New Castle cheaper than Sam Adams, WTF?

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Steelers77

Steelers77

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I'm in a suburb of Chicago and got stuck going to a Food 4 Less to grab some beers. To my surprise a 12 piece of New Castle was $2.00 less than a 12 piece of Sam. Can you belive this?

Maybe its just me but seems odd that a beer that comes from England is less than a beer made just a few hundred miles from me. I'm not mad just surprised.


This is my 1000th post! First 5 people to message me will get 10% off their next order.

Cheers!
 
Sounds about right. I have been drinking New Castle's for the bottles to bottle up the batch of skeeter pee into. After 2-12 packs, I am done. While I never have, I believe that New Castle tastes very similar to licking a wet dog...at least SA tastes like SA...
 
Zamial said:
Sounds about right. I have been drinking New Castle's for the bottles to bottle up the batch of skeeter pee into. After 2-12 packs, I am done. While I never have, I believe that New Castle tastes very similar to licking a wet dog...at least SA tastes like SA...
Click to expand...

Eh...you should try NC Summer Ale and NC Werewolf, their new seasonal releases....like licking the grundle of a wet dog...something about their beers I just ain't jivin' with.
 
janesville = suburb of chicago? lol..

anyways, I think the prices have something to do with the increased market share of "micro"breweries like SA. Higher demand, higher prices...
 
Yeah it's gotta be a supply and demand thing. Even the SA knockoffs like Costco's Kirkland brang "craft ales" get me salivating more than New Castle. Not sure what the appeal of New Castle is at all other than foriegn beer. Maybe I need to try it warm or something.
 
The import thing is vastly over rated. When I was in Dublin, I seen young guys (locals) ordering Budweiser to impress their dates because in was an import... WTF??
 
I rather like NewCastle. I don't care a whole lot for Sam Adams (at least none of the ones I've tried). I was also surprised to notice that NC was less expensive at my local grocery -was looking at what was involved in brewing a clone of NC (wouldn't mind having it on tap) -picked up BYOs commercial clone book and learned that NC was actually a blending of an aged beer and a 'fresh' one Bit of extra work to get to the bottle, it seems. I DO wish it didn't come in clear bottles (whats up with THAT?!?) -consequently I only put beer in THOSE bottles when I'm giving beer to friends who have a nasty habit of either not returning my bottles (the brown glass, anyway or even worse -they don't bother to rinse the things out after emptying them -mold! ugh!! (and here in Florida, it doesn't take long for nasties to grow in beer residue -heat, humidity and more crap floating in the air than I care to think of)
 
Nightbiker said:
I rather like NewCastle. I don't care a whole lot for Sam Adams (at least none of the ones I've tried). I was also surprised to notice that NC was less expensive at my local grocery -was looking at what was involved in brewing a clone of NC (wouldn't mind having it on tap) -picked up BYOs commercial clone book and learned that NC was actually a blending of an aged beer and a 'fresh' one Bit of extra work to get to the bottle, it seems. I DO wish it didn't come in clear bottles (whats up with THAT?!?) -consequently I only put beer in THOSE bottles when I'm giving beer to friends who have a nasty habit of either not returning my bottles (the brown glass, anyway or even worse -they don't bother to rinse the things out after emptying them -mold! ugh!! (and here in Florida, it doesn't take long for nasties to grow in beer residue -heat, humidity and more crap floating in the air than I care to think of)
Click to expand...

I agree, most of the sam adams beer I have had in my opinion taste horrible. I do like a new castle from time to time.
 
Heineken and Carlsberg are major international producers of industrial beers and can push their costs to a bare minimum. While Boston Beer is getting awfully close to being macrobrewery, it's still orders of magnitude smaller, and they actively try to maintain their image as a craft brewery, and price their stuff accordingly (bottom tier for craft beer, but still higher than the macroswill, imported or not).
 
Newcastle's a good beer, as long as ya don't buy a skunked clear bottle. But it in closed 12ers, cans or better yet, have it on tap. IMO, SA has really slipped in quality, down to that of near macro levels, while continuing to sell their beer at craft brew prices. I stopped buying their beer after trying latitude 48... A very mediocre pale ale that, to my pallatte, tasted like pretty much all of SA's lighter offerings, adjunct-y and oxidized.
 
It's all one word - Newcastle.

It's probably cheap because it's, er... cheap. It's made by Heineken. I don't really see it much in the UK any more, not sure if this is because I just ignore it or whether pubs aren't selling it so much.

I used to drink this a lot when I was younger. But my tastes, thankfully, have changed.
 
I was with my family in a restaurant (Rogue / Newport) on vacation last year and the guy at the next table was a brewer for New Castle. He was American and said he worked in the US. - didn't really cross examine him. Figured he should be left alone to enjoy a good beer.

btw - the free glasses are great, might be my favorite glass.
 
monkeydan said:
It's all one word - Newcastle.

It's probably cheap because it's, er... cheap. It's made by Heineken. I don't really see it much in the UK any more, not sure if this is because I just ignore it or whether pubs aren't selling it so much.

I used to drink this a lot when I was younger. But my tastes, thankfully, have changed.
Click to expand...

Its in the UK, but young people don't drink it. Only the old farts drink it. The guys that sit in the corner of the pub all night with their wife, and you see them sitting there together for like 2 hours without saying a word to eachother.
 
samc said:
I was with my family in a restaurant (Rogue / Newport) on vacation last year and the guy at the next table was a brewer for New Castle. He was American and said he worked in the US. - didn't really cross examine him. Figured he should be left alone to enjoy a good beer.

btw - the free glasses are great, might be my favorite glass.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure newcastle is only brewed in newcastle. It's actually two different beers blended together. They did come out with their summer beer, maybe that's brewed in the US
 
Nightbiker said:
I rather like NewCastle. I don't care a whole lot for Sam Adams (at least none of the ones I've tried). I was also surprised to notice that NC was less expensive at my local grocery -was looking at what was involved in brewing a clone of NC (wouldn't mind having it on tap) -picked up BYOs commercial clone book and learned that NC was actually a blending of an aged beer and a 'fresh' one Bit of extra work to get to the bottle, it seems. I DO wish it didn't come in clear bottles (whats up with THAT?!?) -consequently I only put beer in THOSE bottles when I'm giving beer to friends who have a nasty habit of either not returning my bottles (the brown glass, anyway or even worse -they don't bother to rinse the things out after emptying them -mold! ugh!! (and here in Florida, it doesn't take long for nasties to grow in beer residue -heat, humidity and more crap floating in the air than I care to think of)
Click to expand...

Booths Brewing on Faulkenburg has a NC extract clone pre-packaged. He probably knows how to do an all-grain if you ask him.
 
NewCastle seems to have taken a hit in quality recently.

Past couple of bottles I have had have been absolute garbage. Either skunked, or with off-flavors. Maybe they cut back on quality control to increase production, or something. That could explain the decrease in price.

And then Sam has been increasing production lately. At the Boston-facility, where they do most of the kegs, they are looking to expand. And I imagine at the Chicago facility, where they do most of the bottling, they are doing similar.

NordeastBrewer77 said:
Newcastle's a good beer, as long as ya don't buy a skunked clear bottle. But it in closed 12ers, cans or better yet, have it on tap. IMO, SA has really slipped in quality, down to that of near macro levels, while continuing to sell their beer at craft brew prices. I stopped buying their beer after trying latitude 48... A very mediocre pale ale that, to my pallatte, tasted like pretty much all of SA's lighter offerings, adjunct-y and oxidized.
Click to expand...

FYI, Latitude 48 is an IPA, not a PA. The name itself is a reference to the location of the hops used.
 
Newcastle is great on tap. The skunky bottle I can take or leave. Like a lot of SA stuff too. 'specially there Oktoberfest.
 
I do enjoy NC from time to time. I had one about a month ago at Miller Park on tap. It was tasty. I have actually been pretty disappointed lately with SA. Some of their recent seasonals have been downright awful (Summer Ale anyone). I've also noticed that their regional quality control seems to be pretty lax this year. I've tried Bostom Lager in a few different areas of the country, and the quality seems pretty hit or miss. Almost liek some of their contract breweries are skimping on ingredients.
 
RMitch said:
NewCastle seems to have taken a hit in quality recently.

Past couple of bottles I have had have been absolute garbage. Either skunked, or with off-flavors. Maybe they cut back on quality control to increase production, or something. That could explain the decrease in price.

And then Sam has been increasing production lately. At the Boston-facility, where they do most of the kegs, they are looking to expand. And I imagine at the Chicago facility, where they do most of the bottling, they are doing similar.

FYI, Latitude 48 is an IPA, not a PA. The name itself is a reference to the location of the hops used.
Click to expand...

Their boston facility doesn't brew much at all. It is incredibly small. They probably don't do more than some seasonals (if that) and maybe the imperial series, and their experimental stuff.

Most of their stuff is made in Cincinnati. Looks like they opened a place up in California now too.
http://beerme.com/brewery.php?3705

And I know they at least use to contract out most of it, but I think that was just some accounting games as I think they owned part of the contract brewers.
 
^Agreed. I was referencing to beers in my local area. Kegs mostly come from the Boston facility, bottles from Cincy.

Problem with the Summer Ale is they keep changing the source of their lemons, changing the flavor significantly in the process.
 
RMitch said:
^Agreed. I was referencing to beers in my local area. Kegs mostly come from the Boston facility, bottles from Cincy.

Problem with the Summer Ale is they keep changing the source of their lemons, changing the flavor significantly in the process.
Click to expand...

That could explain why, for me at least, Sam on draft is so much better than the bottled stuff. Pretty much anything by them in bottles I stay away from now.
 
NewCastle is best on tap. I thoroughly enjoy 22 oz draft beers of NC.

Sam Adams is quietly becoming the next BMC. Obvoiusly no where near that scale, but whenever an event wants a "nice" beer, Sams is the choice they stock up on. Its the - everyone recognizes and likes it, they have a Lager, a Light, and Seasonal choice - beer.

I've noticed their prices jump the past two years. I usually get 6ers of the Blackberry, Cherry Wheat, and other ones, but its gotten too expensive so I buy other nice craft beers at equal or lesser value. (Except the god awful Summer, and I am apparnetly the only one sad the White was replaced by Noble Pils, and the White is only an occasional release in 6 packs now)
 
and in regards to you guys talking about their facilities - I believe they just signed on to build a huge new facility on PA. They wanted to do it around Boston, but were getting killed on the taxes. Obviously a big lose for MA jobs. I think that is final, I'll have to dig up that article.
 
luke2080 said:
and in regards to you guys talking about their facilities - I believe they just signed on to build a huge new facility on PA. They wanted to do it around Boston, but were getting killed on the taxes. Obviously a big lose for MA jobs. I think that is final, I'll have to dig up that article.
Click to expand...

But...but...high business taxes and a pro-union environment are supposed to keep jobs here! I'm confused. :confused:


<sarcasm> :cross:
 
RMitch said:
FYI, Latitude 48 is an IPA, not a PA. The name itself is a reference to the location of the hops used.
Click to expand...

Obviously, the name refers to hops grown in the 48th parallel. And, again, as the name suggests, it's an ipa, or India Pale Ale. Not sure how a pale ale isn't a pale ale, whether it's English, American, or of the variety formerly exported to India.
:mug:
Either way, IMO, it was a bad beer. A very mediocre representation of the style.
 
Typically when one refers to a "pale ale", they're referring to a much different type of beer than an "india pale ale".

I agree that its not the greatest IPA out there. I prefer the deconstructed version with Ahtanum hops. Now THAT is a quality IPA.
 
I was just generically using 'pale ale'.

Haven't tried the ahtanum hop version. I'm admittedly not very exited about seeking out their offerings. If I came across something like that on tap, or in singles, I'd definitely go for it. But I'm not very likely going to buy a 6er or a sampler of beer I know from experience is likely to sit in my fridge until my sister-in-law comes over next.
 
RMitch said:
I prefer the deconstructed version with Ahtanum hops. Now THAT is a quality IPA.
Click to expand...

I also like the East Kent Goldings, that was very good too. In general I like the Latitude 48 Deconstructed. It's not very forward with the aroma hops and relies more on a balance of malt and bittering hops. Not at all whats common in today's hop loaded IPA/DIPA/IIPA continuum. Maybe that's why I like it.

Also, I saw New Castle for $10+change /12pk at the store today. I wish I liked it better.
 
luke2080 said:
NewCastle is best on tap. I thoroughly enjoy 22 oz draft beers of NC.

Sam Adams is quietly becoming the next BMC. Obvoiusly no where near that scale, but whenever an event wants a "nice" beer, Sams is the choice they stock up on. Its the - everyone recognizes and likes it, they have a Lager, a Light, and Seasonal choice - beer.

I've noticed their prices jump the past two years. I usually get 6ers of the Blackberry, Cherry Wheat, and other ones, but its gotten too expensive so I buy other nice craft beers at equal or lesser value. (Except the god awful Summer, and I am apparnetly the only one sad the White was replaced by Noble Pils, and the White is only an occasional release in 6 packs now)
Click to expand...

You lost all credibility when you said you liked their cough syrup, erm, Cherry Wheat.
 
Nightbiker said:
I rather like NewCastle. I don't care a whole lot for Sam Adams (at least none of the ones I've tried). I was also surprised to notice that NC was less expensive at my local grocery -was looking at what was involved in brewing a clone of NC (wouldn't mind having it on tap) -picked up BYOs commercial clone book and learned that NC was actually a blending of an aged beer and a 'fresh' one Bit of extra work to get to the bottle, it seems. I DO wish it didn't come in clear bottles (whats up with THAT?!?) -consequently I only put beer in THOSE bottles when I'm giving beer to friends who have a nasty habit of either not returning my bottles (the brown glass, anyway or even worse -they don't bother to rinse the things out after emptying them -mold! ugh!! (and here in Florida, it doesn't take long for nasties to grow in beer residue -heat, humidity and more crap floating in the air than I care to think of)
Click to expand...

Like you, I'd rather have a New Castle than just about any Sam Adams. Just don't like his brews at all.
 

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