The Price of Craft Beer

[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.

 

[cegan09]

The prices are what they are because there is a market willing to pay it. Nothing more or less. I know tons of people around here who see nothing wrong with paying $12-$20 for a 4 pack of the latest hype IPA. And as long as people keep lining up to pay that, the prices aren't coming down.

same with everything else. Barrel aged stuff sits around in warehouses taking up space, so you have to cover that cost. And people at this point equate "barrel aged" to "expensive".


Find the beer you enjoy at the price you're willing to pay and be happy.

 

[ksut1547]

So I went and got my Super Bowl haul this morning. This was in the same location as what I mentioned before...
View attachment 555799

I wouldn't give $.10 for one of those.

 

[bobeer]

It's crazy to see people lining up to pay $20 a 4 pack at some of the local breweries around here. They'll put a limit of 4 or whatever cases per person per style and people will max it out every time. I can't imagine spending that much money on friggen beer...
I'll go a step further... I hear the beer club at work talk about the hoarders too; the first 30 people in line who buy out the majority of the beer... Or the folks that wont tell you where the bottle shop is that has what you're looking for because they don't want to give up their secret beer spot. The whole thing makes me laugh and makes me happy I brew my own so I don't have to deal with all this new school of thought over beer. Beer is meant to be shared and enjoyed neither of which, from the sound of it, isn't going on now-a-days in the commercial beer world.

 

[biochemedic]

+ Aged on fruit
+ Sour/wild beer

(Often in combination)

Yeah, and a lot of the sours I have seen are some weird anti-corollary to the cost of high-ABV beers...I've seen multiple sours that cost 3-4 dollars per can/bottle, at 3-4% ABV. Now, I'm all for the place of session beers in the world, but at that ABV it's like drinking pop (or soda, for some of you, or "coke" if you are really weird and live in Atlanta)

 

[FuzzyIguana]

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

THE EXACT reason I sold my Harley. It's stupid how much they charge for anything.

 

[triethylborane]

It's crazy to see people lining up to pay $20 a 4 pack at some of the local breweries around here. They'll put a limit of 4 or whatever cases per person per style and people will max it out every time. I can't imagine spending that much money on friggen beer...
I'll go a step further... I hear the beer club at work talk about the hoarders too; the first 30 people in line who buy out the majority of the beer... Or the folks that wont tell you where the bottle shop is that has what you're looking for because they don't want to give up their secret beer spot. The whole thing makes me laugh and makes me happy I brew my own so I don't have to deal with all this new school of thought over beer. Beer is meant to be shared and enjoyed neither of which, from the sound of it, isn't going on now-a-days in the commercial beer world.

Are you blaming "commercial beer" for the lack of sharing of beer among consumers and the dearth of enjoyment of said beer by those consumers?

 

[ancientmariner52]

There are people who get a great deal of pleasure from the "I've got some and you don't, ner, ner, ner" thing. I just feel sorry for them.

 

[bobeer]

Are you blaming "commercial beer" for the lack of sharing of beer among consumers and the dearth of enjoyment of said beer by those consumers?

Huh? Not sure how to answer that, haha. I'm not blaming anything. It's just a change in culture I have noticed over the past 5 years or so. The area I live in though is all about status symbols and how exclusive you are so ymmv based on your local.

 

[MHBT]

Oh, so it tastes like Cabernet Sauvignon.

A bit more nutty

Huh? Not sure how to answer that, haha. I'm not blaming anything. It's just a change in culture I have noticed over the past 5 years or so. The area I live in though is all about status symbols and how exclusive you are so ymmv based on your local.

I hear ya when my local beer store gets maine lunch in you need a passport, birth certificate, social security card, to get a bottle

 

[triethylborane]

Huh? Not sure how to answer that, haha. I'm not blaming anything. It's just a change in culture I have noticed over the past 5 years or so. The area I live in though is all about status symbols and how exclusive you are so ymmv based on your local.

I asked only because I was curious as to how you would respond. Its much the same where Im at.

 

[jheinikel]

Prairie Artisan Ales bottles are always $8-12. Sometimes, I think the price is crazy to help draw hype. Jester King has been putting out $20-25 bombers for some time and they sell out every time. They even do a lottery system now. Some are worth it, some not.

 

[ancientmariner52]

"Jester King". Kinda says it all. Reminds me of a documentary I saw on Alexander Calder. As he bustles about building his ridiculous "mobiles", he has this constant wide grin. I can almost hear him thinking, "As long as they keep paying fine-art prices for this crap, I'll keep building it." A fool and his / her money, eh?

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

I've been priced out of craft beer retail. Half of it is IPAs or stouts, and the other is overpriced bombers. I'll stick with my keezer at home drinking any style I fancy brewing.

 

[deadwolfbones]

On the one hand, I miss the days of craft 6-packs for $5.99, but on the other the quality of craft beer (in general) seems to me to keep going up, and the best beers (esp. barrel-aged stuff and wilds/sours) rival wine for sophistication and surpass it in creativity, to my palate.

You don't see many people complaining about $20-30 bottles of wine, do you? Depending on ingredients and aging, beers can be even more expensive to produce, but usually sell for less.

 

[bobeer]

I asked only because I was curious as to how you would respond. Its much the same where Im at.

Yea, there's not much to say about it really other than I'm glad I can make my own beer so I don't have to deal with the "hypesters" (Yea, that's a term I just made up; Beer Hype+Hipsters=Hypesters, haha)

 

[FuzzyIguana]

There are only a select few craft breweries I buy from anymore, and it's not because I claim to brew better beer - it's because clone recipes are almost as good (sometimes better).

The exceptions:

Toppling Goliath's PseudoSue (Iowa)
Toppling Goliath's Sosus (Iowa)
Rhinegeist's Truth (Ohio)
North Coast Brewing's Brother Thelonious (Cali)

 

[mr_stout]

Wow, I did not think this thread would get so many responses.

deadwolfbones, The was the $30 dollar bottle of beer you bought x15 times better than the one that you bought for $2 dollars? The price of expensive beer does not coincide with the amount the flavor increases.
What I am trying to get at is that it seems that if you can get a great beer for $2 ( or less ) per bottle why even bother buying anything more expensive? Why even think of buying something more expensive? It means that you are unnecessarily paying way more than you need to which does not seem logical.

Higher ABV and special ingredients do contribute to a slighty higher cost in production but not that much.

Of course, super wealthy people can by whatever they want but most people are not in that category.

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.

 

[shelly_belly]

I gambled $12 on a 4 pack the other day and I think I won.

 

[deadwolfbones]

deadwolfbones, The was the $30 dollar bottle of beer you bought x15 times better than the one that you bought for $2 dollars? The price of expensive beer does not coincide with the amount the flavor increases.

What I am trying to get at is that it seems that if you can get a great beer for $2 ( or less ) per bottle why even bother buying anything more expensive? Why even think of buying something more expensive? It means that you are unnecessarily paying way more than you need to which does not seem logical.

Higher ABV and special ingredients do contribute to a slighty higher cost in production but not that much.

Of course, super wealthy people can by whatever they want but most people are not in that category.

You can get a great beer for $2, but you can't get a great fruited sour, barrel-aged RIS, or monster Belgian quad (just a few examples) for $2. If all you want to drink is pale ales, nut browns, and Irish stouts (again, just examples), then by all means, never pay more than $2 a bottle.

Do I think some high-priced beers have a higher margin than most low-priced beers? Absolutely. But this is for a number of reasons, including the volume at which they're produced (sours and wilds have a smaller market, barrel-aged beers take more time and equipment) and the cost of production. Specialty markets always command a premium price.

You don't have to be super wealthy to drop $30 on a bottle of beer, it's just a matter of priorities. How many non-super-wealthy people happily spend $800 on a new iPhone they don't need every year?

 

[mr_stout]

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

Cheers!

day_trippr said it right "There's a sucker born every minute".