Oh where art thou Ballast Point?

I'll buy Grapefruit Sculpin if I see it fresh. And I like a few others too, but the price keeps it being a regular but for me.

 

I started working recently at a local, craft-driven liquor store, and in almost 3 months, I can count the # of BP products I've sold on one hand. $14 for a 6-pack of average IPA (in my opinion) and BS flavored takes on everything = major shelf turd around here.

 

Any time a brewery is sold or otherwise goes under new management there will be threads about that brewery “slipping.”

 

Only beer I consider buying from them is Victory At Sea and Calico Amber ( or whatever they call it nowadays). Whoever made the Rogue comparison is spot on.

 

I had a chance to try the BP unfiltered sculpin and that was a pretty damn good beer, and it flew off the shelves even at a $12.99 ring, but most people I talk to at work aren't gonna pay the extra $$$ for BP. We usually break the 6-packs open and make them singles and the singles sell okay at that point.

 

VaS is still one of the best readily available big beers around. Buy it fresh every year and always try to get the peanut butter variant.

Agree on the IPA's. Plenty of lower priced and/or fresher options out there. As mentioned above my IPA consumption is also trending very local with the high quality/freshness ratio....

 

It's a miracle that I never had a Sculpin for the first time until a few years ago because it was consistently the most expensive 6 pack on the shelves around here. That's probably less the case these days, but the last time I purchased it for the home was a couple years ago when there was an all out blitz of the base and variants and I want to try them all together.

The coconut victory at sea has been eyeing me every time I'm in the store, and I might buy the barrel aged version if I can find it and the price is reasonable.

 

Sculpin is a really, really good beer when it’s fresh. At 15 dollars/6 though, it tends to just sit and get old. By the time it gets marked down to 10-12 dollars/6 at my local stores (the price it should probably start out at), it’s already at least 6 months old. Having said that, I am anxiously awaiting barrel-aged victory at sea, which should come out next month. I had it in on tap at the brewery 4 or 5 years ago and it was great.

 

I have no qualms with BP, as long as it's fresh
Seems like everything was fresh several months ago, but that big drop hasn't been replenished. So I look elsewhere.

 

I think Fathom was originally an IPL. When they recently redid the artwork, I wonder if they rebranded it an IPA?

 

I'll pick up Grunion occasionally if it's fresh. Other than that, I only buy Victory at Sea (and its variants) from them these days.

 

Purely anecdotal, but speaking with local retailers, they all say the same thing: "Ballast Point came in and sold fast, but when we reordered, we haven't been able to sell much since."

Ballast Point hit shelves here for the first time ever at the end of this past year, and moved quick. It was tough to get a 6 pack of Grapefruit Sculpin those first three months, and now it's tough to find a 6 pack that's less than 2 months old. That stagnation on local shelves, and ludicrous 6-pack pricing has lead me, and others, to buy other beers.

I do feel a little bad for them, as their local beer rep is a super great, kind, and nice guy, but I just can't justify leaving the store with a $16 6 pack with an regularity. I'll opt for the $10 or less packs, especially if I'm doing some fridge stocking.

 

Last 2 times in a bottle store I never even noticed rogue.

3 years ago they seemed to dominate a large corner and specialty spots in the same store. Now it's mostly Vt, Me, NH and NY states. Some Colorado brews but rogue, I don't know if they even carry them anymore.

 

Probably.

 

Seriously. While I recognize that the Sculpin Series is pretty solid, I can't justify spending $15 a six pack (that quite frankly, isn't really that special.) When Indra Kunindra was released, I had high hopes for BP. Personally I think Lagunitas and Stone have better, more intriguing options put on the shelves and at a better price. Just very surprised Ballast Point hasn't lowered their prices - I might be more inclined to purchase if they did.

 

JK, is there any way to determine how much of that growth (227vk to 400-ish k) is due to expanding distribution to new areas? Does anybody track sales within the context of established markets?

@Harrison8 posted: Purely anecdotal, but speaking with local retailers, they all say the same thing: "Ballast Point came in and sold fast, but when we reordered, we haven't been able to sell much since."

FWIW I have heard similar things from my local beer retailers as well. I am guessing that much of the growth between 2015 to 2016 was new sales in new markets. If these new markets follow the pattern of my area there will be declining sales post the initial drop of Ballast Point beers.

Cheers!

 

I hate that they turned that beer into a completely different beer. Fathom IPL was really quite good. I haven't had this new IPA, but I won't be trying it because in my mind it displaced a beer I really enjoyed.

The only beers I very occasionally buy from them are Victory at Sea and Calm Before the Storm. The fruited stuff is trash aimed at the non-beer crowd in my opinion, and the standards are easily surpassed by cheaper local options.

 

Does anyone have an idea why the price is so high? I just can't figure it out. Lagunitas has just as much distro around here and their stuff is always fresh and affordable...

 

The Fathom was good, I’ll still grab a pint of Grapefruit Sculpin when I see it, but the packs are over priced...I do love the Victory at Sea varieties