The Price of Craft Beer

[mr_stout]

I one time bought a 12 ounce bottle of beer for $2 dollars US and another 12 ounce bottle for $6 US.

My question is why didn't the $6 dollar bottle of beer taste 3x better????? Sad to say that the $2 dollar bottle of beer tasted better. I have seen 12 ounce bottles selling for $12 dollars but have never even thought of spending that much money on one bottle.
Has anyone had the same experience? Is the more expensive beer worth it?

 

[deadwolfbones]

I mean... it depends entirely on the beer in question. Some $30 beers I've had were absolutely worth it, some weren't. Ditto the $2 bottles I've bought.

Drink enough and you'll figure out which breweries to trust and which not to waste your money on.

 

[Lefou]

Craft beer is like art.
Some styles you like, some you don't, and price is never a guarantee of quality. Some are good, and some are downright hyped gar-bodge.

The most expensive beer I ever bought was Chimay Blue for the holidays at nearly $14 per 750ml bottle. Would I do it again? Probably not, but there's only one beer I'll shell out dollars for on a regular basis, and that's seasonal German Festbier - if I can find it.

 

[Conehead]

I buy an annual bottle of barelywine. I am not sure if it is worth it as I haven't opened any yet. Maybe I should just to find out if they are any good.

 

[divrack]

I one time bought a 12 ounce bottle of beer for $2 dollars US and another 12 ounce bottle for $6 US.

My question is why didn't the $6 dollar bottle of beer taste 3x better????? Sad to say that the $2 dollar bottle of beer tasted better. I have seen 12 ounce bottles selling for $12 dollars but have never even thought of spending that much money on one bottle.
Has anyone had the same experience? Is the more expensive beer worth it?

price is not the same as value

a bottle of 4yo blended lambic is going to cost a lot more than a pilsner produced in a factory, but there will probably always be more people that want to drink the latter.

 

[JohnSand]

Which is why I brew the beers that would cost $6 a bottle.

 

[foam_top]

I once saw this 12oz going for ~$12 US. I almost bought it just to see what a $12 serving of beer tasted but I'm probably glad I passed.
Maybe if you and some friends go in on it it will sting less at these price points.

 

[triethylborane]

I once saw this 12oz going for ~$12 US. I almost bought it just to see what a $12 serving of beer tasted but I'm probably glad I passed.
Maybe if you and some friends go in on it it will sting less at these price points.
View attachment 555474

Friends dont let friends drink/brew pumpkin-riddled beer.

 

[Calder]

I mean... it depends entirely on the beer in question. Some $30 beers I've had were absolutely worth it, some weren't. Ditto the $2 bottles I've bought.

I was going to say no beers cost that much, but then I remembered an email I got last November:

"We’re thrilled to offer the chance to purchase a bottle of this very limited, rather special edition of Sam Adams Utopias.

This email is your opportunity to enter our lottery for a bottle, but does not guarantee that you will be able to get one. If you don't plan on purchasing a bottle, please allow those who wish to the opportunity. Sam Adams Utopias bottles are $199.99, plus tax. No more than one submission, please. Double (or more) submissions will be disqualified! Cut off for entering will be 3:00 PM, Tuesday, November 21. Lottery winners will be chosen at random on Wednesday, November 22. If you are chosen, pick-up will be Saturday, November, 25. Winners will be contacted as soon as they are chosen."

 

[deadwolfbones]

Plenty of beers cost that much. Ever heard of Cascade? There are lots of rare Belgians and whatnot that fetch high prices over here, too.

 

[Baja_Brewer]

My issue, more and more, are the $14-$18 4-packs of pounders. Half of them suck - either just lousy beers getting in on the hype, or others that have sat past their peak. It's a gamble to try new ones, and if they're bad I have 3 more ($12 worth) to finish.

 

[javert]

It's reasonable to expect a surge in price for the following:

• High alcohol content. Anything with high OG goes up in price due to the higher malt usage and the extended fermentation and maturation time. Imperial Stouts and Barleywines come to mind.
• Crazy dank IPAs. At high hop bills they start to feel in the budget.

Whether they are your alley compared to usual beers it's up to you but those would be immediate suspects if they were at $2 per bottle.

 

[Calder]

It's reasonable to expect a surge in price for the following:

• High alcohol content. Anything with high OG goes up in price due to the higher malt usage and the extended fermentation and maturation time. Imperial Stouts and Barleywines come to mind.
• Crazy dank IPAs. At high hop bills they start to feel in the budget.

I don't agree!

Yes, I will agree that both of these will increase the cost of the beers, but, by how much?

The cost of ingredients (hops and malts) is small compared to the cost of the final product. Most of the price of the product is overhead.

 

[Transamguy77]

I read an article a little while ago (don't remember where now) but it talked about how the price of malt and hops has gone up significantly over the last few years for one reason or another.

This has driven the price of the beers up in general. I rarely buy beer but I haven't been brewing as much as I used to and I had sticker shock going to buy a 6 pack of something, almost everything starts at $10, and as stated earlier anything big or imported now your talking $15+. That is just crazy to me.

 

[stosh]

I once saw this 12oz going for ~$12 US. I almost bought it just to see what a $12 serving of beer tasted but I'm probably glad I passed.
Maybe if you and some friends go in on it it will sting less at these price points.
View attachment 555474

I generally do not like pumpkin beer and have a hard time paying that kind of money for any beer let alone a pumkin beer.

This one, however, is not only the best pumpkin beer out there but one of the better beers I've had. Although I typically drink heavy duty IPAs/IIPAs, belgians, barleywines, and bourbon aged beers (especially bourbon aged barley wines).

 

[madscientist451]

My question is why didn't the $6 dollar bottle of beer taste 3x better????
Is the more expensive beer worth it?

Everyone has different tastes and also different ideas of what something is "worth".
Super bowl tickets are reportedly going for thousands of dollars. Field level seats to see Taylor Swift at a big stadium show are more than $500. I'm not going to either event, its not "worth" it to me.
Is it worth paying $8-$10 or more for a draft beer at an NFL game? Probably not, but having a cold one after Tom Brady gets his @ss kicked would be priceless...

 

[ancientmariner52]

"Everything is worth only what someone will pay for it"

Publilius Syrus, ~100 BCE

Nothing much has changed.

 

[day_trippr]

otoh, "There's a sucker born every minute"
[Nobody actually knows who said it first]

Cheers!

 

[schematix]

Only number that matters to me is the bottling date. An IPA over 60 days is a no-go no matter the price.

 

[SEndorf]

"Everything is worth only what someone will pay for it"

Publilius Syrus, ~100 BCE

Nothing much has changed.

Another student of Publilus Syrus! Publilus was brilliant.
He was also quoted as saying, "Anyone who pays $10 per bottle of Dogfish Head 120 is a freeekin idiot"
well... not really... but if he were alive, I'm sure he'd say that..

 

[Darthbrewder]

I agree craft beer prices are a bit extravagant. Especially the plethora of Texas “craft” beers that I have seen recently. I like the idea of drinking/buying local but I don’t think that labeling yourself as “craft” gives you the right to charge an arm and a leg for something that doesn’t cost nearly that much to brew.
Most of the time when I see a beer is brewed in Texas, I steer clear. A lot of the same and not worth the money @ $10 a six pack.

 

[FuzzyIguana]

I once saw this 12oz going for ~$12 US. I almost bought it just to see what a $12 serving of beer tasted but I'm probably glad I passed.
Maybe if you and some friends go in on it it will sting less at these price points.
View attachment 555474

Yikers. 16% pumpkin porter? Could either be extremely smooth or absolutely gross. Beers like that, from what I have experienced, are totally hit or miss. Next time slip one in to a Create-a-6-pack and give it a whirl!

 

[Lefou]

Yikers. 16% pumpkin porter? Could either be extremely smooth or absolutely gross. Beers like that, from what I have experienced, are totally hit or miss. Next time slip one in to a Create-a-6-pack and give it a whirl!

ONE STINKING bottle of "Mad Elf" - that all I want for Christmas!
At one place I haunt, it comes in by the case just before Thanksgiving and disappears in days. The store doesn't sell singles or by the six, either. The name recognition is too great.

 

[foam_top]

Next time slip one in to a Create-a-6-pack and give it a whirl!

Not anymore, I always get dirty looks when I try to stuff six 22oz bombers in a create-a-sixer. They're on to me.

 

[FuzzyIguana]

ONE STINKING bottle of "Mad Elf" - that all I want for Christmas!
At one place I haunt, it comes in by the case just before Thanksgiving and disappears in days. The store doesn't sell singles or by the six, either. The name recognition is too great.

You may consider a clone, Lefou!

Troegs website lists Mad Elf's base grain bill as:
Malt - Chocolate, Munich, Pills
Hops - Hallertau, Saaz
Yeast - Spicy Belgian

It describes a taste of ripened cherries, raw honey and cocoa with notes of cinnamon, clove, and allspice.

So...I'm sure it's entirely possible to come close as a clone. Adjust your grain bill to hit FG of 11% and hops bill for 15 IBUs.

 

[Lefou]

I do believe there's a clone recipe for that here. I might look it up.

The grain bill from the 'Net seems deceptively simple and the ingredients easy to find - but with my luck at brewing big ales, I'd end up with a few gallons of something called " 'Tarded Fairy" that wouldn't be fit to drink for months.
Buying ONE.STINKIN'.BOTTLE. might be less dangerous - for the wallet, and the brain cells.

For a 4 gallon batch at 70% efficiency ....
** Fourteen pounds of base grain (Belgian or German pilsner with Munich 10, 1.25oz chocolate for color). Cherries, dark chocolate, spice, and two pounds of honey. One ounce each Hallertau and Saaz, Abbaye ale yeast.**
It isn't listed in the "Spiced ales or Specialty Holiday Ales". Odd.
Maybe no one has chanced it yet ..

 

[Lefou]

Found the "Mad Elf" clone thread ...
Recipe is very close to what I suspected but with the amount of grain needed, I'd have to re-commission the old Igloo 10gal cooler. Something fun to shove onto the back burner and think about, though.

 

[MHBT]

Taste is very subjective..a bud cost 2 bucks for 25 oz, a cuvee rene cost 12 bucks for 25oz but i can almost guarantee that a person who drinks only bud or similar style would think cuvee rene tastes like Sasquatch's colon

PS No, i do not know what Sasquatch colon tastes like but i would assume its God awful.

 

[Lefou]

Taste is very subjective..a bud cost 2 bucks for 25 oz, a cuvee rene cost 12 bucks for 25oz but i can almost guarantee that a person who drinks only bud or similar style would think cuvee rene tastes like Sasquatch's colon

PS No, i do not know what Sasquatch colon tastes like but i would assume its God awful.

Oh, so it tastes like Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

[gypsyhead]

Supply and demand. If we stop paying that much those beers won't be brewed... so hopefully those breweries haven't formed their business plans on the "If we build it, they will come" model

 

[ancientmariner52]

It's like diamonds or Harley Davidson. It's not quality, scarcity, or cost to produce. It's just marketing.

 

[deadwolfbones]

It's reasonable to expect a surge in price for the following:

• High alcohol content. Anything with high OG goes up in price due to the higher malt usage and the extended fermentation and maturation time. Imperial Stouts and Barleywines come to mind.
• Crazy dank IPAs. At high hop bills they start to feel in the budget.

Whether they are your alley compared to usual beers it's up to you but those would be immediate suspects if they were at $2 per bottle.

+ Aged on fruit
+ Sour/wild beer

(Often in combination)

 

[radwizard]

Besides visiting local tap rooms, most all of the beer I purchase is expensive. I don't really buy beer at supermarkets, I usually go to a bottle shop for something special. I probably buy 2 or 3 nice bottles a month. I'm usually after Sours, barrel aged, or Belgian stuff. I often get to use the yeast in the bottle.

I'm cool with the costs. I don't have to go out and buy beer to much because I careful plan out my home brew pipeline.

 

[golfandbrew]

Some humble advise from down under. (I moved to Australia about a year ago). DRINK THEM ALL while you can!!

Six pack of Sierra Nevada $25
Case of Stone IPA $99
Yeah, yeah they are imports you say.
6 pack of 4 Pines Pale Ale $18 (on sale now that ABI bought them.)
Other similar independent craft beers $22-$25 for a six pack.
12 oz bottle of imperial stout $19+
I don't drink as much as I used too!!

Look forward to returning to the homeland and enjoying all the beers I used to be too cheap to buy. Really, try them all!

 

[radwizard]

Some humble advise from down under. (I moved to Australia about a year ago). DRINK THEM ALL while you can!!

Six pack of Sierra Nevada $25
12 pack of Stone IPA $99
Yeah, yeah they are imports you say.
6 pack of 4 Pines Pale Ale $18 (on sale now that ABI bought them.)
Other similar independent craft beers $22-$25 for a six pack.
12 oz bottle of imperial stout $19+
I don't drink as much as I used too!!

Look forward to returning to the homeland and enjoying all the beers I used to be too cheap to buy. Really, try them all!

I lived in Aus for 2 years (WA). The price for domestics there was crazy as well. It was $40-$50 for a case of macro. $10-12 pints at a decent micro brewery. I drank a lot less over there as well.

 

[LLBrewer]

I lived in Aus for 2 years (WA). The price for domestics there was crazy as well. It was $40-$50 for a case of macro. $10-12 pints at a decent micro brewery. I drank a lot less over there as well.

I wouldn't drink any less but I sure as hell would brew more.

 

[foam_top]

I once saw this 12oz going for ~$12 US. I almost bought it just to see what a $12 serving of beer tasted but I'm probably glad I passed.
Maybe if you and some friends go in on it it will sting less at these price points.
View attachment 555474

So I went and got my Super Bowl haul this morning. This was in the same location as what I mentioned before...

 

[JPBrewLI]

I think there is a bit of a gimmick with the smaller expensive ones, but worth is subjective and sometimes it's the only option to try a different style.
I buy mostly sampler packs or 6 packs of new craft styles as that's where the value is.
My local place also gives out free pint glasses if you ask and i've got a nice collection of about 20+ different shapes over the years that suddenly became more valuable to me getting into brewing.

 

[radwizard]

I wouldn't drink any less but I sure as hell would brew more.

Unfortunately, I didn't have that option at the time. I'll be honest, I drank a bit more box wine then I would have liked....

 

[Steveruch]

I one time bought a 12 ounce bottle of beer for $2 dollars US and another 12 ounce bottle for $6 US.

My question is why didn't the $6 dollar bottle of beer taste 3x better????? Sad to say that the $2 dollar bottle of beer tasted better. I have seen 12 ounce bottles selling for $12 dollars but have never even thought of spending that much money on one bottle.
Has anyone had the same experience? Is the more expensive beer worth it?

For the same reason that the $200 pairs of fancy sneakers don't last 10 times as long as the $20 pairs that I get at Big 5 on sale.