On-site Consumption Bottles at Brewpubs

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by coreyfmcdonald, Apr 11, 2012.

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  1. coreyfmcdonald

    coreyfmcdonald Initiate (0) Nov 13, 2008 Georgia

    To me it seems like a lot of brewpubs go through some of their more interesting beer very quickly via keg. Whether they run through a limited well known beer in a day or they run out of a seasonal well before the end of the season, it seems to happen often. Often times I'll hear about an interesting keg being tapped at a local brewpub and it's gone before I get the change to go.

    A local brewpub of mine has been bottling some of their barrel-aged beers in 750s and selling them in the $25 range for on-site consumption only. This way, they keep some of these items on the menu for months and months. It means there will always be a few really interesting beers on the menu. I wish more brewpubs would do this - I really like the idea. What do you think?
     
    #1 coreyfmcdonald, Apr 11, 2012
  2. Holland

    Holland Initiate (0) Apr 7, 2011 Illinois

    Sounds overpriced. If you're okay with a $12 pour of the beer, then fine. Otherwise, keg it and save me the money.
     
    #2 Holland, Apr 11, 2012
  3. coreyfmcdonald

    coreyfmcdonald Initiate (0) Nov 13, 2008 Georgia

    While it's certainly not cheap, you can only have a certain amount of kegs on at once and they rotate rather quickly. The idea is that you're able to keep a more interesting beer menu for a longer period of time. Also, $25 is rather reasonable for a 750ml of high quality barrel aged beer at a bar in my opinion. It's more like 3 x 8.5oz pours with the styles that would be in the bottles. These generally wouldn't be the kind of beers you would be seeing 13oz pours, anyways.
     
    #3 coreyfmcdonald, Apr 11, 2012
  4. Holland

    Holland Initiate (0) Apr 7, 2011 Illinois

    That's a great idea, but one for which I am not necessarily willing to pay a large premium. It would depend on the beer, but what you're talking about sounds like price discrimination. The better they can price discriminate, the more it eats into my consumer surplus.
     
    #4 Holland, Apr 11, 2012
  5. cbeer88

    cbeer88 Initiate (0) Sep 5, 2007 Massachusetts

    Putting the price discussion aside, I'm all for the idea, but bottling is a giant pain in the ass for a brewpub. Brewpubs also tend to be short on the space required to stash a couple of hundred bottles for any length of time.

    Cambridge Brewing Company did this with one of their barleywines (before they were doing any bottling), so it has been done.
     
    #5 cbeer88, Apr 11, 2012
  6. cmmcdonn

    cmmcdonn Initiate (0) Jun 21, 2009 Virginia

    Not bottling the beer saves the added time and money bottling would create. This could be extremely difficult for smaller brewpubs that don't produce enough volume to compensate.

    Plus, having a tiny bit of scarcity around your "heavy hitters", whether planned or unintended is more often than not going to help rather than hurt the business.


    I would rather that the brewpub always had something new and interesting on tap vs charging a bottle premium. That way if you missed out on something you heard about, there is something just as inventive to replace it.
     
    #6 cmmcdonn, Apr 11, 2012
  7. coreyfmcdonald

    coreyfmcdonald Initiate (0) Nov 13, 2008 Georgia

    I agree that it would take time and money for small brewpubs - I think that's where the premium price comes in. I disagree to having scarcity for the heavy hitters. I think having it premium priced and bottled in 750s would keep it scarce enough and would make it available for anyone visiting in town that wants to go to the brewpub. As far as new and interesting versus lots of bottled options, I think there needs to be a balance between the two. I'm not saying all interesting ageable beer would be bottled, but it'd be nice to have 4-5 options of various styles at any point in time.
     
    #7 coreyfmcdonald, Apr 11, 2012
  8. FosterJM

    FosterJM Initiate (0) Nov 16, 2009 California

    Churchills comes to mind in San Marcos and their Finest Hour stout. They have it for sale once a year and then for on site only after that.

    Cheers!
     
    #8 FosterJM, Apr 11, 2012
  9. UCLABrewN84

    UCLABrewN84 Initiate (0) Mar 18, 2010 California

    Toronado for the Cable Car beers too!
     
    #9 UCLABrewN84, Apr 12, 2012
  10. VncentLIFE

    VncentLIFE Initiate (0) Feb 16, 2011 North Carolina

    I wouldnt pay like 15 for a 750 mL of a local brewpub winter's seasonal. I just enjoy it when its on, and if i miss it, oh well.
     
    #10 VncentLIFE, Apr 12, 2012
  11. woosterbill

    woosterbill Pooh-Bah (2,807) Apr 6, 2009 Kentucky
    Pooh-Bah

    I kind of like the way some places in Belgium do it (notably De Heeren van Liedekerke), where the super-limited beers are available either to drink on-site or to take home, but the takeaway price is considerably more. Yeah, it sucks it you just want to buy up a ton of Blauw to trade, but you have to admit that it's pretty cool that you can still buy Blauw almost a decade after it was blended.
     
    #11 woosterbill, Apr 12, 2012
  12. FosterJM

    FosterJM Initiate (0) Nov 16, 2009 California

    I will be there in May for my 30th. Gonna finally tick that bitch!

    Cheers!
     
    #12 FosterJM, Apr 12, 2012
  13. drgarage

    drgarage Initiate (0) Aug 19, 2008 California

    Here's hoping they do likewise when Toronado 25 finally drops -- though I'm going to be very early in line if they release some to take away.
     
    #13 drgarage, Apr 12, 2012
  14. Sneers

    Sneers Initiate (0) Dec 27, 2009 Pennsylvania

    A brewpub near me usually has $18 750ml bottles of a few "special" beers for sale, but you have the option of consuming them on-site or taking them home (at no extra cost). At that price, though, I've only bought one once.
     
    #14 Sneers, Apr 12, 2012
  15. coreyfmcdonald

    coreyfmcdonald Initiate (0) Nov 13, 2008 Georgia

    I guess it's a little different in GA since brewpubs basically can't distribute or sell for off premises consumption, but it's a similar idea to Cable Car. CC wouldn't last nearly as long if it was draft only at Toronado.
     
    #15 coreyfmcdonald, Apr 12, 2012
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