New in the Area Part II

Reads 5613 • Replies 61 • Started Saturday, December 10, 2011 1:48:35 PM CT

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Message thegreenrooster beers 6935 º places 116 º 12:39 Thu 1/5/2012 Like the ridiculous Perennial prices? THIS!
Message beastiefan2k P beers 5008 º places 294 º 13:15 Thu 1/5/2012 I laughed when I saw their $18 Imperial Stout or whatever it is. Make at least one affordable beer to show you can even brew before releasing that. anyway, can’t wait to try the UC bottles.
Message jckp64 beers 356 º places 7 º 13:45 Thu 1/5/2012 Originally posted by vyvvy Not expecting everyone to be an inexpensive as Schlafly, but if you want to use $30 a bottle as your comparison point almost everything will be inexpensive. I try to take each beer on an individual basis. A close-to-sessionable saison at $12/750 seems overpriced to me, so I won’t buy it. If someone else does, great. Bottom line for me is that I can get great beers at reasonable prices. I’d rather buy local (and do very often), but if I get a similar quality beer at a much cheaper price from a brewery that’s not in the STL area, I’ll get the out of town beer. I can see where your coming from on that one. I don’t really buy too many sessionable beers in 750’s. I was more referring to larger beers that are cellarable.

Message phaleslu P admin beers 16529 º places 792 º 13:54 Thu 1/5/2012 I’d be curious to hear from Perennial what goes into pricing and how sales are going for each. Abraxas, at $19 or so a bottle, seems to be selling well from what I can tell (and certainly the ratings are good, with a 4.13 average through the first 11). However, Strawberry Rhubarb Tart, along with Hommel the first to hit shelves, still seems plentiful at stores. I guess a $13 price point on a so-so, unusual fruit beer is too much for most people. Hommel is about $9 at most places, which seems fair and in line with Schlafly 750s.
Message vyvvy P beers 7776 º places 26 º 15:38 Thu 1/5/2012 Originally posted by phaleslu Hommel is about $9 at most places, which seems fair and in line with Schlafly 750s. Sorry, Peter, but I’ve got to disagree with this. All of the Schlafly beers at this price point are hearty Belgian ales that can easily sit on the shelves for a while without damaging the quality. The lightest of the bunch is the biere de garde and it ages very well. At Christmas I split a bottle with someone that was about 2.5 - 3 years old and it was great. The alcohol on this series ranges from 7%-12%. The Hommel has to be priced to keep it rotated out on a fairly regular pace. As you stated earlier, you’re still seeing the original batch on the shelves. While it is a very well made beer, I don’t see what warrants the high price tag. It has modest alcohol (5.9) and is a hoppy Belgian pale. When talking with one of the brewers he mentioned they were hoping to get this canned at some point. This beer seems like something that is a six pack sort of beer, and should priced as such. Like you, I don’t know what goes into their prices. There facility is pretty good sized, so don’t know how much goes into that. During the STL Hops anniversary party I saw that the bottles are flown in from Belgium, so that’s going to cost as well.
Message jckp64 beers 356 º places 7 º 20:22 Thu 1/5/2012 Originally posted by beastiefan2k I laughed when I saw their $18 Imperial Stout or whatever it is. Make at least one affordable beer to show you can even brew before releasing that. anyway, can’t wait to try the UC bottles. Pretty sure Phil doesn’t need to prove he knows how to brew
Message phaleslu P admin beers 16529 º places 792 º 12:43 Fri 1/6/2012 Originally posted by vyvvy Originally posted by phaleslu Hommel is about $9 at most places, which seems fair and in line with Schlafly 750s. Sorry, Peter, but I’ve got to disagree with this. All of the Schlafly beers at this price point are hearty Belgian ales that can easily sit on the shelves for a while without damaging the quality. The lightest of the bunch is the biere de garde and it ages very well. At Christmas I split a bottle with someone that was about 2.5 - 3 years old and it was great. The alcohol on this series ranges from 7%-12%. The Hommel has to be priced to keep it rotated out on a fairly regular pace. As you stated earlier, you’re still seeing the original batch on the shelves. While it is a very well made beer, I don’t see what warrants the high price tag. It has modest alcohol (5.9) and is a hoppy Belgian pale. When talking with one of the brewers he mentioned they were hoping to get this canned at some point. This beer seems like something that is a six pack sort of beer, and should priced as such. Like you, I don’t know what goes into their prices. There facility is pretty good sized, so don’t know how much goes into that. During the STL Hops anniversary party I saw that the bottles are flown in from Belgium, so that’s going to cost as well. Well, we’re just going to have to settle this...IN THE OCTAGON! I guess the tricky part as STL beer consumers at this point is that the only precedent is Schlafly’s 750s, all of which are in the $8-$12 range and high-gravity. Now Perennial has rolled out 6 bottles that are priced, roughly: Hommel: $9 Saison de Lis: $10 Peace Offering: $13 Strawberry Rhubarb Tart: $13 Heart of Gold: $15 Abraxas: $19 And 2nd Shift has introduced their 750s, as well, the first two of which were $9-$10 each for one high-gravity (LSD) and one lower-gravity (UK)- looks like the new bottles are about the same, and none are high gravity. Schlafly’s strategy has been to put the lower-gravity, lower ABV stuff in 6-packs and the big stuff in 750s. Augusta has bottled, what, 3 beers? All are $9-$13. Cathedral Square has the $4-$6 bombers, and Six Row’s have been about $6 so far. That’s about it in terms of local peers for large-format bottles. Do you consider all the Perennial and 2nd Shift beers to be a ripoff? I guess my take is that for the most part, I find brewers price their stuff where they need to, whether it’s in house or in bottles. UCBC imports so much from Germany, their price points have been a bit higher and I would anticipate the 4-packs to reflect that, as well. Perennial seems to be using a lot of ingredients in each beer, like spices and other things that drive up prices. I guess time and the market will tell if these are the right price points or not. I at least will give them a shot and put my good faith in some really nice people that they’re not just pricing their beers high to line their pockets.

Message phaleslu P admin beers 16529 º places 792 º 17:04 Fri 1/6/2012 Thanks for the response, Cory! That works for me. I’m also pretty surprised this debate hit here first and not STLHops.
Message jckp64 beers 356 º places 7 º 17:43 Fri 1/6/2012 Well said Cory. Thanks!
Message thegreenrooster beers 6935 º places 116 º 17:47 Fri 1/6/2012 Great Post!