Justifying Pricing of Beer by Tomme Arthur

Reads 13648 • Replies 81 • Started Saturday, October 27, 2007 5:45:55 PM CT

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Message ABUSEDGOAT beers 4141 º places 64 º 22:21 Sat 10/27/2007 People will always complain about high prices on beer (myself included) but I don’t mind it unless the beer is mediocre. Paying $20 for a 3.1 beer is a scam IMO, even if there is a special process. Good read though.
Message CaptainCougar beers 7131 º places 142 º 23:06 Sat 10/27/2007 Why do brewers keep using 750ml bottles? They’re expensive, usually contain more beer than one person would want by themselves, and are only meant for enjoying at one sitting. At least the 375ml bottles are a better size, but does a cork and cage actually help the beer, and are they better than an oxygen-barrier crown cap? And do they really age better? If not, why make the consumer pay more for a useless item? I could care less what the packaging looks like. Most beer people I’ve met aren’t pretentious enough to care what the label looks like on a beer, and especially with a lot of these the availability is so scarce that the beer doesn’t need to be bought by people who don’t already know of its reputation. I guess we as craft beer consumers are in a bit of a tough spot right now in that good barrel-aged funky brews are hard to come by these days. There really isn’t much competition for Russian River and Lost Abbey yet, but as more brewers start doing these styles, eventually the prices will fall as they have to compete with each other. Unfortunately for me, I love these breweries, but I just don’t make enough money to be able to drink as much of their beer as I’d like. Jolly Pumpkin is a good example of a brewery doing some crazy funky barrel-aged beers on a relatively small scale and their 750s sell for between $7-9 and six packs of Bam Biere and Calabaza Blanca are around $12. And their Grand Reserve special releases which are long-term barrel-aged go for $5/12oz. So it is possible for beers like this to be reasonably priced. Then again, it’s a lot cheaper for a brewer to live in Jackson, MI than San Diego.
Message DirtyMartini beers 194 º places 4 º 23:17 Sat 10/27/2007 Originally posted by CaptainCougar Then again, it’s a lot cheaper for a brewer to live in Jackson, MI than San Diego. thats a factor most people dont think about. you arent just paying for the beer, the packaging, and the shipping...you are paying for the rent or the mortgage on the brewery, the payroll of the employees, etc.

Message Cletus beers 6349 º places 233 º 23:43 Sat 10/27/2007 Originally posted by CaptainCougar Why do brewers keep using 750ml bottles? They’re expensive, usually contain more beer than one person would want by themselves, and are only meant for enjoying at one sitting. At least the 375ml bottles are a better size, but does a cork and cage actually help the beer, and are they better than an oxygen-barrier crown cap? And do they really age better? If not, why make the consumer pay more for a useless item? I could care less what the packaging looks like. Most beer people I’ve met aren’t pretentious enough to care what the label looks like on a beer, and especially with a lot of these the availability is so scarce that the beer doesn’t need to be bought by people who don’t already know of its reputation. Because 99% of the people who buy one of these are not looking to drink an ounce or two so they can say they rated it and move on. Most want it for the experience. Personally, I’ll take a 750 of a special release over a nip bottle any day of the week. Sit down with it for 6 hours and experience it as a special treat by yourself or share it with a few close friends. That’s usually the point of beers like the limited releases PP puts out to begin with. The high price is to drive the tickers away which, IMO is a good thing.
Message jtw beers 1167 º places 27 º 23:54 Sat 10/27/2007 Originally posted by CaptainCougar Then again, it’s a lot cheaper for a brewer to live in Jackson, MI than San Diego. it’s dexter, not jackson... but that’s minutiae. a good point nonetheless. ingredients are the same (in theory) but quite literally everything else affects pricing (aka profit margin). and as far as 750 mL corked bottles go... i’m right there with you. 750s are a significant waste.
Message Cletus beers 6349 º places 233 º 00:11 Sun 10/28/2007 Originally posted by jtw 750s are a significant waste. Wasteful to who? When I’m heading out to see my friends, I hit the cellar and grab some 750s so everyone can actually get a chance to try the beer. The small 6-8 oz bottles are what I find wasteful as they are very often not exponentially less than a 750ml counterpart would be and a big pain in the ass in that I need at least 2 or 3 to be able to share them.
Message jtw beers 1167 º places 27 º 00:22 Sun 10/28/2007 Originally posted by jjpm74 Originally posted by jtw 750s are a significant waste. Wasteful to who? they come in handy to a small portion of the population who appreciates the ability to share a bottle among 5 or 6 people. but for someone who just wants "a beer", a 750 or even a 22 oz beer is too much. but wasteful in the context of the thread is that the cork and cage are essentially an expensive label, which is akin to making a beer cost more, just so that people have to pay more.

Message CaptainCougar beers 7131 º places 142 º 00:43 Sun 10/28/2007 Originally posted by jjpm74 Originally posted by CaptainCougar Why do brewers keep using 750ml bottles? They’re expensive, usually contain more beer than one person would want by themselves, and are only meant for enjoying at one sitting. At least the 375ml bottles are a better size, but does a cork and cage actually help the beer, and are they better than an oxygen-barrier crown cap? And do they really age better? If not, why make the consumer pay more for a useless item? I could care less what the packaging looks like. Most beer people I’ve met aren’t pretentious enough to care what the label looks like on a beer, and especially with a lot of these the availability is so scarce that the beer doesn’t need to be bought by people who don’t already know of its reputation. Because 99% of the people who buy one of these are not looking to drink an ounce or two so they can say they rated it and move on. Most want it for the experience. Personally, I’ll take a 750 of a special release over a nip bottle any day of the week. Sit down with it for 6 hours and experience it as a special treat by yourself or share it with a few close friends. That’s usually the point of beers like the limited releases PP puts out to begin with. The high price is to drive the tickers away which, IMO is a good thing. I really doubt the price is there to drive tickers away. Tickers make up such a small population of craft beer consumers that they’re hardly even worth considering in a business plan. And besides, don’t you want people who have never had your beer to buy a bottle to try it? I think it really comes down to two types of people. Wine people who are used to bringing a 750ml bottle to a friend’s house and sharing over the course of an evening, and beer people who are used to bringing a six pack of 12oz bottles to a friend’s house and sharing in that sense. Most ratebeerians (or tickers) would prefer the 750 in this case because a few people can rate the beer from one bottle and each wouldn’t have to buy their own. But I just wonder why it’s so difficult to just bring two 12oz bottles in place of a 750ml. You cut the chance of getting a "bad bottle" in half that way too. I challenge you to find me a beer that is available in 750ml or 22oz bottles and in 12oz bottles where the price of two 12oz bottles is actually more that the cost of a single, larger bottle.
Message Homebrewerguy beers 312 º places 21 º 07:47 Sun 10/28/2007 IMO the craft brewing industry feel like they have to appeal to the wine establishment to increase sales because they have a more refined palate than the normal BMC drinker. If this means bottling their product like wine, they’ll do it!
Message Styles beers 2013 º places 1 º 07:47 Sun 10/28/2007 As for the 750’s and JP. Just a guess but as small as they are in terms of brewery size and number of employees, I would assume they are probably cheaper when you add everything. 12oz bottles would double everything.....in terms of bottling, labeling, packaging, etc. When you’re talking about a place with 2 fulltime employees and 2-3 part time employees, that could be a significant money.