Prairie Ales

Wow, only $12.99 in Maine. Even for the Prairie/St. Somewhere collaboration. That's crazy pricing.

 

$10.99 in VT

gotta be that city mark-up

plus, the beer is a lot better than some of the other $10/750ml bottles around, so maybe they're just banking on it being good enough for you to buy it at that price.

 

Yeah, I haven't bought any yet, though they sound good, because of the pricing. Aren't they through Shelton? If they are, shouldn't most states have similar pricing since it is the same distributor?

 

Yikes, $11 at Julio's. I really like the Praire Hop.

Yes Patrick, through Shelton.

 

Ahh, that would make sense.

 

but:

IMO ~$10 750mL of an AWESOME saison is an exceptionally decent price.

Prairie Hop has been my favorite, so far.

 

I found the regular hoppy farmhouse pale 12oz for $3. It was good but if that's an intro to the brewery I'm not paying $17 for the 750s I saw. $10 seems okay. The beer was pretty simple though

 

Brewer - importer- wholesaler- retailer. There's an extra tier in the process when brewers go through importers that lead to higher prices. It sounds like that store has a high margin or made a mistake though if another store from the same distributor has it for much cheaper, unless the other store bought in on a deal somehow.

 

The stuff is obscenely fairly priced up here in VT... The 12oz Farmhousee bottles are like a dollar and some change, or 8 for the 6 pack.. Haven't seen the other larger format offerings go for any more than $12, leaving them as some of the best bang for the buck out there IMO.. Frankly, I'd still pay close to 17 for some of their brews, it's good stuff.

 

The beers land on the shelf here in our home state around 9.50 to 10. I discount all of my beers I ship out of state to keep prices 1-3 bucks more on the shelf. Anything over that is due to other parts of the chain taking huge margins, and it isn't Shelton Brothers. We will produce about 1500 bbls this year so we are pretty small btw. We are a 2 person company, me and my little brother Colin. I don't think I need to defend myself or beer on here, but I am here if you have questions.

 

You don't have to defend yourself, but you should defend your beer. The prices here in MA are going to keep it on the shelf, and when someone finally does buy it, the beer will be old leading to a non-repeat customer. It is in your best interest to do something about it rather than just forgetting about it once it leaves the brewery.

 

It's one of the better contract brews I've had.

 

I think $10-$11 for the Praire Hop is a fair price because I think it is that good, hope to see more of your stuff make it up here and hopefully we don't see any price gouging.

 

FYI- Shelton is not a distributor. They are only an importer. They make their money, then sell to a distributor, who makes theirs. ~$17 is standard markup on both of the 750's.

 

Jolly Pumpkin is also a Shelton brewery, and I could never understand the huge pricetag for Michigan beers until a friend explained the added "importer" tier, and there you go. I paid $12.99 for my Prairie Hop (in Maine), which seemed a buck or two high, but after having Funky Galaxy and Prairie Somwhere this week, I'm not complaining.

 

Keep complaining, more for us Okies

 

I still don't get why these breweries need importers?

 

I think one model of distribution is to spread the beers out as much as you can. Shelton can do this for brewers by selling to distributors around the country.