Your thoughts on specialty packaging

Stop with it and lower the price.

 

My first thought is always, "how wasteful."

 

Doesn't anyone else remember when they first saw a shelf full of Belgian beer, and the internet as such wasn't there, and there were ribbons and bows and tissue, corks and cages, corks and caps, weird sizes, gift packs, glassware, sour beers, beer made by monks, beers made on farmsteads and everything was new and fresh and different?

I do. I miss it. Craft beer took my innocence and gave me back peanut butter beer .

 

Yes. Yes, we are. Well, some of us, anyway.

This. I think most of us are savvy enough to know whether it's a special item or just a run-of-the-mill garden-variety beer in that fancy packaging. I love breaking out one of these boxed beers at a bottle share, especially when it's something that isn't available every day.

 

I found an old Glenfiddich tin in the attic the other day. It contained an array of very memorable darts and flights that are a mark in time. I'm not really a pack rat, but I just can't toss it out.

 

I used to keep some of the special items but in the end they get tossed out of lack of room. I have kept some memorable items but as a whole its lost its luster now and I don't care about it. If I am giving a gift to someone it is sort of cool but that is about it for me. But on the other hand if they offer a special glass I can use that is different for me, I still enjoy collecting some cool sniffers or pint glasses.

 

These things are used to justify a higher price point. Whether they're there or not, you're going to pay the same amount for the beer. Please also see C&Ced 750s versus crown capped bombers.

 

Dude...I'm with you. Terrapin has somehow created ballistic weave wax. That stuffs impenetrable.

 

Using a crude example, are you saying that a consumer will pay $20 for a beer with a box and $20 for the same beer without the box? Or $20 for the beer with the box and something less than $20 (i.e., difference covering the box related costs) for the beer without the box?

 

I'm saying that the brewery will charge the same. What the consumer will pay is another issue altogether, as is what the distributor or store will charge.

 

In think it’s mostly gimmicky and silly, but personally, I’m not really a tradition guy. I wish everything was sold in 12oz cans. I’m the kind of guy who will make a very nice champagne from scratch with authentic ingredients, age it for years, blend it...and throw it on tap next to my IPA.

That being said, there is an argument to be made for some of them. Wax might help lock out o2. I believe the jury is still out on this?
The boxes, tins, foil wrap etc. Bottles are susceptible to UV damage and these add-ons offer a level of protection against that. I’d be pretty pissed if I spent good money on a barrel-aged barleywine for example, and got a mouthful of skunk when I drank it because the liquor store left if by a bright window for a couple of days...
Do I think that justifies them? Not really, no. Just something to think about.

 

It doesn't. It makes the package less permeable overall, but not impermeable.

 

Be done with 'em. Give me cheap beer.

 

Yup, that’s what I meant - helps, certainly doesn’t eliminate.
Although I’ve also heard that it doesn’t do anything at all. Certainly not an alternative to cans or kegs.

 

Oh, ok. I think many of the people above are saying it's wasteful so get rid of it and lower the price by whatever is the incremental cost associated with the box, specialty packaging, etc is. It might not be much savings to the consumer, of course.

With how inelastic limited beer is, it seems unnecessary (and wasteful) to me to add silly special packaging like boxes. Goose Island would sell out Prop every year for the same price, regardless if it came with a dumb box. And don't get me started on the horrific Rare box. I'd have them get rid of that crap and cut the price down by the $8 or whatever was the cost associated with it.

 

And none of those beers are worth the price tag.

 

I don't know how much the specialty Wake-n-Bakes go for but regular Wake-n-Bake is one of the better deals around. I got some last year and I think it was $12.99 for a six pack. Good deal for a beer that's just as good, if not better than than, FBS (IMO of course)

 

But the wax makes them seem more worth it.

 

Exactly! It makes them more fancy/special.

My thoughts on specialty packaging are simple: I don't mind them, I don't buy them for all the reasons mentioned above, and it's "different strokes for different folks".

 

Nooooooo!