330ml vs 500ml bottles

[Dai]

Just wondering what the advantage of buying 500ml bottles of craft beers are, when 330ml versions are available? When you do the math, it is usually better to buy the 330ml bottles as the price per litre is lower. This always puzzled me as Emerson's 500ml'ers were more expensive than say Epic or Crouchers 330ml'ers by volume; however, I was comparing apples with oranges here as these are obviously different brands, and made no difference to me because sometimes I would just feel like a Emerson's, so the added price was not a barrier.

Now, conveniently, Epic comes in the larger 500ml size, so a direct comparison can be made. Excuse my nerdiness, but the local New World has 500ml Epics for $6.50 ($13/litre), while a six pack of Epic 330ml is $18 (a shade over $9/litre). This is a big difference, and I can hear you saying that you have to buy 6x 330ml to make the saving. True, however, my local beer shop sells 330ml Epics for $3.50ea (same as Crouchers), which, unless my powers of arithmetic have failed me, comes out to $10.60/litre, and still a significant saving.

So, apart from looking cool having these oversized bottles of beer in your grocery trolley, where is the advantage? Is it more expensive to use larger bottles, or is there a marketing strategy at play here? Possibly, craft beer buyers only buy one or two bottles at a time, so they will prefer a 500ml bottle, as it will give them slightly more of the good stuff, and they will not notice the price difference?

Anyway, something I will ponder over further over a few bottles tonight! I'd be interested in hearing the reason for this discrepancy.

Also, was gutted to hear that 1.125ml Bookbinders are going to be no longer. Moving to pasteurised, 500ml bottles (I am dreading the subsequent calculations to see how much more I am going to have to pay for this!!). :(

[Soren]

It's actually only 70 cents a bottle, but who's counting:) But yes, the labels do stick quite well...

[Steve Plowman]

We keep all our empty 500ml bottles, if any one wants some they can come and help themselves from Hallertau.

Steve

[Stu McKinlay]

You need to think about this in terms well beyond simple arithmetic of $/L. That does not even work for brewday costs - afterall, if you brew 50hL in a 100hL brewery you are paying more for labour, rent, power etc than you would be if you were brewing the full capacity.

How much do the bottles cost? If you are packaging in the smaller bottles you are buying more and getting a better price per unit. Though you may be saving some of that (or not) in the bottle price per litre of capacity. How much does the bottling cost? Labour, set-up etc. This will almost certainly be more 'per bottle' with 500ml than 330ml because it is spread over less bottles. How much does the other packaging cost? Labels, bottle caps etc. The labels might be bigger, and you are buying fewer, so they are more costly per label - but then there is only one per 500ml instead of one per 330ml so you are saving!!

Then there is the placement aspect. Maybe Epic wants to be alongside similarly priced 500ml bottles such as Emersons, Rennaissance, Three Boys etc, rather than in the six-pack section with Montieth's, Mac's and other beers that are selling for around 2/3 to 3/4 of the price. I know I hardly ever spot Epic because it is usually nestled in with beer I'd not normally glance at. And the beers that it is stuck in with... Producing a 6-pack of 330ml excellent quality beer, at the sort of volumes that Lion or DB spill, for only $18rrp is damn near throwing money away. It may not have been a year or two ago but it is now. It certainly isn't ROI 101.

Then you have to think about that beautiful thing that is supermarket pricing. Do you know that your local supermarket may well be selling fresh products for cost, or even below? They may be making more off a single 500ml bottle than an entire 6-pack - or not.

To sum up. It's a variety of factors, and it is complicated beyond what I've just spewed out, but it isn't really worth worrying about... just buy the one you prefer. I'd hardly ever buy a 6-pack of a beer when I can pick up a 500ml... virtually never (I would say never but I think I once did).

[Kempicus]

me neither, i will never buy a six pack of beer, i go to regional wines and buy 2 330ml bottles for my pint glass so for me 500ml bottles are a bonus, it all comes back to the value you get from the beer, renaissance i will pay for moa i will not. good point about the supermarket pricing....i know for a fact that supermarkets have a very minor markup on standard swill say 5-10% but their markup on Tuatara for example is 80%....crazy!

[Craig]

I speculate it's all about marketing and the propensity to extract margin from consumers. A business does need to make money...

Personally, I like the 500ml bottle because 330ml in one sitting just doesn't cut it. Usually need 1L actually. I'm all for minimising packaging waste, but with a bit of Scottish heritage in the blood, I will naturally go for the cheaper option everytime assuming the contents is of equal quality.

On the Moa/Renaissance front, Its all about percieved value for me. I have never purchased a Moa based on my perception it is more a marketing product than a high quality beer. Renaissance is a great product, but pricing tends to make me only buy once in a blue moon.

[Hugh Grierson]

Big bottles have less surface area so they heat up or cool down slower, which is good or bad depending if you want a quick chill or a slow warm..
There is also less glass per mil with big bottles, so its a liitle less wastefull..if those bottles were being refilled they would be very energy efficient.
In Holland and Germany all the wholesale beers are in refilled bottles, the prices are all assuming you have brought your empties back. Some of those bottles have been through thousands of refills but have new labels, you get a few down you and start thinking about the stories they could tell.
Its tricky for craft brewers to run swapa bottles in NZ, mainly because the beer travels too far from brewery.
Its a shame because the price of the beer would come down.
With the Brown Teal Ale, the final cost is mostly bottling and glass, the beer is only 30% of the total production cost.
As for Stieniken and Hienlager, they are just trying to connect with the good old days of swapa crates, before we got all silly and fell for the con that imported beer was better than local.

[Dai]

I wish we would do refills more readily. It is such a waste crushing, melting, or worst, throwing away glass bottles. Surely just cleaning and refilling is the best option? I am certain 99% of NZ'ers would not care in the slightest if bottles were properly cleaned and then refilled with the good stuff- no matter what brand's beer was in there prior.

Re Moa- totally agree. Man that stuff is pricey! Good though, but no better that other craft drops like (my favourite) Crouchers, which are significantly kinder to the wallet!

[Kempicus]

I give Moa a solid average to suck!

[Dai]

Harsh, Kempicus. Quite liked the 5 hop winter ale, but again, a special occasion beer due to the crazy price. How does this company survive?

[Stu McKinlay]

By exporting 80% of what they brew (or something along those lines).

[Stu McKinlay]

I've never had a bad Moa Traditional (or whatever the red one is called). It's a damn good saison, paler than the style, and floral rather than fruity...


A. Subcategory: French & Belgian Style Saison

Beers in this category are golden to deep amber in color. There may be quite a variety of characters within this style. Generally: They are light to medium in body. Malt aroma is low to medium-low. Fruity esters dominate the aroma, while hop character, complex alcohols, herbs, spices and even clove and smoke-like phenolics may or may not be evident in the overall balanced beer. Malt flavor is low but provides foundation for the overall balance. Hop bitterness is moderate to moderately assertive. Herb and/or spice flavors may or may not be evident. Fruitiness from fermentation is generally in character. A balanced small amount of sour or acidic flavors is acceptable when in balance with other components. Earthy, cellar like, musty aromas are okay. Diacetyl should not be perceived. Chill or slight yeast haze is okay. Often bottle conditioned with some yeast character and high carbonation.

Original Gravity (ºPlato): 1.055 1.080 (14 19.5 ºPlato)
Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (ºPlato): 1.004 1.016 (1 4 ºPlato)
Alcohol by Weight (Volume): 3.5 6.6% (4.5 8.5%)
Bitterness (IBU): 20 40
Color SRM (EBC): 4 14 (8 28 EBC)

[Geoff Griggs]

Good call Stu. I've been scratching my head for some time over how to classify Moa Original and I think you've hit the nail pretty squarely on the head.