BCBS 2015 the great corporate squeeze

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wfowlks

wfowlks

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So after getting a few bombers of BCBS 2015, I was saddened because I would rather have smaller vessles so that I don't have to consume several snifters worth at a time when I opened one. Then I was thinking why would InBev do this?
Profits.
4 pack of 12 oz bottles @ 21.99 = ~45 cents per oz
1 - 16.9oz bottle @ 10.99 = ~65 cents per oz

A 20 cent hike per oz and lower bottling costs = way higher margins.

Goose sold out good for them... Bad for consumers.

#endRant
 
I don't think you've done your research. The distribution channels built by BMC allow them to bring beer to a wider audience and undercut the competition. I picked up a 4-pack of Sofie last week for $16. No way in hell that could happen without the distribution power of BMC.

Personally I'm looking forward to Grapefruit Sculpin under $15 a sixer.
 
wfowlks said:
So after getting a few bombers of BCBS 2015, I was saddened because I would rather have smaller vessles so that I don't have to consume several snifters worth at a time when I opened one. Then I was thinking why would InBev do this?
Profits.
4 pack of 12 oz bottles @ 21.99 = ~45 cents per oz
1 - 16.9oz bottle @ 10.99 = ~65 cents per oz

A 20 cent hike per oz and lower bottling costs = way higher margins.

Goose sold out good for them... Bad for consumers.

#endRant
Click to expand...
You're making a large assumption there.

A couple months ago, I took a tour of Boulevard. They have an AMAZING bottling/packaging line, literally state-of-the-art.

It can't do their bomber Smokestack Series bottles.

Those have to be bottled on another line...in another location. So they load the beer onto trucks, send it to the second location, bottle it, and (presumably) haul it back to the brewery for distribution.

Just because there's fewer bottles used does not mean it's lower bottling costs.
 
Do you even supply and demand, bro?

This is exactly what I would do if I owned the brewery.

Think about it.. The beer sells out in minutes and you're wondering why they're charging more?
 
Hm valid points, yes I considered supply and demand, and all the stores around me still have cases of it. By all the stores I mean the 6 stores within 5 miles of my house.
 
It's hard to compare a four pack price to a single bottle. My local bottle shop sold 12oz bottles for $7.99 last year and the 16.9oz bottles for $10.99 this year.

2014 $0.6658 per ounce
2015 $0.6503 per ounce

My cost per ounce was basically the same. Part of the difference in your situation is the discount for buying the four pack. In a four pack it was about $5.5 a bottle at your local store and $7.99 at mine. A $6 discount on a four pack seems like a steep discount (19%), but some of that might be due to rounding. My local rounds every price to the nearest dollar. They sell some sought after seasons for $19.99 a six pack and $3.99 a bottle, a 16.67% discount for the six pack.
 
wfowlks said:
Hm valid points, yes I considered supply and demand, and all the stores around me still have cases of it. By all the stores I mean the 6 stores within 5 miles of my house.
Click to expand...

Everything is based on supply and demand.
 
Take a look at all bombers. They are always more $/oz. It's mostly because of the higher perceived value of a bomber.

I catch myself doing this all the time. I won't pay $10 for most 4 packs, but I'll more likely pay $10 for a bomber.
 
What are you guys talking about. I guess it is some kind of beer, bot I can't figure out what it is.

I even googled BCBS 2015 to try and figure it out. The best I got was 'Bomber Command Bombing School', which is obviously wrong.
 
Calder said:
What are you guys talking about. I guess it is some kind of beer, bot I can't figure out what it is.

I even googled BCBS 2015 to try and figure it out. The best I got was 'Bomber Command Bombing School', which is obviously wrong.
Click to expand...

No, you got it.

;)

But, some people like to talk about Bourbon County Brand Stout from Goose Island every year, too.

:D
 
Calder said:
What are you guys talking about. I guess it is some kind of beer, bot I can't figure out what it is.



I even googled BCBS 2015 to try and figure it out. The best I got was 'Bomber Command Bombing School', which is obviously wrong.
Click to expand...


So your cave still gets wifi.

Good on ya.
 
Calder said:
What are you guys talking about. I guess it is some kind of beer, bot I can't figure out what it is.

I even googled BCBS 2015 to try and figure it out. The best I got was 'Bomber Command Bombing School', which is obviously wrong.
Click to expand...

They are talking about Goose Island brewery ( owned by ABInBev) Bourbon County Brand Stout.
For those complaining about paying $5-$6 for a 12oz bottle of BCBS, maybe try to brew your own and get a thread started here?
Here's a clone recipe, I did some quick figuring and you can get the basic ingredients for a 5 gallon batch for about $50, not including some oak cubes.
So that would be about $1/12oz bottle.
http://learn.kegerator.com/goose-island-bourbon-county-stout-clone/
 
What I do know about Inbev distribution is that last year a bottle shop apologized to customers for not purchasing any because of issues with the distributor. Apparently in order to get one case of BCBS the store had to buy 5-6 cases of "other" inbev offerings that they would not be able to sell or return if the product sat longer than the best buy date.
 
Logistical nightmare getting this stuff distributed. No wonder it's pricey.

Mass_bomber_raid_on_Cologne.jpg


Bomber600.jpg
 
Is there another BCBS product that sounds the same and costs 3-4 times what's been discussed here? (rhetorical question...) We're paying 4 pack prices for bottles NJ and MD (4 different locations) and only able to buy 1 or 2.
 
Has anyone mentioned yet that it's Bourbon County Brand Stout?

I've found myself falling for the marketing magic a few times with craft beer. I'll recoil at the price tag on a 6-pack or 4-pack, but will pay close to that for a bomber. Maybe I'm subconsciously thinking I don't want to commit to a whole sixer of something I don't know much about but I'll try a bomber.
 
I wish more of the craft breweries would raise their prices on the rare stuff. Make it harder for people to hoard. Have the profits go to the breweries instead of people who buy and resell. And maybe some it would be available more than an hour.
 
I wasn't crazy about the change, but its still a great deal for an amazing beer.
I mean look at BA Old Raspy for same size bottle, far inferior beer and literally double the cost.

The main reason I prefered the 4pk format was being able to relatively easily acquire 8 beers.
where as this year acquiring 8 was next to impossible without crossing into hoarder territory
 
Spartan1979 said:
I wish more of the craft breweries would raise their prices on the rare stuff. Make it harder for people to hoard. Have the profits go to the breweries instead of people who buy and resell. And maybe some it would be available more than an hour.
Click to expand...

I dont know if that'd deter anyone.
I saw a local FB offering of a case of Rare for $2000
Absolutely ridiculous! :mad::smack:
 
fuzzy2133 said:
What I do know about Inbev distribution is that last year a bottle shop apologized to customers for not purchasing any because of issues with the distributor. Apparently in order to get one case of BCBS the store had to buy 5-6 cases of "other" inbev offerings that they would not be able to sell or return if the product sat longer than the best buy date.
Click to expand...


My local had a similar experience w KBS from Founders. The distributor knew how much KBS they were getting and divided it up amongst the retailers based on how much Founders product that they moved in the previous 12 months. I don't think this is from the brewery. I think it is just how the distributors do business. Almost every brewery and retailer I know stays frustrated with the distributors.
 

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