Great Raft Brewing

Great Raft needs to be in Baton Rouge but they are not.... I wish they were, I hate driving to New Orleans for Commotion

 

Someone needs to explain to me why I paid $15 a bottle for BBA Old Mad Joy at the brewery release and its in our local stores for $11.99. WTF. I need a hell of a good reason to buy any bottles on site cause this makes no sense.

 

I too am upset to hear this. I spent quite a bit of money at the brewery that day. I have noticed this in the past with both bottle releases of Grace and Grit so it seems it only happens when they know the product is slightly more limited than their other releases. I guess I will plan on waiting for the distribution of bottles in the future if we are going to be taken advantage of in house.

 

Is BB OMJ sitting on shelves up there? I would have thought being the first time it is released, that it would be an immediate sellout.

You'd think things are cheaper at the brewery, but it isn't always the case. My memory may be off, but I think Parish sold Grand Reserve for $15 at the brewery for GR day and there were a few places selling it a few bucks cheaper when it hit distro. It is a little annoying, but at least the money is going directly to the brewery. If only everyone had the de Garde pricing philosophy.

 

Yea, I will also echo just a bit of bewilderment.... I went to the brewery on release day and
purchased my 4 bottle allotment.

Much to my surprise I went into a local bottle shop to pick up a few more that next week and it was priced 2 or 3 dollars cheaper than at the brewery.
I would have assumed the prices would have been the other way around??

I am personally not upset or mad about spending a couple dollars extra at the brewery, as i proudly support Great Raft, but it just seemed odd, and it may dampen any incentives to go to the brewery for any future release.

All things will be made right if they start canning the base Old Mad Joy and Make Believer.

Great Raft, you are doing a great job.

 

I bought the 4 bottle allotment there too. I would have gladly spent the difference on a couple bottles of something else while I was there. I'll just wait for it to hit the shelves in the future

 

To be fair, we are talking about pennies here. These are pretax prices folks. Whats SHV sales tax? 8.6%? Anyone pay tax ever at the brewery?

Cuban - $12.99

Tony's - $12.99

Brewniverse - $12.99

Maxwells - $12.99

World Market - $12.99

Thrifty - $12.99

Albertsons - $11.99

Wine Country - $14.50

 

not to be a dick, but with an average price rounded to 13 bucks, 8.6% tax would make the out the door price $14.12 rounding up. If somebody bought the max allowed at the brewery it adds up to an extra $3.52 that they wouldn't have paid at a bottle shop.

I think the heartburn a lot of people are having is that it cost more at the source with tax than it does at a secondary seller that had to add a little bit to the cost they paid for it to make a profit. Especially given three tier regulations, the beer first had to go to a distributor and then to the bottleshop/grocery store so two people tacked on a little bit to make money. I don't think anybody has a problem with being charged the same as a bottle shop to keep things fair for the people stocking your beers(if that would have been your original argument for your pricing) but to say that people are complaining over pennies is inaccurate in my opinion.

 

No worries. You guys can voice opinions about whatever you like. I will certainly listen to them all and respond accordingly. We aren't perfect but are always trying to get better.

Here are few other insights you may not realize.

When we price beer, it's always a challenge because we know that the same beer will hit the shelves at the retailer and we have no control over their pricing. We try to account for the standard margins that both the retailer and distributor take and come in just above the retailer (50 cents to a dollar).

We do this mainly because we don’t want to undercut our retailers. State law says 90% of my volume has to be sold to distributors. If I’m selling three dollar pints in the tasting room, I would see plenty of bar owners pissed and more than likely pull my taps. Same goes for packaged beer. We want to support them and give you ample reason to buy our beer from them.

This pricing approach is certainly not unique to us.

 

Thanks for the insight and transparency. that's definitely a satisfactory response for me.

 

In mid-June, I'm taking the family to Dallas and I would like to make a quick stop off I20 to pick up some Great Raft beer. I will not have time to go by the brewery. I'm looking for best selection and convenience to I20. What do you recommend? Thanks.

 

@eaglefreak there are 3 stores less than 5 minutes or so from i20, brewniverse, cuban liquor, and Tony's. The best part is that those stores are all within about a block radius of each other. Brewniverse will have the best selection then cuban, then tonys. You will have no trouble finding the regular line up: southern drawl, commotion, and reasonably corrupt. There may be some All My Tomorrows and Provisions & Traditions around too. If you call Nathan at brewniverse he may be able to hold you a bottle of BAOMJ also.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

just make a stop in New Orleans on the way back.....

 

Hey @AndrewNations any news on the next Provisions and Traditions?

 

We are still working on recipe development but know it will be with Chef Drake Leonards of Restaurant Luke. Here is some more info about the John Besh Foundation and what this series contributes to.

http://www.nola.com/food/index.ssf/2015/05/two_newest_recipients_of_the_c.html

 

Make Believer Session IPA tapping in the Tasting Room Thursday 6/9. Draft and growlers.

 

oh hell ya

 

when is great raft coming to Baton Rouge, Houma, Thibodaux is all I want to know