Weird taproom pricing

Yeah, I’ve done the math. But their pricing basically says “get your beer and hit the road”. The fact that they serve food just make it odd to me. The fact that they sell the 16 oz can for almost what they sell a pint for is baffling.

 

Any brewery that won't fill another's growler is just plain stupid...and they just lost my business.

 

We pay it. As long as us consumers hand over the money, breweries have no incentive to make changes. Shrug.

 

There are many states that prohibit from filling another breweries growlers

 

Eh... so interesting brewery policy on growlers, not really taproom pricing issue.
Try $20 for a 5oz pour of FFF Dark Lord.
Wait... what?
Just seen on W. Randolph the other night. No thanks....

 

There is one such "local" brewery to me that makes it cost-prohibitive to fill growlers for any brands that are also available in bottles (or as of late, cans).
Their reasoning is the following:
- Filling growlers takes time and ties up both draught lines and taproom personnel.
- There is a lot of wasted beer when filling growlers.
- Although the onus is on the growler owner to provide the taproom staff with a clean/sanitized vessel, this is commonly not the case. This particular brewery has found that many times, the growlers incoming are not clean. Therefore, they are reluctant to fill them fill them and have their beer received badly on account of a dirty growler.

When it comes to brands packaged in "take home" formats (bottles/cans), it seems that breweries would rather sell packaged goods rather than dealing with the (potentially) stinky growler. With the exception of draught-only breweries, those that package would much rather keep their draught pours exclusively for onsite consumption.

Please share your thoughts with my findings...Cheers!

 

Funny enough, went to one place (Silver City Brewing) and the beer was around $5-$6 a pint, but a side of fries was about $8 and it was maybe a 1 person serving.

 

A lot of this weirdo pricing scheme can be traced back to breweries who have no idea how to run a bar or restaurant, but all of a sudden that's what a lot of these tap rooms are turning into. Growlers are fading fast and furious in popularity up here with the mobile/factory canning companies taking over. Not sure what it's like in every state or province.

 

"Labor costs" ? For 1- 2 minutes of a bartender's time? Who may even be paid the less-than-minimum "Tipped Employee" rate and depends on customer tips to make up the rest of their income?

 

I’m more intrigued by the fact your wife had to drug you in order to get family photos done.

 

The Mother Earth Brewing in NC has done many things to make their brewery more environmentally friendly at least.
http://www.motherearthbrewing.com/mother

 

That's a different "Mother Earth" brewery than the one in the OP, which is located north of San Diego CA https://www.motherearthbrewco.com/

 

Yeah, I was trying to point out that at least the one in NC was living up to its name. Sorry if I didn't clarify that well.

 

Brewers tell me that growlers are least expensive, then crowlers, then cans or bombers. Generally when I am sitting at a bar talking with a brewer or whoever is sitting next to me, my ability to do the math is somewhat diminished.

 

I have been to many breweries that will fill any growler as long as the size is noted on the growler...I've also been to several who will not fill other breweries growlers. In talking with one that only fills their own growlers, they clean (correctly) and fill growlers off of other taps during non-taproom hours so they have a supply and simply exchange growlers vs. filling. I believe they have one of the setups that is supposed to get rid of all the oxygen before the growler is capped. Not suggesting right or wrong, but at least there was some reasoning behind their position.

I've also seen some that will do both growlers and cans for various beers and some that will do one or the other but not both...roll the dice I guess!

 

What's interesting is that the production headquarters is now being moved to the Boise, Idaho, area, too. Whatever the case, the West Coast/Northwest Mother Earth makes pretty excellent beer.

 

Consider the size of the keg it's pulled from. 1/6, 1/4, or 1/2 barrel. Maybe it's a 30L keg. Plus what style. Hell. It could be a simple IPA, but has 7 hops to it with 700 lbs of fruit and yada yada. But the end result is only 15 barrels.

Shit. What if it were a barleywine? Some beers take up to six months to brew.

Also depends on who the brewery bought growlers from and the quantity. A growler is cheaper if they purchased 576 than 144. And what caps they're using. Detail of design of logo. A single growler can go $3 to $10 rather quickly.

Merchandise + product. Let's say the beer is being poured in a 12oz pour for $9. Then a 32oz pour is $18. You'll be mad, but they're looking to sell their brand in the end. Make a name for themselves to be able to expand. To keep up with demand.

This is of course if the beer is in high demand for kegs. If it's apart of their core beers that they pkg 24/7 and are on shelves all the time? Of course the beer will be cheaper.

 

It's really not that big a deal. For one thing, malt is pretty cheap. It's only a small portion of the total cost to make a beer- maybe 10% at the most. In a packaged beer it accounts for about 8% of the price.

And the difference in grain bill between a 6% beer and 9% beer isn't a massive difference.

 

Very different economies of scale.

 

I'd assume growler fills are fresher beer, so if there's a per-ounce premium, I'd accept that as a valid reason.
Perhaps the formula varies between the draft and the canned beer. Consider how many variations of Guinness are out there. Again, I'd accept that as a valid reason for differences in pricing.
Maybe an added portion of the cost of growler fills is due to the pub's attempt to recover fixed and variable costs of the tied-house venue. Also something I'd accept as a valid reason for a higher per-ounce price on the growler fill.
Or maybe the brewer/publican is just a disagreeable, greedy bastard who deep down hates people and tolerates them enough to operate a taproom, but wants to discourage them getting too comfortable or coming back again and again for fills, and prices accordingly. Not a BA-friendly approach, but perhaps that's the justification.

Dykstra's Law: "Everybody is somebody else's weirdo."