Holy Crap!! Pliny the Elder clone at austin homebrew supply.

[LoneOakDesign]

have you guys seen this?? $112.99 for a 5-gallon batch. that is crazy! anybody brew this yet???:rockin:

 

[944play]

MoreBeer has had a Pliny clone for a while. Unfortunately, it's backordered....

 

[Austinhomebrew]

How much would it cost to buy 5 gallons? Just curious.

Forrest

 

[heinz57]

How much would it cost to buy 5 gallons? Just curious.

Forrest

Location Location Location.

It's about $4.50 for a 473 mL bottle (a pint) here.

I think that's in the range of $180 for 5 gallons commercially.

 

[slim chillingsworth]

at liquormax pliny goes for $4.39 per 500 mL bottle, which is about $165 for 5 gallons.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

So you save at least $50?

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

How much would it cost to buy 5 gallons? Just curious.

Forrest

lol i love it

 

[climateboy]

Doesn't the OP's ":rockin:" suggest he is happy with this development?

 

[McKBrew]

Not sure what the hop bill is on this bad boy, too druck to find it on the Austinhomebrew site, but I'd imagine that's where the cost comes in. You might do better buying locally, but as Forest say, his one of his goals is to make stuff available to people in remote areas at a decent price.

I've never had Pliny the Elder, guess I need to try some of it.

 

[944play]

If RR growlers are still $17, about $162.

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

Doesn't the OP's ":rockin:" suggest he is happy with this development?

I think so.

 

[pkpdogg]

I get a $4-$5 pint at Toronado in SF, not bad when you consider the markup of someone serving you. We're lucky out in Cali, ain't we, Heinz57?

McKBrew - I highly suggest trying it. Not that it's anything really spectactular ... it's just a damn solid IPA.

Forrest - I don't mean any dissrespect, because I work in Finance and understand pricing strategy when demand is high and [hop] supply is low, but $112.99 is pretty damn steep!

At some point, businesses have to start thinking about the consumers. Why do companies continue to feel it's right to maintain their profit margins over providing pricing stability for their customers? The oil industry just gave us the Dirty Sanchez while posting record profits. I can't wait till a company grabs some sack and sets the precedent of giving a crap about the little man.

Sorry, the Green Flash Imperial IPA got me all riled up! =P

 

[antsp1]

Forrest is in business to make money, not to provide "pricing stability".

Ant

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

At some point, businesses have to start thinking about the consumers. Why do companies continue to feel it's right to maintain their profit margins over providing pricing stability for their customers? The oil industry just gave us the Dirty Sanchez while posting record profits. I can't wait till a company grabs some sack and sets the precedent of giving a crap about the little man.

Sorry, the Green Flash Imperial IPA got me all riled up! =P

Your kidding right?

 

[Brewsmith]

Remove all the options and go unmilled all-grain and it's $101.70

I'm sure a ton of the price has to be the hop bill. And as said above, the price is cheaper than buying 5 gallons of it. I don't want to put this thread in the dreaded debate forum, but Forrest is in it to make a profit so he can stay in business. The going rate for hops is what, $40 a pound or more on the homebrew scale? From the recipes that I've heard for Pliny, a pound of hops is about right. Now add in enough malt for a huge beer, and the convenience of having it all packaged and I can see why it's that expensive.

If you want to save yourself a couple bucks, search the Pliny recipe, it's out there. You can get all the ingredients yourself and make it.

If Forrest finds that nobody orders the kit, he'll either lower the price or discontinue it.

I wish people would "grab some sack" and open their wallet and pay for stuff, beer, cheese, cars, flat-screen TVs, gas, whatever. If the price is too high, save up, go without, or find another option.

 

[Saccharomyces]

I buy my hops in bulk, the Maharaja clone I did 10 gallons of cost $130 to make which works out to $65 for 5 gallons. I used *HALF* the hops you would in the Pliny. I doubt I could brew 5 gallons of Pliny clone for under $90 even if I had all the hops on hand...

 

[okstatepike]

Forrest is in business to make money, not to provide "pricing stability".

Ant

^^^

What this guy said.

:rockin:

 

[taalhiker]

There is a PtE clone recipe in the Best of BYO issue with 150 clone recipes.

~14lb of grains
~17oz of hops

Hops prices seem pretty steep @ AHS.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I get a $4-$5 pint at Toronado in SF, not bad when you consider the markup of someone serving you. We're lucky out in Cali, ain't we, Heinz57?

McKBrew - I highly suggest trying it. Not that it's anything really spectactular ... it's just a damn solid IPA.

Forrest - I don't mean any dissrespect, because I work in Finance and understand pricing strategy when demand is high and [hop] supply is low, but $112.99 is pretty damn steep!

At some point, businesses have to start thinking about the consumers. Why do companies continue to feel it's right to maintain their profit margins over providing pricing stability for their customers? The oil industry just gave us the Dirty Sanchez while posting record profits. I can't wait till a company grabs some sack and sets the precedent of giving a crap about the little man.

Sorry, the Green Flash Imperial IPA got me all riled up! =P

Actually, we have lowered the margin we make on hops. The kit is based on the retail of the ingredients. There are places that sell hops below my cost. There is not much I can do about that.

I do give a crap about the little man. If I didn't I wouldn't be on this forum giving exclusive deals and first word on specials. I even gave away a 42 gal conical fermenter in a contest only open to HBT members. My sack is currently grabbed.

Forrest

 

[CarlLBC]

Thanks, by the way.

 

[McKBrew]

I've passed Pliny up on more than one occasion, need to drop the cash and buy it.

Not sure why there is some negativity in this thread. Sure, you could develop a pliny clone for less. But the cost is way better than purchasing the real deal, and many people are also willing to pay more for the conveinance of having all ingredients and amounts figured out for them. No going to the LHBS with a big grain and hop bill only to find out they don't have everything you need and you have to modify or cancel the recipe. In this case, it's right there, ready to go out of the box.

 

[LoneOakDesign]

my whole intent when i started this thread wasn't to complain about the price. i really wanted some feedback on the kit and also feedback on pliny in general. i haven't had pliny yet and have always wanted to brew a batch based on things i have read here. i don't however, want to drop over a hundred bucks on a kit that is fairly new to the market. if it recievs favorable reviews, i will absolutely buy it and try it out. i have no problem dropping my hard earned cash at austin homebrew supply. those guys have helped me out more than i care to remember. so someone buy this kit and brew it! or buy it, send it to me, and i'll brew it!

 

[brewt00l]

There's so much info online about that beer between what Vinny has offered up and Tasty Mc'Ds recipe that I can't imagine that their clone would be too far off.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

my whole intent when i started this thread wasn't to complain about the price. i really wanted some feedback on the kit and also feedback on pliny in general. i haven't had pliny yet and have always wanted to brew a batch based on things i have read here. i don't however, want to drop over a hundred bucks on a kit that is fairly new to the market. if it recievs favorable reviews, i will absolutely buy it and try it out. i have no problem dropping my hard earned cash at austin homebrew supply. those guys have helped me out more than i care to remember. so someone buy this kit and brew it! or buy it, send it to me, and i'll brew it!

I fully understand your intent and I thank you for your support.

Forrest

 

[CBBaron]

I clicked on this thread just to find out how much this clone was going to cost. Right out where I guessed it would. That is a ton of expensive hops. I may do a IIPA some day soon but Pliny is so over the top. I can't justify it to myself to use that many hops in one beer.
Well at least not until my next harvest

Great job Forrest of making this available for the average brewer.

Craig

 

[pkpdogg]

Sorry guys (special apologies to Forrest). I didn't intend to make it all so negative, and after re-reading my post, I can clearly see how I blew things out of proportion and misdirected other frustrations.

Honestly, I saw Forrest's response and just didn't think it was helpful. I read it as "stop whining and just buy the damn kit." I just expected a more helpful response from a supplier, especially on a question about his own product.

Forrest - Sorry brother. I didn't mean to be a prick. You guys have a killer business with an amazing selection. I was actually ready to place a $100 order last night, till SWMBO came home and peeped the computer screen. Hahaha! Anyway, you can expect that order within the next couple of weeks.

... back to helping out OP ...

jct9335 - Sorry for hijacking your post. Pliny is a solid beer, and you would not be disappointed. It's on tap locally all of the time, so it's not something that I'm so stoked about that I'd drop $100+ for on it. However, it's good enough that I've been checking back at MoreBeer for months in hopes that they'd get the supplies back in at the lower cost (they're my LHBS). If it weren't for the hop shortage jacking up the cost and reducing availability, I'd be buying it too. If you have never tried Pliny, I say go for it.

Mike

 

[LoneOakDesign]

i'm just finishing up a revised brew system that will allow 10 gallon batches. i wanna do a few 5 gallon batches to test it out. i may do this clone as the first 10 gallon batch! keg half and bottle the other half in 22 oz bombers to age.

 

[avaserfi]

Have you ever read a bottle of Pliny the Elder? Russian River basically says they will beat you if you age it. Aging will kill almost all of the hop aroma and ruin the beer. Drink it relatively young to get that great flavor and aroma.

 

[RC0032]

If RR growlers are still $17, about $162.

$20 including the growler and they are 67.2 OZ's I was there Sunday

Its 17 oz of hops for a 5 gal :rockin:

 

[pete20]

I just brewed a Pliny clone yesterday and it's bubbling away nicely right now. Paying $85 for the ingredients made for a white-knuckle brew session where every little deviation from plan seemed like an invitation to disaster

The hops are what make it so expensive. In fact, the guys at my local HBS couldn't believe how many I was buying, said they'd never seen anyone use so many for a single 5 gallon batch, and clearly thought I was crazy. At over 250 IBUs (7.5 ounces for dry hopping alone) it's definitely pushing the limits of my taste buds -- and wallet.