Why are Stone beers so expensive?

[Jukas]

A 12oz bittle of Pliny cost me $12 at a local bottle shop. I stopped at RR on a recent road trip and bought 17oz bottles for $5 ea. Anybody want to guess how many bottles I brought back with me? Woohooo!

What's funny, is Bottle Barn, in SR sells the same bottles of Pliny for $3.79 They get shipments from RR on Friday's and are usually sold out by Tuesday and can really only be counted on to have the staples (Pliny, Blind Pig, Sanctification). Next time you're up drink at RR for sure, and buy any of the sours you want there but for bringing back a case of Pliny check out Bottle Barn before snagging it from the brewery.

 

[BakRivrBruen]

I think you may be under estimating the amount of hops that go into heavily hopped DIPA's.

How is it that I am under estimating the amount of hops? I know exactly what it takes to make dipa's and I know how much hops cost. I can brew this beer with the cost of hops roughly being 27-29 cents per bottle and that's buying hops by the ounce not in bulk. Add the 2-row and crystal and that's still a damn cheap beer to make. But as long as people continue to buy overpriced beer then they will continue to sell overpriced beer.

 

[weirdboy]

What's funny, is Bottle Barn, in SR sells the same bottles of Pliny for $3.79 They get shipments from RR on Friday's and are usually sold out by Tuesday and can really only be counted on to have the staples (Pliny, Blind Pig, Sanctification). Next time you're up drink at RR for sure, and buy any of the sours you want there but for bringing back a case of Pliny check out Bottle Barn before snagging it from the brewery.

Bottle Barn will only sell you a maximum of 12 bottles of Pliny.

 

[ectoplasmicfunk]

I get Stone IPA sixers for about 12 in Florida. Their bombers here vary but are anywhere between 6-10.

Some stores just do ya dirty so keep your eyes peeled.

 

[bottlebomber]

I've never seen Pliny in a 12 oz bottle...

+1 to not buying hyped, expensive beer. Pliny may be hyped, but at least it's still pretty cheap.

 

[Jukas]

How is it that I am under estimating the amount of hops? I know exactly what it takes to make dipa's and I know how much hops cost. I can brew this beer with the cost of hops roughly being 27-29 cents per bottle and that's buying hops by the ounce not in bulk. Add the 2-row and crystal and that's still a damn cheap beer to make. But as long as people continue to buy overpriced beer then they will continue to sell overpriced beer.

And that 27-29 cents per bottle includes employee labor costs, taxes and includes amortized equipment costs, utilities, building lease/mortgage costs and so on and so on right?

The difference in 2 row between IPA and Ruination is minimal, less than 10lbs per bbl (about 10%). Ruination does use 30% more hops though

I personally think stone offerings are pretty well in line with good west coast craft beer, especially San Diego beer, but I still rarely buy Ruination and have yet to buy oaked AB simply because I don't want to spend the cash.

FYI $20 a sixer of ruination = $0.208 an ounce. A bottle of Pliny at the brewer is $5 = $0.294 an ounce. I've heard of people paying up to $12 a bottle for Pliny which would be $0.705 an ounce. Obviously Vinnie is gouging people right?

 

[Jukas]

I've never seen Pliny in a 12 oz bottle...

+1 to not buying hyped, expensive beer. Pliny may be hyped, but at least it's still pretty cheap.

It's actually more per oz than that $19.99 sixer of Ruination

 

[Jukas]

Bottle Barn will only sell you a maximum of 12 bottles of Pliny.

I've never tried to buy a case of Pliny because I'm local.. so I could be wrong, but every other case of RR beer is based on 12 bottles.

 

[BrewKnurd]

Ruination is real expensive in Texas too , so is Ballast Point's " sculpin " ... Both are awesome when you get a good batch , but at damn near 20 bucks I can find jus as much of not Way better ipa's from Lagunita's or New Belgium

Just be glad you have all those options (and don't even get me started on the cali folks). Some of us only have local access to Stone of the choices you have listed.

 

[bottlebomber]

It's actually more per oz than that $19.99 sixer of Ruination

Indeed!

But you don't have to buy 24 ounces of it. I really only buy expensive commercial beer for R+D purposes lately anyway. I've got 40 gallons of beer at the moment. I don't need their skanky ale

 

[bottlebomber]

Just be glad you have all those options (and don't even get me started on the cali folks). Some of us only have local access to Stone of the choices you have listed.

It depends on where in Cali you are... An hour south of me I can get just about any beer. In the town I live in, I'll put dollars to doughnuts that your selection is better. We just got Duvel at the "bottleshop" for 12.99. Yay!!

 

[ifearnothing0]

Prices are pretty crazy , but is rather pay too much for something like ruination than drink a free big 3 beer , I just gotta ease back on buying sixers and work on getting my pipeline flowing bros .. Woooo!!!!! Can anybody suggest a good place to order partial mash kits ? Is there a place that's sells clone kits ?

 

[ifearnothing0]

Oh and can anybody post a pic of that Pliny or zombie dust ? I hear alot about em on the but never seen either

 

[weirdboy]

I've never tried to buy a case of Pliny because I'm local.. so I could be wrong, but every other case of RR beer is based on 12 bottles.

The actual cases of Pliny that come to the store are 24 bottles. I just went and bought the maximum Friday morning, and the guy pulled 12 bottles out of the Pliny case and stuck it into a Suppication case for me to carry.


Nevertheless, it was a great price for a great beer.

 

[ktblunden]

Oh and can anybody post a pic of that Pliny or zombie dust ? I hear alot about em on the but never seen either

Pliny the Elder:

Zombie Dust:

Pliny is somewhat accessible for me, but I don't think 3 Floyds distributes anywhere near me, so I've never had that one.

 

[IffyG]

Stone brews range from $9-$11 a six pack at the different shops.

Must be nice. 6 Packs of Stone show up at the grocery store here for around 16 bucks and the price for anything "craft" is rapidly approaching 12 dollars these days...

 

[bottlebomber]

I saw Stone Ruination at the Grocery Outlet, unrefrigerated, for 8.99. I should have gotten one. I'm sure the freshness factor wasn't real great.

 

[BillBeer247]

I saw Stone Ruination at the Grocery Outlet, unrefrigerated, for 8.99. I should have gotten one. I'm sure the freshness factor wasn't real great.

thats a good point, for a beer as expensive as ruination, every store around here keeps it unrefrigerated on the shelf, no place keeps it in the fridge

 

[bottlebomber]

thats a good point, for a beer as expensive as ruination, every store around here keeps it unrefrigerated on the shelf, no place keeps it in the fridge

I think Vinnie would probably bust through the doors with a Tommy gun if he heard the PTE was being treated with such disrespect.

 

[BakRivrBruen]

And that 27-29 cents per bottle includes employee labor costs, taxes and includes amortized equipment costs, utilities, building lease/mortgage costs and so on and so on right?

The difference in 2 row between IPA and Ruination is minimal, less than 10lbs per bbl (about 10%). Ruination does use 30% more hops though

I personally think stone offerings are pretty well in line with good west coast craft beer, especially San Diego beer, but I still rarely buy Ruination and have yet to buy oaked AB simply because I don't want to spend the cash.

FYI $20 a sixer of ruination = $0.208 an ounce. A bottle of Pliny at the brewer is $5 = $0.294 an ounce. I've heard of people paying up to $12 a bottle for Pliny which would be $0.705 an ounce. Obviously Vinnie is gouging people right?

So all those other breweries that make dipa's must be losing money then? I'm sure Stone is barely making a profit at 16-20 bucks a 6-pack. Yes, I would say its gouging people. People are willing to pay for beers with a cult following and the brewers know that. I also think most of them are over-rated but I understand that's just my opinion.

I'm not gonna argue with you. If you can justify the ridiculous price for 30% more hops then good for you. I'm on the east coast so I'll gladly spend much less on a fresher dipa from a local brewery than an over priced, past its prime west coast dipa. The Stones and other high priced west coast brews I see around here are almost always at the tail end of their date or past it. But if I really want a west coast brew, I'll get Sierra Nevada and pay down to earth prices.

 

[BakRivrBruen]

thats a good point, for a beer as expensive as ruination, every store around here keeps it unrefrigerated on the shelf, no place keeps it in the fridge

this exactly!!!!!!

 

[BrewKnurd]

So all those other breweries that make dipa's must be losing money then? I'm sure Stone is barely making a profit at 16-20 bucks a 6-pack. Yes, I would say its gouging people. People are willing to pay for beers with a cult following and the brewers know that. I also think most of them are over-rated but I understand that's just my opinion.

Certainly they're making good money. One just needs to check out the decor at the stone bistro to know that. But I would hesitate to ever use the word gouging in regards to beer. IMHO, gouging should be reserved for things that people actually, ya know, need. Not beer. But that's just one man's opinion.

 

[ktblunden]

So all those other breweries that make dipa's must be losing money then? I'm sure Stone is barely making a profit at 16-20 bucks a 6-pack. Yes, I would say its gouging people. People are willing to pay for beers with a cult following and the brewers know that. I also think most of them are over-rated but I understand that's just my opinion.

I'm not gonna argue with you. If you can justify the ridiculous price for 30% more hops then good for you. I'm on the east coast so I'll gladly spend much less on a fresher dipa from a local brewery than an over priced, past its prime west coast dipa. The Stones and other high priced west coast brews I see around here are almost always at the tail end of their date or past it. But if I really want a west coast brew, I'll get Sierra Nevada and pay down to earth prices.

I wasn't aware you were privy to Stone's accounting. How many of those east coat breweries have a production facility the size of Stone and operate their own distribution company with a range the size of southern California? And distribute other craft brands as well? If you're going to compare to SN, compare apples to apples and go by the price of their DIPA Hoptimum, which around here is $10 per 4 pack. That works out to $2.50 per 12 oz bottle compared with Stone's Ruination at $2.66 per 12 oz bottle in the same market. Yeah, that 16 cents is really gouging big time, isn't it?

 

[ahaley]

My first thought..
Were do you get a sixxer of any stone?
I'm in Cali and I've only seen them sold by the bottle for like 9$ a piece.

I like the idea of buying them at a used price, lol never been opened and only dropped once!

 

[bottlebomber]

My first thought..
Were do you get a sixxer of any stone?
I'm in Cali and I've only seen them sold by the bottle for like 9$ a piece.

I like the idea of buying them at a used price, lol never been opened and only dropped once!

You must be talking bombers, right? I don't think even Stone could get away with $9 12 oz bottles...

 

[ahaley]

You must be talking bombers, right? I don't think even Stone could get away with $9 12 oz bottles...

My bad, I should have specified, ya it was a liter I believe. And I haven't seen any other sizes than those... I do like AB, and the smoked porter was pretty good

 

[evrose]

I'm sure Stone is barely making a profit at 16-20 bucks a 6-pack. Yes, I would say its gouging people.

Pet peeve rant.

The purchase of a beer is a voluntary transaction between the buyer and seller. The buyer is in no way obligated to make the purchase, and is unlikely to suffer any hardship were they not to make that purchase. Under those circumstances, there can be no "gouging". "Gouging" is a specific pricing of necessities above normal market value during a time of crisis or need - for example, charging $10 a gallon for drinking water after an earthquake. Beer is not a necessity, craft beer even less so.

/end pet peeve rant.

 

[Jukas]

So all those other breweries that make dipa's must be losing money then? I'm sure Stone is barely making a profit at 16-20 bucks a 6-pack. Yes, I would say its gouging people. People are willing to pay for beers with a cult following and the brewers know that. I also think most of them are over-rated but I understand that's just my opinion.

I'm not gonna argue with you. If you can justify the ridiculous price for 30% more hops then good for you. I'm on the east coast so I'll gladly spend much less on a fresher dipa from a local brewery than an over priced, past its prime west coast dipa. The Stones and other high priced west coast brews I see around here are almost always at the tail end of their date or past it. But if I really want a west coast brew, I'll get Sierra Nevada and pay down to earth prices.

I'm not justifying anything. I consider craft beer to be a luxury, and thus if I decide to spend the $$ on it, I do so knowing it's exactly that. Do I sometimes spend top $ for what I end up considering a meh beer absolutely, in which case I don't buy it again.

You, as an east coaster pay more for a WC beer due to how distributors work, most people consider themselves lucky that they can sample some of the 'hyped' west coast beers. No one is forcing you to pay $3.33 per 12oz bottle of ruination, don't, but I'm willing to be you spend more than that on a pint at the bar and don't consider that gouging.

Just out of curiosity how do you feel about Pliny the Elder, or Green Flash Palate Wrecker or Bells Hopslam?

 

[BillBeer247]

I wasn't aware you were privy to Stone's accounting. How many of those east coat breweries have a production facility the size of Stone and operate their own distribution company with a range the size of southern California? And distribute other craft brands as well? If you're going to compare to SN, compare apples to apples and go by the price of their DIPA Hoptimum, which around here is $10 per 4 pack. That works out to $2.50 per 12 oz bottle compared with Stone's Ruination at $2.66 per 12 oz bottle in the same market. Yeah, that 16 cents is really gouging big time, isn't it?

$19.99 / 6 = $3.33 , not $2.66. Also, SN Hoptimum compared to Ruination is not apples to apples, hoptimum is a special release beer, its not year round

 

[BillBeer247]

And that 27-29 cents per bottle includes employee labor costs, taxes and includes amortized equipment costs, utilities, building lease/mortgage costs and so on and so on right?

The difference in 2 row between IPA and Ruination is minimal, less than 10lbs per bbl (about 10%). Ruination does use 30% more hops though

I personally think stone offerings are pretty well in line with good west coast craft beer, especially San Diego beer, but I still rarely buy Ruination and have yet to buy oaked AB simply because I don't want to spend the cash.

FYI $20 a sixer of ruination = $0.208 an ounce. A bottle of Pliny at the brewer is $5 = $0.294 an ounce. I've heard of people paying up to $12 a bottle for Pliny which would be $0.705 an ounce. Obviously Vinnie is gouging people right?

12oz bottle x 6 bottles = 72ounces? $20.00 / 72 ounces = $.28 an ounce, not .20?