| Hopnonymous Speaks |
Rising Beer Prices & Mystery Freshness: A Consumer’s Perspective I do not own a brewery, never have and never will. However, it would seem to me that as a consumer who purchases a significant amount of beer each year, a consumer is quite integral to the ecosystem of the beer industry (despite the small handful of those breweries who feel that consumers complain too much and don’t deserve their attention). Even before Covid, I noticed that the price of 16 oz. 4 packs started to creep up in bottle shops and stores across New Jersey. I get it. Fuel prices, production costs, ingredient costs, canning costs and a litany of other factors can influences price. For some interesting reading, you can locate some 2018 articles online describing why global warming will be the cause for increased beer prices. I’m going to kick those articles to the curb for now and focus on beer prices in what is our current “normal,” because that’s the reality of what’s going on now. Ponder this: when are craft beer prices so high that they actually influence your decision not to purchase it? I can tell you that I finally reached that point a few days ago, after 30+ years of drinking craft and spending money like a drunken sailor. In addition, the decision of certain breweries to avoid date stamping their beer is only going to cause a bigger issue, as more and more high- cost stale beer sits on shelves. Here is my story. I walked into a liquor store I had not frequented in a while because it was near my travels. As I looked around and saw majority of non-local but very popular craft beers, I was staring eye level at a four pack of a well-known brand one state over. In fact I saw four different types of their beer. Score. I told myself that I wouldn’t mind trying this beer, but then I saw the price of $25.99 for a four pack of 16 ounce cans. For the first time in 30 years I made a decision that I’m not buying it based on cost. Sure, I’ve decided not to by the entire allotment of BBA bottles and bought 4 instead of 6, but this was different. I then panicked and looked around for something to “back in to,” as if I would breathe more easily if I saw an NEIPA for $18. Just $18 for a 4 pack. Please! Help me! $18! And then, I felt calm. I spied a 6 pack of Stone IPA bottles that was made 2 weeks ago. The cost was $11.99. I took it home and I enjoyed it as if it were 15 years ago when I was drinking that beer all the time. What happened? I finally put my financial foot down. One of the things that also deterred me from purchasing that other beer besides the price was the fact that there was no date stamp on their beer. So that brewery is telling me to trust them that what was sitting on the shelves at a place that you’ve never been to in a long time has costly and fresh beer. Call me crazy, but I have come to this simple conclusion: if there’s no stamp I simply move on. It doesn’t matter who brewed it. I don’t care. I don’t need a beer that was made yesterday. I just don’t like to engage in Russian Roulette when I purchase beer, and I’ve been burned in the past. How I spend on beer and everything else is much more important than it was prior to Covid. Think about the situation some of us are in. Credit card debt is rolling in now and in an effort to have some semblance of a normal holiday season, credit card debt from the holidays is now even bigger than it was. For some, decisions are made about what you’re spending your money on, how much you might be supporting local businesses on takeout and if you have kids, what activities they have coming up. It’s all relative to your situation. I feel pretty comfortable saying that being married with a family is a decent patch of the craft beer quilt. So if we are being extremely careful with the purchasing patterns of everything else, why would it be any different for beer? Why would we blindly throw money at a brewery just because they command such a high price? It may offend some, but from a consumer standpoint, it’s just beer. For breweries, it’s your passion and the reason you went into business, but for consumers, it’s just beer. For breweries, it’s the reason you may have taken out a second mortgage to buy new equipment to be able to expand and that’s great. In the end, for this consumer, it’s just beer. I won’t downplay the fact that seeing a date stamp when the beer was made was a substantial factor in my purchase decision. We all know Stone was at the forefront for pushing a freshness-first approach. However, the pendulum has swung to a point where the decision not to tell the consumer when their beer was made is a bit troubling in my opinion. If you tell me the cost to put a date stamp on the can was cost prohibitive, then maybe there would be some merit to the argument. I think we know that’s not the case. Then why? I wish I had the time to go into a beer store and index the amount of beer that is sitting on shelves that is older than 30, 60, 90, 120 or 180 days or more. From what I can tell, the amount of aged beer sitting on shelves is staggering just from s visual standpoint simply by knowing when certain beers were seasonally released. We all know how Covid has impacted us, and for breweries, especially larger craft breweries, they may need to pump out more cans because their distribution of kegs has been greatly reduced. I understand. However, if you expect the average person to purchase 64 ounces of liquid for $26 all the time, you have to be prepared for a consumer base that eventually is going to be more critical of that decision. It hurts to say this because of how supportive I’ve been to local breweries, but when you think about the beers you used to rush out and buy when craft beer was still flourishing15 and 20 years ago, but seemed to abandon when they were no longer “cool,” I find it ironic to be considering going back to them in the face of inflated prices and unknown brewing dates. This is just my observations and opinions. Feel free to disagree, but please, look around. Breweries will do what breweries will do and might not care what I think, but at some point, please understand that there is a limit to what folks will buy. Quite simply, I will support local craft until I can’t. Until next time, choose wisely. Hopnonymous |
March 2021
| The Masked Avenger of Beer Rumblings From The Underground |
--
| More From Hopnonymous The Peanut Gallery Doesn't Have To Buy Your Peanuts |