Cascade coming to Chicago.

@mayorQuimby fair and understandable.

Regardless its good to have a few more additional great sours on top of us getting Paradox, Almanac and Logsdon within the last few months.

 

I'm glad that Cascade is in our market but I'll hold off on buying these for now.

 

They will be hot for a while then taper off. How many people buy a second at those prices? But nothing wrong with a new beer on the shelf.

 

Well, if you like having to sort through a bunch of turds to locate the good beers then you are correct. Call me crazy but there's too many beers on the shelf imo.

 

Way too many old ass beers setting on shelves as is. Now you're going to pile on some Cascade with Cantillon price tag.

 

I remember seeing Cascade Kriek for $18 a few years ago. Sour prices have become insane.

 

Cascade is not a shelf turd. I am all for more good beers being available to more people. I have a problem when a brewery thinks their beer is worth $2 an ounce, but that doesn't make them a shelf turd. And, BTW, your local liquor store is keeping the good stuff in the back for the regular customers, friends and quantity buyers.

 

They might not be a turd around here at this point in time seeing as how they just hit the shelves but give it time. People aren't going to keep forking over the money for these beers when there are cheaper $/oz options available. At that point in time, yes, they will be considered a shelf turd.

 

Good, keep scoffing at the price. These will be some of the most delicious shelf turds I've ever had.

 

In Seattle, and hell even at their own brewery, Cascade defines the term shelf turd. It's too expensive to move. I'm generally down to try most of their releases, but a lot of them retail in the $30 range and just do not sell. The buzz around this brewery is loooooooooong gone.

 

For a brewery that brews beer that is "too expensive to move" then how have they managed to stay in business for so long? Why is a distributor picking up their contact in Chicago? Why are they all over the shelves in California? I will join the bandwagon for those who boycott $30 beers but they are in business and doing fine. I can't criticize that.

 

I would've said the same about FiftyFifty's Eclipse stuff, but even though it always seems to be on the shelves, someone has to be buying it, for them to continue to charge $30/bottle year after year.

Like The Bruery, I think they've found their niche at that price point.

 

Fair question - their barrelhouse is certainly an enjoyable place to visit and doesn't hurt for business. There used to be a time where bottles flew off the shelves but now you can basically count on any release being available for purchase at the brewery for a year or more. They'll create a buzz in Chicago, no doubt, but it'll fade. It's always fascinated me how there is absolutely zero love for Cascade in the NW forums, but there isn't and it certainly doesn't help that DeGarde is releasing better products for a fraction of the price. I'm not a Cascade hater, but their pricing is ridiculous.

 

to be fair, the Kriek retails at $20 these days.

 

The market has proven that these "wine" beers can survive and the price point is part of the marketing. There obviously is a group of buyers out there (wearing LuLuLemon and pushing a kid around Whole Foods Market) that believe the high price point reflects the quality of the product. The Bruery, Cascade, Fifty Fifty are all sitting beside each other in my local Whole Foods and seem to be doing fine. The people on this website aren't fooled. We have deGarde, Jester King, New Glarus and others that sell at amazingly reasonable prices and no one is complaining about the quality. Personally I have no problem when a specialty beer is $20+. Coolship Resurgam ($20), Flora ($22), BBBB ($10) and the list goes on of great beers that I would pay top dollar for and be glad to get. But when I was in Glenwood Springs, CO and bought 6 Casey shelf beers for $18 each only to find out it was just another beer (one that would have not blind taste tested well against any other beer of that style - at any price point) it made me, the beer geek, no different than the LuLuLemon lady. Maybe worse.

 

Interesting point and I agree with the Bruery finding their niche, but they have a leg up on other breweries that start off the gate at the $20+ price point, as you can walk into any store and grab beers from them that range from $12 - $30. I also think they are more sought after, where as FiftyFifty is very niche and you are not seeing stores order cases from them weekly.

 

I went to their Barrel House this summer on a west coast road trip. Behind Russian River, it was my favorite stop on our trip. I paid $20ea for 2 bottles and will gladly do it again. I was very excited to hear that Cascade will be distributed near me. Now I don't have to wait for my next road trip to get more!

 

It won't be $20 here. Most likely $24.

 

You can't just walk into the liquor store and pick those up so I don't see how you can compare them at all.

 

There were two different points being made in the two sentences:

Jester King is available at a fair amount of liquor stores in Austin for less than $10. New Glarus is available all over Wisconsin for cheaper than bottled water. DeGarde can be had in many places around Portland for under $10. You "can" just walk into liquor stores and buy them.

Point #2 is the best specialty beers are often still cheaper than the wine beers and I will pay those prices all day.

Cases of Westy XII are 48 Euros. Those aren't in the liquor store.