Surly Pentagram

Rumor has it from a good source, Chicagoian's aren't standing for surly's inflated priced. In the 'new craft beer to the market' area, surly seems to be flopping so to speak in Chitown. Think about it, we've paid the outrageous prices because we're local, and because surly started by putting out stellar product. While abrasive is top notch, beers like Furious, Wet and such seem to have taken a hit in quality. That, or better beers from out of state have been coming in, lowering our perception of surly. So take Chicago, a place where Surly isn't local, and top notch out of state beers already exist... it's interested to think about what it's like to first get Surly in your market.

I know from my experience, if I lived in chicago and happened to drop $20+ on a bottle of Seviin or Pentagram... I'd be writing Surly off as an overpriced out of state brewery. I guess some could even state the same about a 4-pack of Furious. But I'm biased, I've drank so much Furious it just doesn't pack the same punch anymore. Is it an adjusted recipe from a few years back to accommodate costs... or a lupulin shift, who knows. Bottom line, Furious and 85% of Surly's line isn't what it used to be.

And I'm ok with that, we have breweries like Indeed and Bent Paddle knocking it out of the park now. And their ego's are much less inflated (for now).

 

I must really be missing something with Indeed as I've only had 1 beer of theirs I've liked enough to buy again.

 

I'll go as far as to suggest the opposite.

 

How is this pricing structure calculated? I don't know a lot about the distribution - but like someone stated - how in the world are tap prices better than the take home bottle prices? This boggles my mind.
I'm not going to even pretend to understand the distribution laws of this state... but something is very wrong...

EXAMPLE:
A 10oz pour of Pentagram = $5 ($0.50/oz)
A 25oz Bomber of Pentagram = $22 ($0.88/oz)
Ratio: 1:1.76

A 16 oz pint of Bud Light = $4 ($0.25/oz)
A case of Bud Light = 288 oz = $18 ($0.06/oz)
Ratio: 1:0.24

If you bought a case of Bud Light at the same ratio of Pentagram (Tap to Bottle/can Ratio) - that case would cost you - $126.72!

Obviously - Multiple factors go into this... and by no means are the economic factors of how Bud Light is produced and distributed in any, way, shape or form the same as Pentagram.... Yet it is 100% backwards...

Why is this? It would be kind of interesting to have some more insight on the pricing/distribution game of Surly as well as the state of MN...

 

Same here. I love Let It Ride but everything else has failed to impress me.

 

Well distribution needs a cut. So they add a premium and then the liquor store adds a premium for its part. But I don't know what those ratios are either.

Tap prices need to account for the cost of beer, cost of service, and profit. The total price is probably more arbitrary because a tap room typically keeps the price of one beer similar to the others unless it involves more expensive ingredients/process.

That's my very non-economics-background understanding of it...

 

Chicago is a completely different market than Minneapolis. Hard for Surly to compete there with local Chicago offerings, especially when they are 1/2 the price.

Pipeworks is approaching their 100th unique beer. They have their Abduction RIS, which is very comparable to Surly Darkness and only priced at $10.99. They've also made 6 or 7? variants for not much more. Several unique IPAs, a bottled 12oz barrel aged beer for $7.99 (BA Jones Dog), etc, etc...

And thats only one brewery. There is Spiteful, 3 Floyds, Half Acre, Begyle, Local Option, Off Color, Revolution, Une Annee, and Solemn Oath.

Darkness sold quickly the first time but even that will set on the shelves next year I have a feeling.

Surly is going to be expanding into many big markets but, at their current price point, its not going to do well in the long term. Their canned beers are priced well but nothing bottled is.

 

Agreed about the couple indeed comments. Let it ride is good, but I would personally buy Surly's regulars over most of theirs. With that being said, I'm excited to see them ramp up their barrel program and maybe get into the sour game.

 

This is what irks me, Surly was the first major new brewery in town to break ground with a Furious and because of that their price point got jacked. Now that competition has increased both locally and with out of state beers available, Surly isn't as appealing. There is no reason for me to by Surly because it's a local beer when they appear to have lost respect for an aspect of customer loyalty. Surly's offerings may be better then say indeed, or other local breweries, but it's no longer the top dog in town.

I will get ripped for this comparison but as a sour head I'm going to say it. You can get a bottle of cantillon for less then a bottle of Pentagram. One is insanely better, brewed by people that know the style and have brewed it more then a few times, is insanely hard to find and carries a much higher demand. Yet it costs less. Want a comparison less whack, Rodenbach and La folie... Both better, both substantially cheaper (but less demand).

I just don't get the price point, I can't help to think that the majority of people buying it buy it because it's Surly, not because it's a good sour.

Guess I'm just bitter for some reason, probably still resentment over jacking up their prices of beers and festivals. Oh and the lack of attention they gave Wet this year.

 

I hope Wet is better this year and easier to get. Although some scandalous local fallout would be entertaining if it returns to 2012 quality and is even more scarce because they chose to ship a significant portion to Chicago.

 

Let's just hope that they don't muck up Abrasive.

 

I guess I don't see what all the fuss is about. A 20$ sour seems to be pretty common now, look at bruery, Cisco, and Lost Abbey. Yes it will sit on the shelves for some time but I'm guessing it will be gone by the time the next release rolls around. I'm less upset about the cost of pentagram than the cost of Darkness, which I'm not mad at. The process for brewing Pentagram seems to be much longer (they brewed a 2nd batch of darkness pretty quickly).

In the age of 15$ bombers of IPA (citra ass down) I don't really see Surly as a big offender. Abrasive is still cheaper than any Maine, Russian River, or pipeworks IPA and about the same price per ounce as a bottle of pseudo sue. I think we are doing ok.

 

Lately when ever I go to the store I end up buying Indeed or other local delicious beer simply because it is way more fresh. All of the surly at the store near me is over a month old and some of it is 3 months old and the Let It Ride is 10 days old. I wish the distributor would stop holding on to it for a month before sending it to the store.

 

I agree with what's been said, but I dont understand why there's not similar angst over Darkness pricing, which has been north of $20 for years.

 

I never thought I'd see the day that (us) Surly homers would turn on our hometown heroes.

 

That's easy. Darkness is a world-class RIS. Expensive, yes, but at least you're getting top-notch stuff.

Pentagram is a very good sour & as people have noted above, there are better options at much lower price points. "Very good" for me isn't enough justification to shell out $25. It needs to be world-class & giving me a little stiffy at that price point, & it doesn't. For anyone who loves Pentagram, the price is probably worthwhile.

 

I like Minnesota beers you guys haven't even heard of yet. TO make their IPAs as fresh as possible every bomber is sold with a packet of hops pellets you eat while drinking it.

 

How old are the pellets?

 

Compressed at the counter at check out.

 

20 bucks online at france44