Available at the brewery or via home delivery! I just ordered 12 of these and picked up 4 bottles of the Beaver River IPA Barrel Aged Blend. The Venskab sounds pricey at $18.95 a bottle but the description sounds delicious enough to buy. I bought 12 as a collective order for friends. Here is the description: Venskab was brewed based on a Belgian Tripel style. It was hopped with German Perle and Belgian Cascade, and some bog myrtle was added into the kettle to add a herbal nuance. The beer was strengthened with some organic cane sugar added into initial fermentation, then during conditioning the beer aged on Southbrook Organic Ice Wine-soaked oak chips. Venskab was then aged in Canadian white wine barrels for several months. A final touch was the addition of yuzu, a Japanese citrus fruit, and then the beer was prepared for bottle conditioning with the introduction of Champagne yeast and priming sugar. http://www.beaus.ca/beer/wild_oats/venskab
Yes, it does sound tasty, and as you say, pricey. Beau's has just priced themselves out of my reach. How can they justify this extreme price? At what point does making a good business profit turn into a consumer rip off? If it costs them just as much as their other beers to make and to market, the price should be the same too. I am all for free enterprise, but there are limits.
Who says it costs the same? Based on that description I would guess that it costs considerably more to produce than their normal fare. Even if we ignore the ice wine soaked oak chips, yuzu, and bottle conditioning, barrel ageing alone is a time-consuming and labour-intensive process. Barrels cost money, they need to be filled by hand, they take up a lot of space, and individual barrels can succumb to infection rendering the contents unusable. Beers like this aren't a money-maker by any means. They're something special for the company's patrons. Granted moderate hype could effect the price, but I would guess any mark-up caused by hype would be small if anything at all. The point is, if they could make these beers all the time for the same price as Lug Tread or any of their seasonal offerings they would. But, the reality is that their real profits come from those year-round beers/seasonals, not these one-offs. Is the beer worth $18.95? Ultimately that's up to you to decide, but I think ripping off their customers is the last thing a company like Beau's would want to do.
And that's how the free market works. You cannot find value for this beer and thus you do not buy it. Others will, if the price is too high they will not sell it all. Serious and IMHO on-topic question: How much did you pay for that little bottle of Westy 12 in your profile picture?
I doubt they're making much off of this, but, more generally, get used to it. I think the day of the one-off at a sessionable price is near-dead. Beer is fashionable now, have to take the smooth with the rough and all that.
All very good points made here, and thanks for the input. In one sense, any product is worth what people are willing to pay. Unfortunately, my beer budget does not allow me to indulge in a lot of high priced beers, no matter how good they are. I blew a bundle on the Westy at Pub Italia ($40), and I must say, it was worth it. I am sure the good people at Beau's are not ripping us off, and I love their beers. By the way, when in Ottawa, check out the new Big Rig brew pub. Ottawa is coming up in the world, with several home town venues for great beer.
I remember reading when you first posted that you had a bottle of West at pub Italia, figured it was pricey, but $40 seems pretty reasonable considering how rare they are and that you are buying it in a bar. I shitty bottle of wine will cost you that at any restaurant, and this is suppose to be one of, if not the best beer in the world - small price to pay. Trippinbillyrmc, have you tried it yet? I reserved a bottle to pick up on my way back from Ottawa, want to much sure it's good
