Yeah, it seems to me like they're making a mountain out of a molehill?...
Are home brewers a "threat" to commercial brewing?
- Thread starter Phunhog
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I know this is drifting off topic, but some of the craft beer prices are a bit extreme. Sure, supply and demand and all, and if there is a market willing to pay those prices...so be it. I don't mind paying $20 a sizer if the beer is truly outstanding, and some are. But it seems there are a lot of mediocre beers riding those coattails, with similar price tags.
Sort of like the "small plates" fad in higher-end restaurants a few years ago. Give the customer less food, make it look pretty and hike the price. Tell 'em it's "locally-sourced" and charge even more. Some finer restaurants (with the right chefs) could pull it off, others tried and failed.
In the end, it's VALUE that I am seeking. When I want outstanding beer, I am willing to pay the price for it. But when I want OK beer (and sometimes I do), it should be at an OK price.
Sort of like the "small plates" fad in higher-end restaurants a few years ago. Give the customer less food, make it look pretty and hike the price. Tell 'em it's "locally-sourced" and charge even more. Some finer restaurants (with the right chefs) could pull it off, others tried and failed.
In the end, it's VALUE that I am seeking. When I want outstanding beer, I am willing to pay the price for it. But when I want OK beer (and sometimes I do), it should be at an OK price.
D-Train
Well-Known Member
Very true. A couple of anecdotal points...
In my state, and maybe others, all grain beer ingredients aren't taxed because they are food products.
A friend recently had a 1/6 barrel of a stout my wife and I liked - Buffalo Sweat by Tallgrass Brewing. He paid $75 or so, maybe 11 cents per ounce. I saw it in the store yesterday at a price equivalent to about 17 cents per ounce not even including taxes. I priced out the clone recipe and I think I can do it for 6 cents per ounce and that's not even at bulk grain/hop/yeast prices. Either someone's making a nice profit or there is a lot of overhead in the market, probably the former.
BreezyBrew
IPA is my spirit animal
To your point... What bothers me is that ppl are paying these prices creating a market for it.
To me, it's similar to pro sports ticket costs. I have given up years ago to spend that much money to watch players that are rich. Not just that they are rich, but filthy rich enough to buy a personal use dump truck fleet. People are still paying the prices and packing stadiums so nothing will be done about it.
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Yeah, especially since all of these craft brewers are anti-profit and just like giving their product away because of their love for the craft side of things; unlike the evil profit-driven BMC. Oh wait, you mean craft beer is driven by profit, too?
andrewmaixner
Well-Known Member
I think that he's saying many people may not distinguish "good" from "great," and support mediocre-to-OK stuff by paying high prices for it, thus not providing a sufficient market pressure to improve.
Or he could be talking about the grey-market / aftermarket, where the prices can go sky-high, just like high-demand shoes, sports and concert tickets, etc. The profit there goes to a debatably illegal scalper, instead of to the actual producer of the item.
Of course it's all better than BMC tastewise, so, ya, whatever.
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GHBWNY
Well-Known Member
Whether there is a threat from HBers to comm. brewers or vice-versa, nothing improves the quality of a product like competition. We all win.
