Forgot to add a sixer of Ballast Point Big Eye IPA. I've been getting into Ballast lately.
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How is that Night Stalker they just got it in at a store near me ?
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Very good. Super thick, and it kinda suprised me with how hoppy it was. Good stout notes, coffee, chocolate, ect. rather complex, and I think age will do great things to it. That's why I picked up another bottle. The one I picked up was bottled on 2-6-11 fwiw.
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Drinking one now, won't be able to hold onto any that long. :-)
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Sounds right up my alley. They just got it in and had a good number on hand. ill have to head back and pick some up.
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Picked up 2 6-packs of Bells Hopslam and 3 bottles of the Sierra Nevada Big Foot last night. Went to one of the stores last night and they had 4 cases of Hopslam left. Might have to go back for more :-)
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Last night I picked up:

• 4-pack of Founder's KBS
• Six-pack of Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale
• Bomber of Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout
• Six-pack of Founder's Red Rye Pale Ale

The KBS was $20 for the four-pack. Is that usual? I've never had it before so decided to splurge a little.
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They were charging $24 at my local shop and they were gone in 30 minutes :-)
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Wow! I had one last night and really liked it, but don't know if I can justify the cost.

I don't know if Founder's stuff is new to Minnesota or just the liquor store I go to (I don't remember ever seeing it before). They had rows of KBS along with the other Founder's brews, and it's been there for at least a week.
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As much as I love craft beer, particularly the stuff that DFH, Bell's, Avery and Founders are putting out these days, I really have to draw the line at dropping $24 on a 4pack of beer. I've never had KBS, and based on its A+ BA score I'm sure it's good stuff. But that's a lot of dough to put down for a beer.

I guess I have the luxury of crafting my own stuff, so maybe I'm a little biased, but my concern is that all this uber-premium brewing is just going to jack the price of other craft beers across the board. Just a few years ago, you could get DFH 60, Bell's Three Hearted and Sierra Nevada Torpedo in my area for $6 or so. Now they're all at $9/6pk, and many brewers are beginning to package their stuff in the 4pk format. Jefferson's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout & Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stouts are other good examples. Where does it stop? Ingredient-wise, there isn't that much more going into a breakfast stout than in a standard variety stout--I appreciate the additional aging some of these beers are getting, but I'm not sure it's worth a $2-3/bottle premium.

/rant /:-)
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Well put. I'm guilty of buying to try, but not as regular rotation. Cuts into my cigar funds too.
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Although I am looking forward to trying my first KBS soon. :-)
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I'll agree that a "regular" IPA, stout, porter, etc is pushing my limits above $10.00 a six pack.

But when you start getting into imperial brews you're talking about, in a lot of cases, doubling the ingredients at least, not counting aging time and space for barrel aged beers etc. Everything costs.
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:-)
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The bars are taking this trend to the same degree. It is crazy trying to go get drink these days in Burlington. Want a couple of Hill Farmsteads? It's gonna be $19 after tip, and you are going to get 12oz pours not a pint. It seems like the trend is not only more expensive, but smaller pours as well. The bad thing is it has me thinking "well whats $5 a beer" when I go to buy a $20 4-pack because I'd have to spend that much on budwieser if I was to go out. I don't like the trend, but with craft beer getting more popular I don't see it turning around.
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You all do realize the higher the alcohol the more malt is needed (for the beers we are talking about)? The hoppier the beer, the more hops used. The cost adds up. Then consider the cost of packaging, shipping, rising cost of everything these days, distribution, etc. It sucks but what can you do. I don't like it either, but I see where they are coming from.

Bourbon barrel beers are so expensive because bourbon barrels are so damn expensive these days. EVERYONE wants them - tons of breweries and other distilleries use them (American/Canadian/Scotch/Irish Whiskey all uses them, not solely of course). It use to be they couldn't get rid of them or you could buy them for like $15. Now they are over $100 per barrel, of course I'm sure breweries make deals to where it ends up being cheaper in bulk, but still, that ends up being a huge cost. If you're putting a big beer in it, you can only use that barrel once. You can use it again for a lighter style, then it's pretty much done.
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I definitely see this part of it, but I remember not too many years ago drinking imperial IPA's from the local brewpubs for $5-6 a pint, now it's $7-8/12oz.

The other thing you are getting at with the big beers is opportunity cost because of the length of the fermentation. If they are using a tank they could run more batches of a pale that sells well in the same amount of time it takes to put out the one big beer.

I get the cost of things, and I like supporting smaller local businesses even if it costs me more to do so, but I think the trendiness of beer drinking is afoot as well and I am not as big a fan of that.
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Image

Sorry, but that's a pretty good pic from me :-)

Coronado Brewing Idiot IPA ( a DIPA )
Ballast Big Eye IPA
Victory Old Horizontal Barleywine
Marin Brewing Old Dipsea Barleywine
Green Flash Barleywine
Bootlegger Brewing Rustic Rye IPA
Russian River Blind Pig x 2 (the daily limit, another trend I don't like)
Sierra Nevada Big Foot

Except for the Victory, a California verticle :-)
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Yes, I agree on all points, especially the last. I do appreciate the costs involved with brewing bigger beers, I'm just reluctant to pay the premium when I work the economics out to a 5 gallon batch.

That being said, I did luck in to a pub on Saturday that was serving Founders KBS draft at basically $1/oz. I figured, ah what the hell, so I bought one. :-)
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Yea, but us homebrewers don't have the cost of running a brewery, taxes, packaging, shipping, distribution, etc, etc. While I love trying new beer, I can't afford to buy commercial beer much, which is just another factor in my homebrewing. I can make amazing beer, very cheap. Sorry if I come across in any bad way, I don't mean to, there's just a lot of things people don't consider in the cost. Inflation alone is a big factor. I've heard (just a rumor, so who knows) that Barley prices may go up for a few different reasons. Farmers can make more from other crops apparently, so they are switching. Again, that is heresay, I haven't looked into it. I sure hope not though..
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