16-17 bucks it is priced by me but....

A few months ago I bought a 6-pack of Lagunitas Sucks at Total Wine & More (Claymont, DE) for 8 bucks. Yup, that beer was a much better value than Sculpin at 16-17 bucks.

We all have beer choices and it appears that at 14 bucks you have a 'better' choice?

Cheers!

 

Good for them.

However, I saw a six pack of Grunion Pale Ale for $16.99 and laughed my ass off as I picked up some Hanger 24 Betty for $9. Oh well, more for the rest of you wealthy BAs!

 

I've been buying cases of Sculpin at the Costco in Mission Valley (SD) for $40 something. It's funny that Ballast Point got popular with their Yellow Tail (now called the Pale Ale) which is one of the worst beers in their current rotation. They don't make a bad beer.

Also, with the popularity of Grapefruit Sculpin I'd expect some of the new flavors they presented at IPA Day to soon be bottled - Pineapple/Mango Sculpin, Creamsicle Fathom, Watermelon Dorado, Ginger Bigeye, etc.

 

Love how they snagged this ticker right from under Pinterest's noses. Snooze you loose.

I think the canned cocktails line is pretty brilliant. Its gonna get put on the shelves in between the hard stuff and beer, probably on end caps. So it'll act as a gateway between the two types of drinkers. Plus then maybe their prices on beer might not appear to look so bad. The main problem though is that they cant seem to ship the product out fast enough. I have no problem spending the money on fresh Scuplin..I just rarely ever see it fresh enough. So it shelf turds and people, understandably, develop the opinion that's its overrated.

 

Maybe the issue is not that Ballast Point is incapable of shipping quickly but instead that most beer drinkers are not willing to pay 16-17 bucks for a 6-pack of beer so retailers are left with 'old' beer on their shelves. The retailers are not going to order new Sculpin from the wholesale distributors until they sell off their existing inventory.

Cheers!

 

I wonder how this is going to change over the next couple years. Folks have no troubles paying $3.50-$4.00 a can of Heady, Tree House, etc. Specialty releases like Bourbon County continue to increase in price. I kinda wonder if many beer drinkers are actually more okay with higher pricing than we want to think.

 

Maybe yes and maybe no.

The good news from my perspective is that there are plenty of high quality beers to choose from that do not cost 16-17 bucks per six-pack. That is where my money for commercial beer goes.

Cheers!

 

Yeah the store I frequent tends to get BP shipments on a fairly regular basis. So somebody's buying it. But your right...if it's not obvious now, Grunion is gonna.be a real hard sell once $9.99 Lagunitas Born Yesterday comes out.

 

If BP would just do away with their $16-17 Sculpin sixers (it's closer to ~13-14 around the Chicago area btw) and just kept the Sculpin bomber packaging @ ~$8-9, we as consumers would be so much better off. My gosh that's at least $5 I'd be saving.

 

That's certainly one way to do it. I would hope that instead of reducing quality of an existing beer, they would introduce new beers with higher margins to boost profit per barrel. But changes like that are likely a long way away, if at all. They have plenty of room to grow both top and bottom lines of the business by just expanding into new markets. It's usually only as the top line stalls that businesses start to get serious about reducing expenses to drive bottom line growth.