I just picked up a fresh 4 pack of Palate Mallet from the newest batch which I believe was just released, and was absolutely baffled when I got to the register and they were charging $19.00 at CT Bev Mart on the Berlin Turnpike. I should have just left, but I already had the $20 in my hand so I just grumbled about it and paid it anyway because i'm a moron. What the hell? I remember buying a 4pack last time they released it and I definitely don't think it was any more than like $14, which is already too much. Gbot goes for like $14 typically I think...and that's easily the better beer. Anyway, just a bit of complaining but obviously nobody forced me to buy it, so it is what it is. I like the beer but absolutely will never even consider picking it up again if this is the new pricetag in most places. What have you guys seen it out there for?
I was planning on grabbing some this weekend. Not at that price though. Wow. That's 2 six packs of Sea Hag...
Brewers will keep charging too much for middling beer so long as we keep paying too much for middling beer. I moved to MA in August. I thought prices were outrageous in the midwest, but I was wrong. At least in Indiana, our upstart, okay-but-not-great breweries have the decency to charge less than ten bucks a sixer. I've been drinking pretty much nothing but Narragansett since I moved here. And not in some ironic hipsters drinking PBR way, either. Gansett is an objectively better beer than 90% of the stuff put out by local crafts, and its cost per ounce is almost literally an order of magnitude lower. Neophytes and beer snobs might think my pallet is unsophisticated or whatever, but I don't care. Being a part of a scene is not worth paying way too much money for beer that isn't very good.
Is that an overpriced package store in general, or are most charging that much for Palate Mallet? If I can get Heady in VT for $4/can, that palate mallet seems a little bit overpriced.
The bottom line is it will not change until the consumer stops paying the prices. My guess as better beers become more readily available due to expansion and new brewers coming in prices should come down. I will say I am doing my part. I have a price point I pay depending on the quality of the product. Above that threshold and I do not purchase.
Exactly. I have Heady in my fridge right now in Taller cans for less...AND I'm drinking a Mastermind as we speak that was only $10 for a 4 pack and is literally one of the best beers ive ever had. I'm mad at myself for making this purchase. As the day goes on I get madder and madder. $19 fucking dollars. I think the store I got it from is fairly overpriced sometimes for what they consider the highly sought after beers, but not totally ridiculous for the most part.
If I see Palate for $19 I will probably still buy it, but not more than once. Generally I am willing to spend a little more to try a good beer for the first time, but if it is overpriced it is not likely to become a regular beer that I return to. I had it in a growler once and it was pretty good. You already bought it, so you might as well enjoy it and not get mad.
That's assuming that the beer market (or any market) operates according to logical principles. It doesn't. More ready availability and lower production costs won't result in lower retail costs because the high price of craft beer is what makes it desirable. Like wine, beer is a status symbol now, a way to mindlessly convey your supposed good taste. Think Dom Perignon. A good champagne, for sure, but grossly overpriced for its quality. It still outsells much better, significantly cheaper champagnes not in spite of its price but because of its price, because the people buying derive pleasure from spending too much.
My theory is that the limited beers will be more available. Sip of Sunshine production going up. The Alchemist will be upping production. Many breweries are upping production. New well thought of breweries are opening all the time. Beer production is pretty easy to increase. Dom in fixed. There will always be the nirvana of any product that demands a stupidly high price and gets it. That consumer is a very limited quantity. As more and more good beer is available at 10 a sixer the 15 dollar 4 pack will become a dodo bird. If they all price at 15 then there is a limited consumer for those. The competition will bring the price down or they will not all sell. I do not think the craft beer bubble will burst anytime soon. I do however believe the barrel aged, limited edition, and special release price point bubble will. We all will pay more for better quality beer. There is a limit, at least for me. My go to beers are extremely good quality for a price point at about 2 dollars a beer or good quality for a bit over 1 dollar a beer. I move that up for the Alchemist and a few others. I get a lawson's bottle once a year for a special occasion.
I just got one at ct beverage mart on berlin tnpk and it was $13. I wonder if it rung up wrong for you
God dammit. It sure seems like he did. Thats what I thought and he was like "yeahhhh unfortunately that's the price now"
are you sure they didn't charge you twice, my store in Middlesex county was selling it for >>$10 a 4pk
