11.2oz vs. 12oz

[iaefebs]

It has nothing to do with profits, especially when you name brewers like Orval and Guinness. This is done because they don't even use ounces, they are bottling in liters. This is a silly thread if the complaint is about a brewery over seas. I could see if your favorite local US micro started doing it, but realize we aren't the only country out there.

nano said what I was thinking while reading through this thread.

 

[nanofreak]

They bottle in ml. If you enter a foreign market for profit you customize your product for that market for maximum traction. Ask Mercedes or any other foreign vehicle manufacturer. If they can change something as complex as glass compounds and emission systems to name a few I am sure foreign breweries can make a 12oz bottle. Or just to keep everybody happy a 355 ml bottle.

Well ****, you better call brooklyn brewery, they ship their 12 oz bottles over seas. Selfish bastards. So do many breweries in the states.

If a bottle of beer had the same profit margins as a mercedes what you are saying could be in the realm of sanity. Buying a second non standard so more expensive bottling line just to please people that dont use logic doesnt make sense. Not only that the increase in the 12 ounces price to pay for not just the extra beer but the extra bottling line, and extra space needed for it, etc would piss me off more than understanding why I dont get that fraction of an ounce.

BTW, I dont see people bitching when they get 750ML rather than 22oz.

 

[bovineblitz]

I rarely ever see craft beers in single 12oz (or 11.2) servings. All of the grocery stores up here carry mostly 6 and 12 packs of 12 oz bottles, or 22oz for the specialty craft beers. These range in price from $5 on the low end to $11.99 for the very high end. Seeing these prices is what makes me ok with spending $50 on 5 gallons of beer! That comes to around $2 per 22oz.

A lot of the stores around here let you take single bottles out of the sixers.

 

[Rhuarc]

A lot of the stores around here let you take single bottles out of the sixers.

Wow, really? I have never heard of that, although I have never really tried!

 

[bovineblitz]

Wow, really? I have never heard of that, although I have never really tried!

Yeah, I'd say half the liquor stores I frequent. I rarely buy sixers anymore and never buy a sixer of something I've never had before. Too risky.

 

[CidahMastah]

Yeah, I'd say half the liquor stores I frequent. I rarely buy sixers anymore and never buy a sixer of something I've never had before. Too risky.

Haha - me too. Sounds sad but a sixer is a lot of commitment for me when I only want to try one. Wegmans has a build your own 6 pack rack. It is great because they do rotate stuff in and out. I remember they had DFH 120, 90 and 60 in there (9.99 a sixer). I was like, man that is cheaper than buying the 4 packs of some of those. Great way to try lots of stuff.

BTW, I dont see people bitching when they get 750ML rather than 22oz.

well... that is because a 750ml is about 25 oz, which is more than a 22oz

I think your missing the point of this thread. If I pay a premium price for a beer, I get to bitch about missing .8oz.

I have seen products, not just beer, shrink in size by weight over the past several years, yet the price has stayed the same or in some cases risen. From soap, to prepackaged foods, etc. There was a time when Labatts blue was never offered in 11.2oz. I know because that was mostly what I would buy for my everyday beer through college. I also lived up near Canada and we went up there all the time to visit because it was a 30 minute drive. Molson, Labatt, etc., was all in 12oz bottles, in Canada (this is since I was 18 years old, which was the age to drink legally up there)! 14 years later I see it in 11.2, which means that they changed the way they were packaging it.

Clever packaging saves companies money. Perhaps this isn't the case with beer but I don't believe it. Like I said, my buddies who live in Spain, Germany, Scottland and England have told me the common size growing up was 500ml. Just as easy to make 355ml bottles vs. 331ml.

 

[Mellow52]

Well ****, you better call brooklyn brewery, they ship their 12 oz bottles over seas. Selfish bastards. So do many breweries in the states.

If a bottle of beer had the same profit margins as a mercedes what you are saying could be in the realm of sanity. Buying a second non standard so more expensive bottling line just to please people that dont use logic doesnt make sense. Not only that the increase in the 12 ounces price to pay for not just the extra beer but the extra bottling line, and extra space needed for it, etc would piss me off more than understanding why I dont get that fraction of an ounce.

BTW, I dont see people bitching when they get 750ML rather than 22oz.

Take hold of a cold home brew and relax man. Why would anyone complain getting more beer so kudos for Brooklyn Brewery for shipping 12oz overseas? 750ml is 25.36oz so again why would anyone complain getting more beer? I do not think you will find such a person here. I just used the auto industry as an example of companies having to 'modify' products for foreign markets and I think you also underestimate the profits these commercial brewing companies make, might rival Mercedes, I don't know.

Again, I buy commercial beer for two reasons:
1. Beer - obvious
2. The bottles for my home brew and to that extent the beer from Spaten and Franziskaner (Munich) are imported to the US in 12oz bottles. Aaaah... thank you.

Bottling my home brew in a 11.2oz bottle and then still having to leave a bit in the bottle for yeast sediment really makes a difference, you think it is only 1oz but man I can't help feeling shorted every time that frosty glass looks half full (or half empty depending on your outlook of life) after I pour a brew. I actually had a big collection of the Belgian Palm 11.2oz bottles but sent them to recycling with hope they will come back one day as 12oz bottles I am also 6'4" with big hands (not that small grubby carny hands that smell like cabbage) and I can report that a 11.2oz bottle does not feel right and looks tiny.

Not only that the increase in the 12 ounces price to pay for not just the extra beer but the extra bottling line, and extra space needed for it, etc

Shoots a big hole in your previous statement...

It has nothing to do with profits

 

[CidahMastah]

I am also 6'4" with big hands (not that small grubby carny hands that smell like cabbage) and I can report that a 11.2oz bottle does not feel right and looks tiny.

HAHA, too funny - thanks for the "field research". You can put in me in that club as well.

 

[BrewKnurd]

I think your missing the point of this thread. If I pay a premium price for a beer, I get to bitch about missing .8oz.

You're surely allowed to bitch about whatever you want. If you're being realistic, you also understand that as time passes, prices go up or size goes down, and consumers are usually less likely to notice, and therefore react to, a decrease in size. So you really have no one to blame but the consumer.

 

[CidahMastah]

So you really have no one to blame but the consumer

true. Which is why I brew my own beer and remove myself from the consumer end as much as possible. I find less self loathing going on that way

 

[BrewKnurd]

true. Which is why I brew my own beer and remove myself from the consumer end as much as possible. I find less self loathing going on that way

True enough, but unless you grow your own grain and hops, you're still a consumer, just of a different product.

 

[Mellow52]

Sorry had to add...

Cousin Sven - "Yaaa das is a problem of two much beer wif unt bottle from Broeklyn, 12 ozzy das is two much"

 

[Mellow52]

True enough, but unless you grow your own grain and hops, you're still a consumer, just of a different product.

But does one not have to also buy the grain seeds my leige?

 

[BrewKnurd]

But does one not have to also buy the grain seeds my leige?

sure, the first time.

 

[pm5k00]

This whole topic is a non issue, it says on the packageing the amount you are getting, 11.2, 12, 22, or whatever, so it's not like any company is trying to trick consumers. If you don't think it's a good value, don't buy it.

 

[spokaniac]

Just hope they don't start following Coke's lead. Noticed in the grocery store the other day that a "case" of Coke only has 20 cans now. What's next a ten can 12-pack?

 

[CidahMastah]

All true, but there is a cost/risk for everything. If I grow grain/hops the crop could fail. Or I could screw up the malting process. Or it could consume all my time and my wife then leaves me. Then I will be really broke due to the divorce settlement and be forced to drink too much BMC to curb my failed farmer induced depression.

While I participate in consumerism by buying in bulk grain I at least cut out much of the middle man and beat the commercial brewer at his own game. I can make a similar bomber to his for less than $1 because mine is exempt from taxation and other labor fees. Had the price not been so high, or the bottle been 11.2oz vs. 12oz I would not have been incented to brew my own, I would have bought his at a reasonable price (discounting the crazy brew rig costs, let's call that a "hobby" for arguments sake haha )

If I can produce a same or better product for cheaper than a business can at a commercial level then the commercial brewer has lost my consumerism until I run out of the time or source of grain and hops to brew brew with.

In reality my desire for craft beer and the rising cost made me want to brew my own beer. I remember buying stone 22oz smoked porters for years for $1.99. Was happy to pay it over BMC. When those prices shot up to $5+ I knew the cost was outweighing the value of the product (for me I was right). But I am that guy who gets lost in the details over principle oriented events. Just who I am. Some people are happy to apy and not interested in brewing.

 

[Homercidal]

Thanks! I actually saw your handle and thought of Tar Valon before I saw your comment about my handle!

I have gotten spoiled out here in the Republic of Cascadia (Puget Sound area of Washington State!) There are probably 30 to 50 different 22oz craft beers available in your average grocery store like Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Central Market, Whole Foods, etc...

I saw that too. Especially easy to spot since I'm in book 5 currently.

I don't know that I've ever seen an 11.2 ounce beer so far. Except for some weird foreign beers, everything seems to be 12 ounce and 22 ounce for me. I'll keep my eyes open though.

I wish they'd all just go with pints and be done with it. Or 1/2 litres.

 

[CidahMastah]

i wish they'd all just go with pints and be done with it. Or 1/2 litres.

+1

 

[zeg]

true. Which is why I brew my own beer and remove myself from the consumer end as much as possible. I find less self loathing going on that way

I'm boycotting myself because about a quarter of my most recently bottled batch is in 11.2 oz bottles. I've sure got a lot of nerve, trying to put one over on me like that!

 

[CidahMastah]

I'm boycotting myself because about a quarter of my most recently bottled batch is in 11.2 oz bottles. I've sure got a lot of nerve, trying to put one over on me like that!

haha, that's the spirit!

I find drinking from one of your 12oz bottles helps reduce the self loathing for bottling with the 11.2 bottles.

 

[TwoGunz]

Even if it is 11.2, I love buying Guinness just because their bottles look awesome and will look even cooler with my beer in it.

Yes! I have a couple cases of these. They're also way better than removing paper labels from bottles. Now that I'm kegging my bottles are neglected most of the time though.

 

[TwoGunz]

Btw Cidah, even at 11.2, I bet that Orval was delightful! Come on, admit it.

 

[david_42]

Baby Beers are back? In the '70s some states raised the taxes on 12 and 16 oz beers, so a few companies started putting slightly less beer in the cans to avoid the special tax. Not well received.

 

[CidahMastah]

Btw Cidah, even at 11.2, I bet that Orval was delightful! Come on, admit it.

Haha twogunz you blasphemer!

Actually I plan to try that orval tonight with the wife because we keep putting her brew day off (she is going to do her first brew with me in the next few weeks). Of course she picks the belgian specialty ale, with brett. I told her this brew was a little more advanced/ complicated. She said, "just like me".

Bought a variety 8 pack of ommegang too. Really liked their abbey dubbel at the brewfest event this year. I don't think you went this year, but they had a lot of really good craft brewers - I couldn't get through half of them and I was trying.