When did craft beer prices “jump the shark”

[brewswithshoes]

I’d been taking a bit of a sabbatical with brewing and have been store buying my craft brews lately. I’ve seen the prices go a little crazy for some of the hazy 4 packs, but nothing prepared me for these…

Is this real? I’ve heard of 450 North, and think I’ve even tried a couple of their brews at a festival once. (Nothing particular that I recall about them either)

What on God’s green earth makes this worth 9 bucks a can?? Genuinely curious to hear if anyone knows the “why’s” of this pricing.

 

[AlexKay]

“Look how much cheaper homebrewing is,” I tell my wife. “I could save $9 a pint, if only I got that shiny conical and a new keezer.”

 

[brewswithshoes]

“Look how much cheaper homebrewing is,” I tell my wife. “I could save $9 a pint, if only I got that shiny conical and a new keezer.”

Yep, for once I think that “I can make it cheaper” line might actually become reality.

 

[day_trippr]

Those are stupid prices only suckers would pay.
Nothing like that up here where hazies were born and flourished...

Cheers!

 

[Yesfan]

LOL! $9/pint?

HARD pass.

 

[madscientist451]

“Look how much cheaper homebrewing is,” I tell my wife. “I could save $9 a pint, if only I got that shiny conical and a new keezer.”

Or you could ferment in used corny keg and serve w/picnic tap in old 'fridge from craigslist....that's getting EVEN CHEAPER....

 

[SanPancho]

lets assume these guys are getting crappy pricing right now like everyone who's not a major"micro" brewery.

$20/lb for hops, 5lbs per barrel, $100/bbl in hops which is roughly 40c per beer
call it 25c per can for malts and yeast and whatnot
call it a buck a can for 16oz prints (inflation, supply chain issues)
call it another buck a can for mobile canning service. (might be high, rates vary by locale)

so $2.75/pint in "cost", sell to distributor for $5.5
they add about a third, so now its $7.15.
retailer marks it to 9.

thats how you end up paying 8-9 bucks a can for the privilege of drinking rotten fruit with extra hop burn.

 

[MajorJC]

Wow! $9.00/pint! Not me, here if I buy craft brew it's usually in the $10 to $12 dollar price range for a four pack/six pack. If I saw prices like that on local store shelves I'd be looking around for the hidden camera. That's more than what I'd pay for a pint at Mugshots or any other local pub or breastauraunt.

 

[bracconiere]

Genuinely curious to hear if anyone knows the “why’s” of this pricing.

they're wanabe dope cooks.... find something cheap to make that gives you a key into their soul because it makes them feel something then ream em hard to get it...the kids that are still 'fresh' are praticularily good prey for them....

 

[bracconiere]

just for comparable reference...

https://purebulk.com/products/phenylethylamine-hcl-pea?variant=14306879209521
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenethylamine
doesn't do anything because of mono-amine oxidase...cheap as hell, but smarty pants figured if all he had to do was add a methyl at alpha to the amine....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine
BAMMMMMM! i made it through high school, instead of $40 i can charge $40,000!!! i love drugs now all i need are some rock stars kissin my ass! sing to kids with a catchy tune!

but the gangsters cha...

 

[MajorJC]

Prices are a little lower at the brewery's website and I guess they are doing pretty well because everything is sold out.

I'm gonna be watching for those cans now in the What are you drinking now? thread.

 

[Kickass]

No thanks. I used to get FOMA when I’d see unattainable beer at the bottle shop or in magazine beer reviews. That’s no longer the case. Thank you terribly underwhelming hazy beer trend for saving me time and money on clinical help.

 

[wepeeler]

I'll tell you what. They don't taste good enough to warrant the price. And I haven't even tasted them...

 

[bracconiere]

I'll tell you what. They don't taste good enough to warrant the price. And I haven't even tasted them...

f.... i'd drink pruno first! now with ketchup and mustard! i atleast try and keep my pruno classy and strictly apple juice...or for god sake's at least a sugar wash!

 

[wepeeler]

f.... i'd drink pruno first! now with ketchup and mustard! i atleast try and keep my pruno classy and strictly apple juice...or for god sake's at least a sugar wash!

 

[bracconiere]

View attachment 774064

you know man when i'm drinking my OJ sugar wash, people always say with beer the last few pours are crystal clear and the best tasting...but with the pulp from the oj, that's the way the last few pours look! i'll get back to brewing but i'm having fun with hard seltzer for a time now....stress time...should get to the grind of all day brew days i guess, sometime here?

 

[wepeeler]

you know man when i'm drinking my OJ sugar wash, people always say with beer the last few pours are crystal clear and the best tasting...but with the pulp from the oj, that's the way the last few pours look! i'll get back to brewing but i'm having fun with hard seltzer for a time now....stress time...should get to the grind of all day brew days i guess, sometime here?

Last few pours of a light beer from the keg are brilliantly clear. I started just carbing water and getting flavoring from Amoretti. The Lemon Lime tastes like Sierra Mist. 30 calories for a pint. Excellent.

 

[ntempleton]

lets assume these guys are getting crappy pricing right now like everyone who's not a major"micro" brewery.

$20/lb for hops, 5lbs per barrel, $100/bbl in hops which is roughly 40c per beer
call it 25c per can for malts and yeast and whatnot
call it a buck a can for 16oz prints (inflation, supply chain issues)
call it another buck a can for mobile canning service. (might be high, rates vary by locale)

so $2.75/pint in "cost", sell to distributor for $5.5
they add about a third, so now its $7.15.
retailer marks it to 9.

thats how you end up paying 8-9 bucks a can for the privilege of drinking rotten fruit with extra hop burn.

Work in the industry. This is correct.

 

[RevA]

Work in the industry. This is correct.

I don't see any of the taxes in those numbers, nor the cost of running a business -rent, salaries, utilities ect

 

[Miraculix]

“Look how much cheaper homebrewing is,” I tell my wife. “I could save $9 a pint, if only I got that shiny conical and a new keezer.”

I think you nailed it.

These must be wify-decoys, a very very nice gesture of a very very nice brewery. He thinks of all you married guys!

Perfect justification for home-brewing. The owner of the brewery is taking care of all of you guys. Appreciate it.

 

[deeve007]

I don't see any of the taxes in those numbers, nor the cost of running a business -rent, salaries, utilities ect

A lot (most?) of people commenting in this thread have very little idea of the overall costs, and market demand too apparently.

And really thought home brewers would be a little more open minded...

 

[Miraculix]

A lot (most?) of people commenting in this thread have very little idea of the overall costs, and market demand too apparently.

And really thought home brewers would be a little more open minded...

Honestly, about ten bucks a can? My open mind was lost at two to three dollars.

I buy a very good beer here for far less than a euro. Granted, not an American hop bomb, those go for about 2 euros, but that's almost as high as it gets.

10 dollars....... Can't believe it.

 

[deeve007]

Honestly, about ten bucks a can? My open mind was lost at two to three dollars.

I buy a very good beer here for far less than a euro. Granted, not an American hop bomb, those go for about 2 euros, but that's almost as high as it gets.

10 dollars....... Can't believe it.

Loads of places in the world where most beer is well over 10 bucks a pint!
And loads of beer styles and variations where if you break down all the costs involved (as someone did above), are not excessively priced for what they are, even if they're not brewed for every drinker.

In Oz I have fav brewers who have great core range beers for around AU$6 a 375ml can, and others who's beers are usually in the AU$10-15 range, though some aged and adjuncted beers can be as much as $20-30. I love them all, though obviously I buy more of the cheaper beers. It's one of the things I love most about beer, there are options and varities for everyone and most price points.

Much like wine and every other alcohol in existence, why should beer be any different?

 

[deeve007]

I just realised those prices are for a 4 pack, I thought it was for one can! Lol, a 4 pack for $35, you guys should come spend some time in Australia if you think that's excessive, ha ha!!

 

[McMullan]

A lot (most?) of people commenting in this thread have very little idea of the overall costs, and market demand too apparently.

And really thought home brewers would be a little more open minded...

Seems like far too many craft breweries set themselves up without viable business plans. Expectations that customers are prepared to be hoodwinked $9 for a can of clown juice - so a brewery without any business acumen can continue struggling to survive in a dog-eat-dog market - are taking the piss.

 

[deeve007]

Seems like far too many craft breweries set themselves up without viable business plans. Expectations that customers are prepared to be hoodwinked $9 for a can of clown juice - so a brewery without any business acumen can continue struggling to survive in a dog-eat-dog market - are taking the piss.

So a brewery brewing beers that you don't like automatically means they don't have a viable business plan and/or are struggling?
I know many brewing far more expensive beers than those that are doing very well, and over an extended period.

Do you have the same reaction to wine that's more than $10 or $20 a bottle, or whiskey?

 

[McMullan]

Why are you trying to compare beer and wine, to justify being ripped off on a can of clown juice?

 

[deeve007]

Why are you trying to compare beer and wine, to justify being ripped off on a can of clown juice?

Why do you think beer should be exempt from the huge varieties in quality, styles and variations every other alcohol in existence has?

It's actually always been there, it just wasn't called "craft beer" back then, and not drunk by the masses.

 

[AlexKay]

Today: "why it's very hard to make money with nano-scale brewing, unless you avoid distributors and sell everything from your own tap room (in which case, maybe)."

 

[McMullan]

Why do you think beer should be exempt from the huge varieties in quality, styles and variations every other alcohol in existence has?

It's actually always been there, it just wasn't called "craft beer" back then, and not drunk by the masses.

Yeah, so beer isn't wine. Beer is a simple thirst-quenching beverage relatively low in alcohol, takes weeks to make and is relatively easy and cheap to produce. There's no money in beer. Fact. Like so much, the money is actually in high sales volumes. If someone aims to reinvent beer by putting 'a cherry on top' then charging $9 a can they lack more than business acumen. No viable business risks pricing itself out of a highly competitive, overpopulated market. Who on earth routinely pays $9 for a can of beer? During a cost-of-living crisis set to quicken it's blatantly obvious who's going out of business first. Those squandering valuable resources producing clown juice.

 

[WesBrew]

$6 pints at the brewery is pretty much it for me. That usually means the house/core WC IPA which I typically enjoy and with less calories. One brewery here has a $4 a pint core beer menu! $3 on Sundays And BOGO specials. Its nuts but its not a nano.

 

[deeve007]

Yeah, so beer isn't wine. Beer is a simple first-quenching beverage relatively low in alcohol, takes weeks to make and is relatively easy and cheap to produce. There's no money in beer. Fact. Like so much, the money is actually in high sales volumes. If someone aims to reinvent beer by putting 'a cherry on top' then charging $9 a can they lack more than business acumen. No viable business risks pricing itself out of a highly competitive, overpopulated market. Who on earth routinely pays $9 for a can of beer? During a cost-of-living crisis set to quicken it's blatantly obvious who's going out of business first. Those squandering valuable resources producing clown juice.

And yet some of the most successful breweries around - and over an extended period, some for over 100 years - are selling loads of beers for far more than $9/can. Go figure.

You enjoy your narrow minded outlook on beers, I'll enjoy the amazingly diverse one that actually exists, and that I keep discovering more about every day!

 

[deeve007]

$6 pints at the brewery is pretty much it for me. That usually means the house/core WC IPA which I typically enjoy and with less calories. One brewery here has a $4 a pint core beer menu! $3 on Sundays And BOGO specials. Its nuts but its not a nano.

Even those who like the occassional splurge, gotta have those great core range cheapies to fall back on!

 

[McMullan]

And yet some of the most successful breweries around - and over an extended period, some for over 100 years - are selling loads of beers for far more than $9/can.

Who?

You enjoy your narrow minded outlook on beer

Enjoy your $9 cans of clown juice

 

[deeve007]

Who?

Seems you really do know very little... start in Belgium with some of the Trappist breweries and their aged stuff, and work out from there.

Enjoy your $9 cans of clown juice

Actually it's usually the barrel aged beers I prefer to spend money on when splurging, both dark beers and sours. Some of them are made to sip like a good whiskey, and are as satisfying (but much cheaper!!).

But each to their own if someone wants to spend their hard earned cash on "clown juice", who am I to tell someone else what they should or shouldn't drink? Worrying so much about what anyone else is drinking just seems a little weird to me, do you care as much about what underwear they buy too??

 

[deeve007]

Why do you think I thought that? You typed it, not me. People who blatantly assume what others are thinking are telepaths, apparently. AKA, full of sh*t.

Every single one of your comments has shown you believe beer should only cost a certain amount and no more. Have a misread all that?

And seems your only response to anyone with a differing view than your own is to start throwing out the personal insults, hence time to exit this now pointless discussion.

 

[McMullan]

Seems you really do know very little... start in Belgium with some of the Trappist breweries and their aged stuff, and work out from there.

The fact of the matter is, in the world of beer, $9/can beers are very very rare. The assumption it's somehow normal is complete nonsense. Please fact-check it. And stop cherry picking to prop-up rediculous claims. Note too if you pay more than $9 for a pint it's actually the venue you're paying for

 

[McMullan]

Every single one of your comments has shown you believe beer should only cost a certain amount and no more. Have a misread all that?

And seems your only response to anyone with a differing view than your own is to start throwing out the personal insults, hence time to exit this now pointless discussion.

I know how much it costs to make beer

 

[deeve007]

Prices are a little lower at the brewery's website and I guess they are doing pretty well because everything is sold out.

I'm gonna be watching for those cans now in the What are you drinking now? thread.

Same situation in Australia, drinkers are loving the experimental beers, even if they don't always work out, the market loves them!

 

[deeve007]

I know how much it costs to make beer

Apparently not all beers or styles. All the best.