re: FBD - can you have too many hoppy beers?

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. I think we just need to observe the wine world for clues on the future. Seems a pretty healthy market.

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Wine seems to have an air of sophistication that beer will never achieve, IMO. I think that I have gone through the maven stages as anyone else will. Your taste will change for certain beers, you will like certain things at certain stages in tastes but you will eventually stop chasing the new hot beer and go after value.

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You are in a mature market. Most of us....and most of the country, are not there yet. We are 10 years behind you

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I agree that we are ahead but not by 10yrs. I think the precedent has been set and most cities won't have the growing pains the early adopters did so they will mature faster. I remember a thread from a couple weeks ago asking something like if craft beer has peaked or was in trouble and i answered no. But after some thought I would say yes, certain markets will see growth for sure for a period until they mature but mature markets such as mine I think are going to see a contraction due to pricing

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I know people are paying these prices now but I think the time is coming where people are going to get enough and there will be some push back. $16 six packs? $12 12oz bottles? Is this something people are going to continue to spend money on in the long term? I may be off, but it seems to me that these high priced beers have become the fad over the last 3 years. There is a fun aspect of craft beer with trying new things but at a certain point you have had basically everything and the only thing that really changes is the name on the bottle. At that point, you start looking at value for price. You start to ask yourself if you really enjoy that $16 six pack twice as much as the $9 one(with $9 becoming a rarity now). I think this will change the craft beer landscape some. It's a money grab right now

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Agree with all of this. Some of the prices are getting ridiculous. I think the supply is definitely outweighing the demand right now. So many good beers just sit on the shelves and go bad. There are just too many options, good options. I basically go by date in Specs now because of the abundance of beer.

I like to try new beers but I cant justify buying $12-20 bombers that often. Sorry but I can still sit at home and enjoy high life on the couch.

I have moved on to somewhat of a buy for value now. Some of my favorite beers are under or around $10 for a six pack. I'd rather spend $9 on a six pack of finestkind ipa than spend $16-17 on a six pack of sculpin. Same goes with plenty of other beers. I think there isnt that much of a difference between some of the perceived great beers over the above average beers. I get some are obviously in a class of their own, but I can appreciate a good beer at a decent price.

In the end, its beer. Just drink it

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.but again, I think the business model of most is at a lower price point for more regualr IPAs, Stouts, etc.

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what i am seeing here is that not only are the specialty beers becoming just stupid priced but the regular line up is inching up month after month. Take Sculpin for example, its a very good beer but it is priced at $14-16 a sixer here for a 7% beer. Dales, the colorado staple, is now normally priced at $10 a sixer and is hard to find fresh here( i think due to over saturation of the market). Ten Fidy is $15 a 4 pack at most places, I remember a few years ago it being $10.50, that was the schtick. And even at that price it was high dollar purchase in the market. At what price does Joe six pack(who we all agree is the life blood of breweries) say frick it, I am drinking high life because Dales isn't worth x amount of the price? I think we are approaching that price.

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Take Sculpin for example, its a very good beer but it is priced at $14-16 a sixer here for a 7% beer. Dales, the colorado staple, is now normally priced at $10 a sixer

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Thats crazy...Sculpin is $10-11 here and Dales is maybe $9-10. The prices you quote cant be brewerer prices....that has to be distributor markups. Like I said, you are in a different market. But at those prices I would be looking elsewhere too. Does that open the door to new guys willing to charge less? Isnt that capitalism?

There definitely seems to be a cash grab on some beers (cough cough Prairie, Mikkeller, Evil Twin, those guys), but most of the ones I pay high dollar for are that way because A) A single beer has as much ingredients as two beers or B) It has taken a year+ to make by a team of people. I expect to pay for those types of beers. There is no way for a brewery to make money on those things if they aren't charging $15/bottle for a cabernet barrel aged sour or something similar. Even New Belgium, with their ability to massively produce sours, doesn't sell La Folie or Le Terrior for cheap.

Different styles have different price points for me. I'm not going to pay over $10/6-pack for a local pale ale.

Been booze free all week. Strapping it on tonight.