The ABVolution: Why Higher-Alcohol Beers Are Huge Right Now

From the article (with emphasis in bold by me):

“Everyone’s wallets are a little tighter and they’re looking for a little more bang for their buck,” says Chris Brown, the vice president of sales at Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland. This February, the brewery released its fruity and gently bitter Vibacious, a 9 percent ABV IPA sold in 19.2-ounce cans for around $3. Grabbing one at a gas station after work offers a different kind of daily pleasure. “Instead of a Red Bull and a candy bar, you’re getting a nice IPA,” Brown says.

Hmm, in these days of high inflation where more money is being spent on eggs, milk, gasoline and heating oil are beer consumers opting to buy four-packs of Double/Imperial IPAs to ‘stretch’ what little money they have left?

It would be interesting to see the sales data in this regard. Are the sales of 5% ABV beers decreasing but the sales of 7+% ABV beers are increasing?

Cheers!

 

Interesting article. As one who has always skewed bigger abv is better, I’m seeing/buying/drinking, e.g., more double and triple IPAs lately. The 10% and above IPA availability seems more plentiful now and some brewers are quite skilled at producing tasty beers that hide the alcohol. Cheers!

 

Do you buy them in the stovepipe (19.2 ounce) cans?

Cheers!

 

Well I am bucking the trend (again). I prefer lower ABV beers as I am in it for the taste more than the hangover. I don't see higher ABV as adding more value.

 

Wine has like 11-13% ABV, still beats much of the beer on that front. Taste is another matter...

 

i'm not the zombie doctor but i've long thought that higher ABV should come in smaller packages. i think I saw Evil Twin doing stouts in 6oz cans, to me that's brilliant.

 

My thoughts also, it's trying to be a "classier" malt liquor option.

And with wine you can pour what you want to and get a few sessions out of a bottle vs with these high ABV beers where you are committed once opened.

 

I've often wondered if at some point some of these packaging formats for higher ABVs would be regulated at the state or even federal level. In my opinion they're wildly irresponsible. Especially the 19.2 oz. stovepipe cans.

And yes, liquor comes in 750's and is >40% ABV. Wine is in the ~11-14% range in 750's. But those come in formats that allow recapping for later enjoyment. And most know, you only pour a few ounces of liquor, or 3-5 oz. of wine in a glass. I highly doubt anyone is doing the math on a stovepipe can.

A 19.2 oz. can at 9% or higher can't be recapped, so you're either splitting it with a friend, or taking down the whole thing yourself...that's nearly 3 standard drinks.

 

Well, at least they're admitting it's to evoke memories of childhood...

"This year welcomed Fruit Force, a 9.5 percent ABV imperial IPA that tastes like fruit punch Kool-Aid. It’s a familiar flavor — childhood reformulated for adulthood. As with fond youthful memories, there’s no bitterness, only a sweet embrace that grows warmer with each sip. (Fruit Force is already a top 30 craft brand in IRI channels, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights.)"

 

I coincidentally ended up talking about this in another thread but I remember back in the early 2010s a lot of people I knew who just drank Bud/miller etc would order Golden Monkey at restaurants. They’d see the 9 percent abv coupled with the relatively low price and go for it. Now Victory, on their 19.2 ounce cans sold at a lot of gas stations proudly had a red circle with “9.5% ABV” nice and bold to draw peoples attention. So they must see some profit in it. I don’t blame them, Golden Monkey is good stuff and if it helps them make money then good on them. I think that non beer nerd people looking for a buzz turn to the higher abv stuff just for the bang for the buck factor.

The only thing I really look at the ABV for is when I’m planning what I’m drinking that day to avoid getting more inebriated than I’d like. Other than that I’m really not picky. I’ve got stuff in my fridge from 3.3-12 percent.

 

I've secretly been hoping this would happen for a while now. Craft 4lokos, under $3 a pop, at literally any gas station.

 

Yeah, headed in the opposite direction. My fridge is filled with stuff under 7% ABV. Beers that I can grab almost anytime and not pay for it. Thankfully many local breweries are on the lager wagon.

 

Perfect way to say you've only had one before coming home and not be lying

 

Exactly, and why I have had to think twice about my consumption, as it is easy to say one drink = one can but that is not truly the case over 5%. With liquor I can regulate even further by only pouring half a shot.

Those aren't as popular anymore and many high ABV beers are now in 16/19.2 oz cans that once opened, you're all in.

 

Yup, once you pop the top of a can of 19.2 ounce beer that is a situation of you need to drink the whole thing.

This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry made mention of the physics of carbonation while talking to Kramer.

Cheers!

 

Lagers can't be high ABV?

>> see current Bock thread <<
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/2023-bock-thread.671655/

 

Wasn't it just a few months ago that lo-alcohol session beers were all the rage?

 

ISO!!

 

Hoppin' Frog does their high octane brews in little 8.45oz cans.
To me this is a rip-off. I'd rather pay an extra dollar and get the full 12oz.
The FroggyClaus and Pentuple are too good to only have 8 1/2 oz of.
The B. O. R. I. S. stouts are fine in those little baby cans, as they are a bit much.

 

Personally I prefer higher alcohol beers.
From the bocks of Germany to the ales of Belgium, Scotland and even the U.S., I always gravitate towards the higher alcohol beers.
Even the beers I brew are almost always on or over 6%.
Many are 9% and more, mainly the Belgian styles I brew.
I like to drink beer, but I don't like having to pee constantly.
Now I'm not saying that I don't love a cold Miller High Life or a good dark lager, but I just gravitate towards the higher end of the alcohol spectrum.
Quicker Buzz.

 

yeah, and the people who buy them fool themselves into thinking they are fancier

 

Wine doesn't (usually) come in single serving packages and isn't (usually) carbonated. Wine is potentially cheaper than beer because of packaging and shipping costs. Also for beer, the small batch, one off craze causes additional overhead. I don't have any interest in higher alcohol beers. My middle-of-the-road taste preferences gravitate toward 5-6% alcohol, and sometimes I'd like a second beer without worrying about the effects. .

 

relatedly, alot of my college buddies who werent necessarily into craft beer loved sour and golden monkey since they could get f-ed up without having to stoop to four loko levels

 

High ABV beer in the ubiquitous Stove Pipe format readily available at the local C-Store is priced very competitively. The cost to alcohol ratio can not be beat.

Which is all well and good.

Can someone explain how some of the very same breweries pushing 19.2 ounces of 7.6% beer for a few dollars will also price a middle of the road beer at a premium price using the justification that craft beer is expensive to produce?

Maybe if the never ending price inflation in the craft space was tamed a bit, some of these breweries would move the product and quit wondering what's going on.

Just my observation.
Cheers

 

Ha, this reminds of a Pinot Noir glass. It can hold 25 oz., so you can say you only had "one" glass of wine.

I wonder how many craft beers today are actually only one standard drink. Given the ubiquity of not only higher ABV's, but larger formats.

Even a 4% beer in a 16 oz. can is more than one standard drink.

 

My assumption is they are willing to have a narrow profit margin/maybe even take a slight loss for the marketing aspect and in the hopes that they can get the new customers to buy that beer again in its regular format and/or try their other beers.

 

I can’t speak for all 50 state’s alcohol laws, but I suspect many localities and or states prevent sales of single serving package beers at 16 oz or less.

This law is the primary reason Goose Island shifted from 12 oz four packs to 16.9 oz, to be able to sell single priced variants that would face less demand if folks had to buy 4 X 12 oz, or the OG 22 oz Coffee and BW bombers.

Stovepipe and larger serving sizes are a way around these limitations. Ditto 22/24/40 oz offerings.

If stores were able to sell single cans of beer at any size, similar to the option to purchase any size package of spirits and I believe wine, people would be able to enjoy the convenience of buying a single 12/16 oz can say for their commuter train or take home dinner from the grocery or convenience store, while also enjoying a more reasonable serving size for higher ABV beers.

 

I could be wrong about the size: https://www.instagram.com/p/COQkuJIHezb/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

12oz works, too, i'm just done with 750ml bottles at +10% and needing a group to consume. I'd love to enjoy a Chocolate Rain from the Bruery on my own.

 

An example of a state restricting single serve beer packages, please. Maybe Pennsylvania? I'd be surprised if many states have single sale restrictions. One practical problem that might bother retailers is that the SKU on a can or bottle in a six pack is usually the six pack SKU, not the single sale SKU. So breaking up a six pack isn't so simple. More straightforward is to bring out a different single sale package.

 

I believe it's fairly regulated here. Never seen a stovepipe outside of 5%abv or lower here in the state liquor stores.

I've seen Mike's harder ironically, but no 19.2oz beers

 

I could be wrong but I’ve always thought the high abv era is I just a byproduct of the “more flavor” trend.

I think one could argue that this mostly began and continues with the over the top hoppy beers. The bigger the beer, the more hops you can cram into it.

Couple that with not knowing what “one” beer actually is and here we are…

***I think you could plug in stouts here too, more adjuncts, more “flavor” needs a bigger body to carry it.

 

This goes back further than the rise of the IPA. Westvleteren 12 (and other high ABV Belgian beers) ruled the top 100 (before it was the top 250) for years.

 

Yes, but what made high abv so prevalent and dominant, heck even normalized it, I think the answer is hops

 

I think the 7 to 8% range is typically the perfect mouthfeel /viscosity for beers.

 

I'm going backwards ladies and gents. For 20 years I crushed the high abv's (lots of Belgians). Now I am appreciating the lower ends. 5.5 to 6 % is perfect. Of course, my age caught up to me, too.

 

Nope, we can buy 1 12oz beer or seltzer, even single serving wine and hard alcohol drinks.


Enjoy