When Pliny is the cheapest IIPA on the shelf...

[ICWiener]

You've got a screwed up craft beer pricing market. I get Pliny for $4.99 a bottle, and lining the shelves around it are mediocre bombers of beer that cost significantly more. I started noticing that $7.99 is looking more and more like the average price for a 22 oz IPA. Not even a premium IPA, just standard stuff. A bottle of Sculpin is like $10! I'm not a Pliny cultist or anything, but it is a fantastic beer. When I can get a bottle of it for $3 cheaper than some regional pale ale, that tells me that either A) Craft beer pricing is out of control, or B) Vinnie is pretty cool for not gouging customers. Which he totally could.

I mean, I understand paying a chunk of money for a bottle of gueuze or a barleywine...something that takes a long time to age, but this is getting out of hand. I find myself trying new beers less and less because I'm not willing to shell out $9 to see if it's any good.

I just find it crazy and I wanted to rant about it for a minute. Thanks for listening.

 

[mbbransc]

I noticed last week there were several premium IPAs that I could buy for $2.50-$3.00 a single where the 22oz bomber was $7-$10. Now, generally I would rather have the bomber but I'm not paying more for less. I can buy two singles (24oz) for less than the bomber (22oz). That's just silly. Who is setting these prices?

 

[chocotaco]

Keep in mind that Pliny is a 16oz bottle, so it's more in line with a $7 bomber.

$10 for a bomber of Sculpin seems pretty high; in the local megamart here it's around $18 for a 6er of cans. Whereas if I want a 16 oz bottle of Pliny I can expect to pay $8 assuming I can find it and coax the shop guy to sell it to me.

I guess it varies depending on where you are. Ballast Point is about as local to me as RR probably is to you, so it makes sense that their beers are easier to get than RR.

Pliny is a good beer but I kind of think it's largely hype at this point. 5-6 years ago it was the cream of the crop, but there are so many great DIPAs out there now that Pliny wouldn't even be on my top 5 (it's just an opinion). Given the hassle of getting it (have to go to one of a select few bottle shops and hope they have one and hope they'll deign to sell it to me at vastly inflated prices - a lot of bottle shops are even leveraging the Pliny hype to make you buy a bunch of other product before they'll let you buy one!) I would rather just go to Albertsons and pick up some Sculpin (if I'm feeling spendy) or Rampant or Torpedo or Double Jack or any one of a half dozen other beers that IMHO are on par with Pliny.

That said, if Pliny was $5 a bottle on every shelf in my area, I would probably drink it every day. Around 4 years ago I was doing a rafting trip in the RR area, so of course I stopped by the brewery and bought as many bottles as they would sell me (2 cases IIRC). It tasted great, but I have to admit my reason for doing it was largely about the hype and notoriety. When I brought home this big cooler stuffed with countless magical green-labeled bottles to share with my friends (can't let them get stale!), they just about jizzed their pants at the sight of it

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

...and coax the shop guy to sell it to me.

You have to "coax" a store to sell a product? WTF?

There a only a few items worthy of such nonesense. A house, a car, a loan for your childs education.

A beer is not one of them.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

You have to "coax" a store to sell a product? WTF?

There a only a few items worthy of such nonesense. A house, a car, a loan for your childs education.

A beer is not one of them.

Here, you are usually limited to one bottle per visit.

 

[chocotaco]

You have to "coax" a store to sell a product? WTF?

There a only a few items worthy of such nonesense. A house, a car, a loan for your childs education.

A beer is not one of them.

No kidding.

I went to one bottle shop that was proudly displaying tons of Pliny stock in their frige for some reasonable price (like $7 if you call that reasonable). I giddily grabbed one and took it up front.

"No, you can't buy that unless you buy $45 worth of other beers."

"Uh, but it's just on the shelf right there..."

"Yeah, but if you want to buy it you have to buy $45 of other beer."

"Well, OK. I guess they have probably been sitting on the shelf for a while then, because nobody is that much of a schmuck. I guess I'll do what most of your other customers are probably doing, and what they will continue to do, and take my business elsewhere permanently. Good luck with everything and GFY."

Haven't been back there since. He probably isn't suffering for business as much as I wish he was, though, because unfortunately the hype for Pliny means the market will probably bear what he is doing.

 

[ICWiener]

There are plenty of bottle shops around here that leverage and inflate their bottles of Pliny. Sadly, people don't care. They still snatch it up. There's a store by my house that flat out will not sell it to you unless they know you. It's crazy, and yes it's all about the hype. But even ignoring all of that hype it's still in my top 3.

You hit the nail on the head though, there are some great IIPAs out there now. When you can get a Hoptologist or Double Jack at any grocery store, that's not a bad thing.

 

[ICWiener]

Here, you are usually limited to one bottle per visit.

The grocery store I get it from usually sells me 4 without batting an eye. I know they limit their employees to 2 bottles each, but not sure about the customers.

"No, you can't buy that unless you buy $45 worth of other beers."

That's just insane.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

The grocery store I get it from usually sells me 4 without batting an eye. I know they limit their employees to 2 bottles each, but not sure about the customers.



That's just insane.

Makes one wonder if the distributor, or the brewery itself knows, or even cares about this foolishness or if they are "in" on it too.

Saw much of the consumer foolishness like this on RateBeer and BeerAdvocate but Pliny is really on a whole different level. I've had it. It's okay. But the whole congregation of "Must get the Pliny" and the foolish gouging by the retailers just leaves a bad taste in my mouth that I'd gladly wash away with something more palateable.

 

[bigmike99]

Just like the places charging $10 a can for heady and think they're doing you a favor. I'll stick with my normal shop and local brews.

 

[Grannyknot]

Bombers have been such a gimmick for a long time, I can't believe we are still getting raped just because they've packaged something in a bigger bottle.

A few days ago at a bottle shop, they had 12oz singles of a beer for $1.99ea. Yet a bomber of the same beer was $5.99. WTF? Yes, I asked. No, they didn't give me a reasonable answer.

 

[NewJersey]

Just like the places charging $10 a can for heady and think they're doing you a favor. I'll stick with my normal shop and local brews.

exactly. keep it local

 

[Grannyknot]

Makes one wonder if the distributor, or the brewery itself knows, or even cares about this foolishness or if they are "in" on it too.

I'm pretty sure the distributors care, and I think RR cares to a certain extent.
One bottle/growler shop in Eugene told me they couldn't get kegs of Pliny anymore because the distributor felt they couldn't move it fast enough to keep it fresh. Now, that could have been a bunk story, but if its true I would consider that caring.

The purchase limits I can understand as well. Nobody wants to lose a customer because they are always out of a product that is in high demand. If grocery store A is always out of Pliny, but store B will always sell you a bottle or 2, where would you go to find some?

The price gouging is an entirely different thing. Screw that.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I'm pretty sure the distributors care, and I think RR cares to a certain extent.
One bottle/growler shop in Eugene told me they couldn't get kegs of Pliny anymore because the distributor felt they couldn't move it fast enough to keep it fresh. Now, that could have been a bunk story, but if its true I would consider that caring.

The purchase limits I can understand as well. Nobody wants to lose a customer because they are always out of a product that is in high demand. If grocery store A is always out of Pliny, but store B will always sell you a bottle or 2, where would you go to find some?

The price gouging is an entirely different thing. Screw that.

Perhaps, but of the distributor really cared and knew that certain locations were hoarding products and practicing gouging, then the distributor might be able to better stock store B as a result. And if the brewer knew and cared it might cause them to ensure that supply can meet the demand.

And then the whole hype of this beer would just go away and all this foolishness would just, end.

 

[jbaysurfer]

No kidding.

I went to one bottle shop that was proudly displaying tons of Pliny stock in their frige for some reasonable price (like $7 if you call that reasonable). I giddily grabbed one and took it up front.

"No, you can't buy that unless you buy $45 worth of other beers."

"Uh, but it's just on the shelf right there..."

"Yeah, but if you want to buy it you have to buy $45 of other beer."

"Well, OK. I guess they have probably been sitting on the shelf for a while then, because nobody is that much of a schmuck. I guess I'll do what most of your other customers are probably doing, and what they will continue to do, and take my business elsewhere permanently. Good luck with everything and GFY."

Haven't been back there since. He probably isn't suffering for business as much as I wish he was, though, because unfortunately the hype for Pliny means the market will probably bear what he is doing.

I know for a fact that a well known brewpub in the bay area lost their contract with Russian River by trying to force people to buy outrageously priced food before the could buy a pint of Pliny. I'd report this retailer directly to Russian River. I don't think Vinny would be happy knowing his beer was being used in such a retail scheme.

 

[littletommy]

Holy crap! I was pissed when they raised the price of a 40oz Natural Ice to $2.35 from $2.19! The stuff I've read in this thread is insane! Having to buy $45 worth of stuff just to buy a Pliny???? DANG!!!

 

[BigJack]

All of y'all are complaining about what it takes to get Pliny- when you miss the point. Y'all can get Pliny.

Russian River doesn't give two craps about the Texas market. (I don't blame them since beer-wise, we're a decade behind the nation.)

 

[Homercidal]

I have never had Pliny. I want to try Pliny. I'd pay $10 for a bottle to try it. I would NOT buy $45 worth of other sht to try Pliny. They can suck it. Tell them I said so!

 

[Grannyknot]

All of y'all are complaining about what it takes to get Pliny- when you miss the point. Y'all can get Pliny.

Russian River doesn't give two craps about the Texas market. (I don't blame them since beer-wise, we're a decade behind the nation.)

Nobody is complaining about not being able to get it.
They are complaining about price gouging & retail tactics.

About Texas, don't feel bad, I think its only available in a handful of states.

 

[grainbill]

We have Terrapin here, way over priced bombers 7.99, sitting next to a 4.99 Stone.
So, I drink more Stone than Terrapin and Terrapin is 8 miles from my house!

 

[Crito]

I have seen limits and 'behind the counter' sales (requesting it, not displayed). But I never seen purchase requirements. Dang!!!!!

 

[mattd2]

...And if the brewer knew and cared it might cause them to ensure that supply can meet the demand...

I'm sure any brewery would love to ensure their supply can meet the demand, but sometime it is not possible. Although I agree that a brewer would be pissed off if their product was being used as a gimmick to get more sales of other peoples beer!

 

[ICWiener]

I have never had Pliny. I want to try Pliny. I'd pay $10 for a bottle to try it. I would NOT buy $45 worth of other sht to try Pliny. They can suck it. Tell them I said so!

I can get it pretty easy. PM me if you want a bottle. I'll hook you up. Maybe a trade?

I'm sure any brewery would love to ensure their supply can meet the demand, but sometime it is not possible.

Vinny has said in the past that he has no interest in expanding operations. So I guess that's that.

 

[Xpertskir]

I can get it pretty easy. PM me if you want a bottle. I'll hook you up. Maybe a trade?



Vinny has said in the past that he has no interest in expanding operations. So I guess that's that.

They just expanded, and 85% of what they sell is sold at the brewery, full margin for the brewery.

Russian River has the most stringent rules for its distributors which is why many chose not to do business with them, now even though they would, RR isn't taking on new markets.

It's always amazing to me that ****ty sparkling wine spawned one of the truly great American breweries

 

[ICWiener]

They just expanded...

Huh...I did not know that. Learn something new everyday!

It's always amazing to me that ****ty sparkling wine spawned one of the truly great American breweries

I know, right? Actually I prefer their sours, which are amazing, like their hoppy beers. Damnit, they're all so good.

 

[jbaysurfer]

I can get it pretty easy. PM me if you want a bottle. I'll hook you up. Maybe a trade?



Vinny has said in the past that he has no interest in expanding operations. So I guess that's that.

Well, to be precise, he's said he currently has no future expansion plans. They DID just expand capacity with their new 50bbl brewery a few years back. He's an artisan, I think the majority of his time is spent at the 20bbl brewpub working on his sours.

Edit: I see I should've read the ensuing posts before replying. Going to the brewery on Sunday!

 

[BucknerBrauhaus]

I recently asked our local beer store if they had any Russian River beer. They asked if I knew what the name was. I answered that I was looking for one of the Pliney series. They said that they did not carry it, and probably would not carry it since the import fees would be too expensive.

I realize that California is like a whole 'nuther country, but import fees?

 

[ICWiener]

I realize that California is like a whole 'nuther country, but import fees?

Maybe the guy thought it was a beer from Russia? That's the only thing I can think of.

Also, if you want to find any, you're going to have to head north: Russian River only ships to California, Oregon, Colorado, and Philly.

 

[chocotaco]

Follow up time!

The bottle shop I was talking about, whose owner required a large beer purchase for the privilege of buying Pliny.

I heard from a reputable source today (the owner of one of my other bottle shops, who is great but who happens to be the first guy's uncle. And who also sold me 3 Plinys today) that said bottle shop no longer gets Pliny.

Justice is served! HAHAHAH! I derive an immense amount of satisfaction from this.

Just wanted to let you guys know that karma is a real thing. This proves it.

 

[theother1]

I can get it pretty easy. PM me if you want a bottle. I'll hook you up. Maybe a trade?

Vinny has said in the past that he has no interest in expanding operations. So I guess that's that.

If ur still offering trades I'm in western mass and we have a LOT of amazing beer around and am very close to VT as well. Let me know in a pm, it would be much appreciated!