hey guys, so before I ask the question, I happily picked up a bottle of Black Damnation II-Mocha Bomb the other day for a decent sum. I had no issues paying the price as I already knew it would be expensive, so I'm not complaining one bit about the cost at all. My general question though is: Why the heck are they so expensive? I couldn't really gather any info about the beer from the bottle store as to why. Is it because it's imported, aged for years, ingredients... Just was wondering is all, really excited to crack this guy open Thanks in advance! Nas4atu
Every time I ask my local guy about buying one he tells me just to get the Black Albert (which is the base beer). Its only $10 a bottle and fantastic. I haven't tried the MB, but he says it is the best variation on the base. I genuinely hope you enjoy it. However, I have found that my favorite beers are not the whales, but they are more fun to hunt down.
I dunno but Black Berry Albert was the most I've spent on a beer and also one of my biggest disappointments. I'm pretty sure 18 months later there are still bottles on the shelf where I bought it.
Probably not because it's imported, struise is also pretty expensive in Belgium. I guess they are limited and popular, which makes it a sellers market.
I picked up a bottle of Pannepot recently. Anytime I've seen bottles of De Struise they are pricey. I just figured the cost to ship and the popularity were the reasons.
Well if you bought it here in the US there are several things. Some the ingredients. More the aging for years as the brewer has costs there. Then the brewer sells it to an importer who ships it across the Atlantic. The importer sells it to a distributor in your state. The distributor sells it to the store where you bought it. The store sells it to you. Everyone is going to recover expenses and make some profit. Then there are also currency exchange rates involved.... If you buy something like an IPA from your local brewery lots of those costs are simply not there at all. Bottom line, virtually all imported beers cost more. e.g., Saison Dupont in the least expensive place I can find it is now about $22 for a 4 pack of 330 ml bottles, whereas I can buy Sofie from GI or Tank 7 from Boulevard for much less than that (e.g., Sofie is $12 at the same store where Dupont is $22). Enjoy.
Something I dont think was mentioned yet was the cost of making the new style bottle graphics/labels. Back when the black damnation series was small format and paper labels, they were upset with the condition the labels looked sitting on shelves. (Paper labels getting damaged, falling off, etc.) When the new silk screened/painted labels were first released there was a big outrage on facebook about it and Urbain commented that the price had to increase because of how much the new bottles cost. The graphics were updated and the process of making those new bottles was expensive. (I personally dont know the exact details, im just repeating what he said at the time.) I really enjoy the black damnation beers and guess im just spoiled with their old "yeast shop" and how it use to only cost $10 per 11oz bottle delivered to my door. As much as I would love to have more of this beer, its hard to justify spending 2x the price per ounce just because they wanted to make the bottle look more attractive.
the new bottles (bombers) aren't the same quality as their previous versions. Also they taste a bit sour (infected?). Not worth the money imo.
Struise is expensive also in Belgium, but it's worth every penny. I never had one of their beers that I don't like. Last weekend, I got a Pablo Eiscobar (Cuvee Delphine on Steroids, 40%ABV) for 25€ at their place.
Lots of these are infected. Had a mocha and coffee that were both gushers. Pretty disappointing specially considering price.
