$12 for a 6'er of GLBC Christmas Ale?!?

I was in Detroit, Michigan for the holiday and was stoked to be able to pick up a variety of beers that are not readily available near me, but I was really excited to get some Great Lakes brews, specifically their Christmas Ale...

Well I found it at only one store and they only had six-packs, and it was $11.99 for a sixer! Last year I was in Cleveland the 4-6 of December and paid 13.99 for a 12 pack! One year pricing difference, store gouging, or simply a supply/demand thing being further from "the source"?

Nevertheless, I passed... it is a good beer, but I was on a tight beer budget, and couldn't justify $12 for a six pack when there were other beers I wanted to try that I have never had...

I live in ohio and have never seen 12 packs of xmas ale. I believe that 6 packs were 10.99 when I saw last.

I had this at Chili's the other night with dinner. And much like their other stuff I found this a shallow attempt at a craft beer.

$8.99 for a 6'er here. I typically can't stand holiday beers, but I actually enjoy this one.

Considering many 4 packs cost $10, that doesn't seem outrageous.

petep1980 said:

I had this at Chili's the other night with dinner. And much like their other stuff I found this a shallow attempt at a craft beer.

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I'm curious as to why you think their beers are shallow attempts?

In my opinion Great Lakes makes outstanding, balanced beers. None of their beers are ever going to kick you in the teeth with over the top flavor, nor do they want them to.

Great Lakes makes fantastic beers. But I don't think I'd pay that for a spiced beer. They were around $10.99 for a sixer up in Chicago if I remember correctly.

The Ale Asylum, a local micro brewery in Madison WI has a Satisfaction Jackson brew. A Double IPA, loaded with centennials.

Ale Asylum brewmaster Dean Coffey made about 400 cases of this beer, and it just hit local store shelves. Coffey's recipe calls for so much malt and hops that when he was brewing the beer he found himself on top of the brewkettle -- 13 feet up -- actually forcing the lid shut on the manway with all his weight as the hops expanded in the hot liquid. "There's a mountain of ingredients, truly a double batch, because we could only brew a half-kettle at a time," he says. All of that makes a beer with an 8.2% ABV. It sells for about $15 per six-pack.

http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=27127&sid=986939810988

I picked up a six pack after having a few taps at their pub. I think its better at the tap, than the bottle. Its an awesome brew, but, at $15.99 a sixer, I'll take 2 sixers of Bells two hearted ale instead.

petep1980 said:

I had this at Chili's the other night with dinner. And much like their other stuff I found this a shallow attempt at a craft beer.

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Must be a Bud lite guy...lol Great Lakes make some really great beers. Why do you think that?

I also agree that Great Lakes has a very solid line of beers. Though I am not a fan of the Christmas Ale like many people are. But, then again, I don't think I like a christmas spiced beers. So I am not one to judge the Christmas Ale.

I paid 10.99 for a sixer of Great Lakes Christmas Ale last week. I agree with most everyone else on here, GL has some fantastic beers. I especially enjoy the Elliot Ness Amber Lager, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter and their Oktoberfest. The only one I didnt care much for was their Blackout Stout (Its a RIS) - maybe I just wasn't prepared for that.

I agree GL has a great lineup of consistently good beer. My SWMBO loves blackout stout but it's rare to find it here. I've been wanting to the their christmas since it came out and my cleveland friends facebook posts' have been mentioning it daily. Need to have one of them send me a couple bottles.

up here in ontario canada normal 6 packs are about $12 (hienkien, bud, MGD, canadian) normally.

it fricken sucks, last week I drove into buffalo and bought a 12 pack of rolling rock for $11, (they dont sell rolling rock here since the 80's apparently)

Christmas ale here is about 12 bucks a 6 pack here too, and its microbrewed too... (although beer prices in every other province are alot cheaper than here in ontario)

so dont complain haha

ohiobrewtus said:

$8.99 for a 6'er here. I typically can't stand holiday beers, but I actually enjoy this one.

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I really thought that the state minimum in ohio was 10.99. Sure this isnt the price of other great lakes sixers?

Quit complaining

I would love to pay $12 for a 6pack of just about anything... Beer in Japan, there is no "bulk" discount even on the Japanese versions of BMC. Now the yen is pretty strong making prices even higher in contrast. A 6 pack of Asahi Super Dry is going to run about 1200yen... which puts it at $14 or so.

Think about paying $35 for a 750ml bottle of Southern Tier Pumpking at a beer restaurant... unbelievable...

When you can find it, 2000 yen ($24) for a 6 pack of Anchor Steam bottles.

Makes Homebrewing look like a bargain! :fro:

I usually pay about $10 for a 6 of Bells 2H, so a limited run of GL might cost a bit more. Certainly not excessive IMO. I have not had a lot of their beer, but what I've had was pretty good (except that grassroots crap...) I'd rate them a solid craft brewer in my experience with them.