Founders CBS (2018)

Well, it's not really $52 for "two beers" though. It's not a stellar deal, but at that size of a bottle and alcohol percentage it's the equivalent of ~10 standard beers.

Of course the other way to look at it is that in terms of ounces it is ~4.23 twelve ounce bottles. Making it an absurd $12.29 per 12 oz. bottle. Or a dollar per ounce.

Can you imagine buying a single 12 oz. bottle of KBS for $12?

If a random guy like me from the internet has your wife's number and is regularly contacting her, I think you have bigger problems than how much you spend on a bottle of beer.

 

So do you think the super markets are specifically asking to purchase CBS? Are they asking because they know what CBS is or because they see a special release and they like to showcase a few special releases? I know Hannaford specifically has a weekly rack in the middle of the aisle that has some one-offs or seasonal releases. Trying to understand how knowledgeable we'd guess the buyers at these super markets to be and perhaps the distributor.

Thought this is a little off topic it does tie into overall pricing discrepancies, so if we assume someone like Hannaford doesn't get a lower price then everyone is playing with margins based on a larger cost model. Hannaford doesn't need to have a large margin on CBS because they are selling you other things and perhaps when you see something like CBS you'll start to look at their other beer. Smaller vendors might need to make up lower margin on other beers by increasing the margin on something like CBS. Does this also tie into larger cost items like kegs? Large stores like Ayotte's will charge just under $70 for something like a Sam Adams keg whereas most smaller stores are charging under $90. So likewise is this just factoring in margin or are the distributors giving other incentives? Not sure if you or someone else that's in the industry can comment but I think its important to understand when we are talking about pricing.

 

Anyone still seeing this in metro west area? Had been busy and didn't realize it was already out. Figured it was going to be Thanksgiving week again.

 

Yeah. They have a corporate beer buyer for each supermarket chain and he'll negotiate with the Founders rep and the distributors for what the whole chain will carry and then authorize certain products for each/certain stores. They can be pretty knowledgeable, but usually they are conservative with their offerings. Supermarkets just want volume, they want stuff that will move. Special releases move, so why aren't more in supermarkets? Because breweries care about where their items are sold, and the perception of ubiquity or commonness can harm the brand in a luxury good market. It's a negotiation between what the grocery store might want and ask for and what the breweries want to sell where.

Kegs are sometimes sold on quantity deals and sometimes not. Ayotte's is a stateline volume store, so typically they run on lower margins to entice cross-state commerce. Specifically, Ayotte's sells a lot of kegs, so probably gets volume credits from the distributor and buys at the deepest quantity deal where available.

Supermarkets like Hannaford have low margins on almost everything, not just beer. It's just about pure volume of stuff. (Hypothetical margins) They could make $4.50 on $15 (30% margin), but they'd rather make $5 on $33 (15% margin) from four times as many people. They do negotiate lower prices on most goods to sell even cheaper on top of the low margin, but beer is regulated more than most goods and often require standardized posted quantity discounts with the state that are available to everyone. However, the chains, especially in NH, have enough power to dictate what those quantity discounts will be and they get negotiated in advance to correspond with sales and flyers and the like they have planned. Usually this is for 12 packs and larger. Specialty items like CBS don't usually get discounted.

 

26.99 in Leominster- I bought one despite the sticker shock-was one of my favorite beers last last year. I also went with a 15 pack of Jack's Abbey House Lager at 17.99 instead of some other more expensive beer to go along with the splurge . I expect to be happy with both purchases.

 

The new Bacon's in Framingham still has some. Also has some BA Ten Fidy on the shelf.

 

Is ten fidy good? There's some on the shelves down the street from me

 

Ten Fidy is such a great shelf imperial stout. Great MF and classic notes are pretty big. The BA version is one of my favorite releases of the year. Perfect for me with about a year on those stovepipes but excellent fresh.

 

LOL, This is true - though I know a few people IRL from here...

As I mentioned, as of the other night 5th Ave had some, and I was just over at Wegmans, they have it much cheaper, $22, though you have to ask. I think I saw 3 cases in the cooler when the guy went to get it. (yeah, I said I wasn't going to get any more but...)

Wait, what? Bacons? in Framingham? When? Where??

 

On Rt 135 heading into Ashland. It used to be Marathon Liquors. Been up and running for about 6 months now.

 

Found it when I was looking for BCBS this weekend. After passing on it and saying I wasn't going to buy it I pulled the trigger at $25.99. I passed it by at $21.99 when it first came out but for some reason seeing it again at a higher price was too hard to pass by!!??

Honestly I wanted to taste it again with a different mindset. The first time I drank it was last year and it was so hyped up that it was hard to judge effectively. Now that being said I had Curmudgeon's Better Half over the weekend and thought it was fantastic. Its also only around $3-4 per 12 oz bottle.

 

So after trying it again I actually found this to be a really good beer. The first year I had this I thought it was too sweet but drinking the 2018 version I found it to be really enjoyable. Not sure if its different than last year or its just having it a second time without having so many expectations. Not sure how everyone else who bought this beer felt about it.

 

If anyone is still looking I found my bottle last night at total wines next to the natick mall. They had about 10 on display one per. $26.99.

 

Still waiting until Christmas to open mine, can't wait.

 

Update: Had CBS. Enjoyed the hell out of it. Not much maple but it didn't even matter. One of the best stouts I've had for sure.

 

I opened one on Christmas Eve! Glad to hear you enjoyed. It remains one of my favorite stouts even after being lucky enough to enjoy some other heavy hitters this stout season. It's such a delicious blend of chocolate, bourbon, and maple.

 

Total Wine in West Hartford has CBS for $28. They had at least a few bottles.

 

CBS at Costco in Waterbury CT yesterday $20 a bottle

 

Still plenty of CBS and KBS in Seabrook NH

 

Plenty of bottles at Fort Point Market on the back shelf next to the cooler with singles; $~28 I think.