Craft Beer Prices

[studio1]

Finally...I found a craft beer that I like availabe in a dozen box for less than $30! (admittedly on special at Farro Fresh in AKL).

So it seems to me that we are sorely lacking in realistically priced craft beer. I wanted to open this up for discussion - obviously there is a supply / demand issue going on which has historically kept the prices high (ie...not enough demand to warrant economies of scale).

But I have many friends now who are slowly waking up to all things beery....but the only affordable/available option to them seems to be something like Coopers. A dozen beers seems a mininimum for a typical party I go to - who can afford a $45-$60 dozen? At the moment it seems people will supplement a mega-swill doz with a few bottles of craft - from what I have noticed.

I'm looking forward to being able to buy a 6 pack of something I really enjoy for around $15 (thats widely available). On my recent trips ot Melbourne/USA craft beer is avaiable at a reasonable price at many suburban (and even rural) bottle shops. Then again...craft beer is available on tap a lot more too.

I guess thats why I brew....

Anyways - will be interesting to hear some thoughts around this.

[Nick T]

For me, I have never purchased so much craft beer than since I started dabbling in home brewing.....

[James P]

Needless to say I am in the same boat, however what about the K&K brewers, will they buy a $7 bottle of beer?

[Nick T]

Probably not on the whole, I get the feeling that many K&Kers are looking for lowest $ per litre of alcohol, so they don't need to buy Steineken or even Tui, and were never going to be in the market for craft anyway?

[James P]

Were you before getting into home brewing? My first adventure into brewing many moons ago was low price beer (uni days), but I found craft beer since then, and that lead me back into brewing.

I only buy craft beer for the bottles... honest.

[Nick T]

Got into it as a combination of 'discovering' and being hooked on good beer at the Twisted Hop (their seasonal IPA), realising I wasn't going to be able to shell out for that sort of beer every night (without feeling massively guilty), and having a smouldering interest in making beer. Stumbled upon Palmer's book and then RealBeer.co.nz, and now I have a large collection of empty craft bottles ready for filling! (You do need to do research after all, to discover which styles you really like, and for that research to be worthwhile the results need to be repeatable........)

[JackoNZ]

I got into K&K because I liked the idea of making my own beer and to my own style of liking. It wasn't about making cheap piss. Making K&K actually got me into drinking better beers than when I started as I looked to improve my own brews. Then it's a slippery slope as you make better beer, buy better beer, etc.. It's never ending!

I personally enjoy just a couple of craft beers in a sitting rather than getting through a dozen, must be a light weight! What I find annoying is if you end up in a bar selling megaswill and you're forced to spend $8-$9 on a shit beer when you could be in the Malthouse or Hashigo's drinking much better beer at the same or cheaper price! Probably why I rarely go anywhere than those two bars these days.

[studio1]

I guess the angle I'm coming from here is that:
I know lots of people who drink in the vacinity of 3-5 dozen a week who would drink craft (in the 4% to 5.5% quaffer range) if the premium difference was smaller - I think we're getting to a point where at the right price point and distribution levels, craft will take off.

Its seems to be a catch 22 situation.

Can someone explain the excise thing (big brewery vs craft brewery) to me - I don't get it when surely the same would apply in AU, USA, UK etc?

Tutatara is one I often buy - but thats still around $18 a six up here in AKL. Would like to see an apa or amber in that range too. I find the 4 packs really frustrating - I only buy these for at home - (I like taking a couple of armageddons out though!)

[James P]

Excise is charged on per litre of pure alcohol.

More infomation here..

[Sam Possenniskie (TGM)]

"I think we're getting to a point where at the right price point and distribution levels, craft will take off."

At which case it probably wouldn't be craft anymore. The volume required and short cuts taken will mean the product becomes closer to the thing we value it for being distinct from.

Rather than craft beer becoming cheaper, I think it is more a matter of consumer expectations needing to change. People didn't start to drink good wine when it's price dropped down to that of a cask of Blenheimer. More they realised the value on buying on quality rather than cost/quantity.

The answer is for the people buying 3-5 dozen per week to reduce that to 2-4 per week and increase their enjoyment of what they are drinking.

[Stu McKinlay]

with some intial investment put down into a kegerator your friends could go with a keg for about $300 each fortnight to three weeks:
about $300
50L = 12.5 dozen, so about $24/doz = $2/stubbie
or approx 100 "pints" at about $3 each

[James P]

I heart my $5~13 a bottle craft beer being subsidised by my $2 - $5 a pint home brew.

[Michael]

I started brewing, since I did not know where I could find a real ale in NZ. This allowed me to make some really good beers, but it also helped introduce me to people and places where I can find quality craft beers!

I only have one complaint. Since I have started brewing my own, I have put on 16kg!

I would not go to a beer because it is cheaper. It would be the choice, only if it is better. :)