Comments on: Beer pricing: Old Rasputin vs. Old Rasputin XII

By: Dave Lane

Dave Lane — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:24:52 +0000

A lot of beer cost this much. I was never that impressed with Old Rasputin as I don’t think they got the hop balance right and it has bit too much of the dark grain astringency, but if you like the beer I don’t see the price as a problem. Look how much good wine costs. Look what Sam Adams is charging for some of their terrible beers.

By: Mario (Brewed For Thought)

Mario (Brewed For Thought) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:06:47 +0000

Living near the source of this beer I can say I bought my bottle for $15.99 at a local bottle shop. Still I was surprised at the price, but that should tell you who’s making the money on the beer.

Alan mentions rockstar brewers and while we see some brewers flying around the country promoting their products, I have yet to see the brewing industry create the sort of personal wealth that I see in the wine industry.

On the topic of the bottle, I was actually talking to the packaging people that sell that bottle to North Coast. It really is a special bottle. The weight of the empty bottle was comparable to weight of a standard 750mL bottle. The glass is actually so thick that it proved a chore determining how much beer was left in a bottle (sadly, it was empty). Does this add to the value of the beer? For a beer you might want to keep some time, save for a special occasion, it’s nice to know a bump and tumble won’t cost you the investment.

As others have said, if you don’t like it, don’t buy it.

And if you think $20 for a Rasputin XII is a lot, this debate from May might get you going as well:
http://www.brewedforthought.com/?p=1409
http://www.brewedforthought.com/?p=1411

By: Andrea Turco

Andrea Turco — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:10:39 +0000

Here in Italy often we pay much more for italian craft beers than foreign ones. Why is it possible? Surely it’s a young market, but here craft beer is often seen like a product for the elite… and the prices arise…
Here some consideration on my blog:
http://www.beer-chronicles.com/trends/202/ok-let%e2%80%99s-talk-about-prices%e2%80%a6/

By: Derrick

Derrick — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:46:22 +0000

The discussion recalls the business saying that goes something like, “Nobody buys a drill, they buy a way to make a hole in a piece of wood.”

“Are they worth $400, or even $350, apiece? If you’re Bill Gates or Donald Trump or Arnold Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, a Danish billionaire, then absolutely, yes. As a person of more modest means, you’ll probably want to stare long and hard into the mirror before you drop such sums on either.”

I argue nobody buys beer like that for the taste, not even someone like Donald Trump. Donald Trump might buy a beer expensive to reassert their status, keep his ego inflated, or to impress a friend or client with how much was paid for the beer.

And yes, sometimes a person of modest income will buy a beer like that for a very special event. And they aren’t paying for the fluid in the bottle, or the cost of the brewer to make it, or even what it tastes like. They are paying for the experience of showing someone else that they paid $400 for a bottle of beer, to showing them how special the moment is. (Or like Kobe, to show how sorry they are.)

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:25:19 +0000

But the person who makes $100k and is single would also I would expect be happy to know that the $8.99 quart of craft beer is better than the $20 one. It is relative not only to the budget of each person but inherently within the fluid as well.

By: Stephen Beaumont

Stephen Beaumont — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:19:23 +0000

On the matter of price, in a column in The Celebrator a year or so ago, after I returned from tasting the two most expensive beers in the world in Copenhagen, I wrote the following:

Similarly, someone living alone and making $100k probably wouldn’t balk at the idea of a $20 or $30 bottle of beer, where someone with a family and more modest income would. It’s all relative.

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:16:04 +0000

Remarks totally related to this at Beervana.

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:41:44 +0000

Bill – A discussion of wine pricing would make my head explode, since it starts with terroir and voodoo.

I’m not sure what it means but these days the wine market above $20 is referred to as “dead” but brewers are able to ask higher prices.

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:13:11 +0000

While that is true, I also think that I do not have a bottle to bottle relationship with a brewer. You will get me to buy again because it was good value next time. It is also how I buy cheese and cars. Because of the factors being added to the market – rock star brewers, unnecessary packaging – one has to be wary of what you are actually buying, the fluid or something else.

Stan’s math makes on excellent point that has not been noted. Buying local should mean buying at good value. The 20-25 dollar bottle sold off the brewer’s shipping dock has a problem.

By: Pivní Filosof

Pivní Filosof — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:45:54 +0000

I really don’t understand this.
As far as I know, anyone producing something has the right to set the price they see fit for it, and we as consumers have the right to buy it or not.

Would I buy a 20USD bottle of beer. Well, not right now because I can’t afford it, not matter how good the beer might be. If I could afford it, probably yes, but it better be worth my money, otherwise I’ll simply never buy anything from the same brewer again.

I know, and I agree that beer is supposed to be democratic and all that, but with that argument we could also critisise limited one off batches. They are not democratic, only a few chosen ones will be able to buy them. Neither are those beers that are only sold at the breweries, what about the people that can’t afford traveling all the way there?

There are a lot of great beers I don’t think I’ll ever be able to drink for whatever reason, I’ve come to terms with that, there are a lot more that I can go and get pretty much any time I want, others should do the same.