Looking for some Ale Apothecary in Bend

I'm pretty sure that MSRP on alcoholic beverages is a no-no in Oregon.
Beyond that, I'd be adverse to using them because the needs of each business vary greatly. What may be a $4 bottle at one location may need to be $5.50 at another to pay bills/staff (and because pricing even in different parts of the state can vary). And it generally favors large retailers if you go that route, to the detriment of all the passionately staffed specialty shops.
Sounds good initially, but I'm skeptical of the approach in actual application.

Right now, it's safe to say that if you see bottles of anything, anywhere, beyond Bu and Petit, or the special event where we're in attendance, it's likely grey market. The prices we charge at our brewery are public knowledge (facebook).
That distributed selection will increase as more foeders mature.

And thanks John. I like that price hikes and grey market sales haven't been a part of our Northwest scene too.
Theres so MUCH good beer around that we can afford to have a reasonable attitude. I hope we can keep it that way, though I still haven't heard from anyone about where this illegal sale is happening, nor the last time on this forum when I asked where it was in a different city.

I get that folks want to 'protect' their local store. But your local store is giving us, and ultimately beer consumers a big middle finger. If it were an altruistic endeavor it would just be shared, or sold at cost (which while would be fine with me).

 

Saw Trevor had posted in a thread about AA and immediately starting thinking about a de Garde/Ale Apothecary collaboration beer. Can you make this dream a reality please?

 

We've previously talked with Paul about it. I think we've both been so crazy busy that it fell through the cracks. Might be time to revisit the idea in the near future...

 

I'm reluctant to out the establishment, knowing them as good people and believing that they have the altruistic goal of making beers available in Bend that don't normally make it here. I felt their mark up was reasonable, in line with the markup on Bu and Petit Desay vs. your chalkboard prices, not unlike giving someone gas money for a beer run. I don't see it as them giving anyone the middle finger if they purchased from you at the price you set on the coast and then made it available in Central Oregon. I understand how it might look from your perspective, given ample evidence from more opportunistic or cutthroat markets/stores, but that's not what's happening here.

 

It is certainly a negative.
It's illegal. That's just a simple fact. A retail establishment cant buy at retail for resale in Oregon. You can argue the merit or value of the regulations we operate under, but if 'you' are alone in breaking the rules, 'you' are assuming an unfair advantage in the market. I liken it to the 'pay to play' tactics of larger breweries/distributors.
I don't think I need to make an argument for why a single establishment benefiting from illegal practices is bad for us all.

When you buy from us anonymously to resell, that is telling us what you think of us. When you lie to your customers about where it came from, that tells them what you think of them.
Altruistic it's not. It's profit motive. Even if the net is only $3 per bottle (I'm hearing much higher), it helps drive customers to your store instead of playing on a level field.

In any case, it's been confirmed by several others who the Bend location is, so I'll stay out of this thread. no hard feelings to you. We can all disagree amicably, and I'm happy to buy you a beer when we cross paths!

Enjoy the great beer in Bend OP! You'll be swimming in a wealth of riches.

 

when you put it like that, that's some fucked up shit.

 

I am not sure how many of you read Paul's blog posts or get caught up in the romantics and philosophy of beer but I thought his most recent post was really poignant. Some really great stuff happening at Ale Apothecary that might be of interest to you all. Also the last paragraph is relevant to the recent ABInbev buyouts. Enjoy.

http://mountainbrewery.org/2015/01/...ere-beer-constitutes-quasi-the-fifth-element/

Caution: If you think of beer as merely a commodity and hate metaphorical musings - this is probably not for you.

 

Crows Feet Commons had a De Garde beer for $55/bottle when we were there in October. I don't remember what bottle it was, but it left a very bad taste in my mouth about that place. They seemed to really want to give us the "right" to buy their grey market bottle.

 

So why not go ahead and post the shop so we can all opt not to shop there until there is a resolution?

 

That's insane. What a bummer, that's totally a go to spot for me when I'm in bend. That leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

I like them a lot, but it's not the first time. CFC has muled kegs illegally over state lines before.

 

That is brutal and a damn shame.

 

That's actually not a grey market bottle, Lee Noir was distributed to Bend through Point Blank at the time of release. Not sure why CFC thinks $55 is an appropriate price (esp. given that the bottle has not been handled with the utmost care), but they obtained that bottle through the 3-tier system.

 

Good to know. I rescind my grey market comment.

 

$55 for the Lee Noir? I bought one from them a while back for probably $15. Wow.

 

That makes me feel better.

 

Really? I thought de Garde had only self-distributed until Bu and Petit.

 

They sent a handful of things out via Point Blank back in late 2013. A quick peek at our database shows we received Cornelio Nunez, Lee Noir, Morning Star, Rougie, and Spears through PB at one point or another. Most of the releases were 1-3 cases at most, so they tended to disappear quickly.