I was at the Beer Table in Brooklyn Friday with my wife and best friend and tried the following beers…
BFM Curvee Du 7 E’Eme
Alvinne Bolleville
Saison Cazeau
Mikkeller Black Hole (Wine)
Dieu De Ciel, Solstice D’Haiver
Montegioco Tibir
Six beers above were all great but along with the beers I had a really small cheese plate, some dried fruit (apples, zucchini and tomatos), and a small plate of cocoa nibs encrusted roasted almands and the bill…wait for it… $192.00.
Yea, you may be able to get beers there you may otherwise not be able to fine else were but c’mon. The Montegioco beer was $56.00 and the Mikkeller (330 ml) was $30.00. A bit outragious if you ask me. This was my third time there and probably my last. Especially since the owner Justin doesn’t work there any more. He just shows up to open the place up.
I once purchased the Brooklyn Black Ops beer there once for $39.00. At the brewery I was told if you are ever lucky enough to find it there it costs only $10.00. Yea, I’m pretty much done with that place. I don’t care how much of a beer geek people may think they are but be aware that these are the people they prey on.
Why didn’t I just walk out to begin with you may ask? Well, I didn’t want to at that point and being a sucker for beers like the ones I mentioned above I stayed but this was a real eye opening experience for me. I won’t spend money like that on beer again. I don’t care how rare it is or where it comes from.
This is why beer will never achieve the status of wine. No respect for producers who try to elevate the production to an art and no respect for the cost of storage and service in a restaurant setting.
It’s fine if we want beer to be sold for the cost of ingredients, packaging and transportation with a modest margin for every player in the distribution and retail process but that’s how toilet paper is sold too.
Were the prices on the menu or did they simply surprise you with the bill at check-out time?
For me, it would have to be a pretty special occasion to spend $30 on a bottle of beer no matter what the reputation. (I also find wines at about $10 to $15 that are just fine for me).
No, the prices were on the menu but I still purchased these beers. Like I said I am a sucker for these things but I’m sure I am through with paying crazy prices for these beers.
The markups on the two beers he mentioned are more than a standard 2x wine markup. But, isn’t life in New York a ripoff in general?
If you want to go to a restaurant to achieve some kind of social status, that’s fine. Personally, I hate it, which is why I avoid the beer scene in DC. Max’s in Baltimore has a better beer selection and better prices anyway.
I also don’t equate “being experimental without first having regard for brewing fundamentals” as elevating beer to an artform, but that seems to be the way things are going these days.
The market dictates pricing. If people werent willing to pay those prices…they’d be lower. The fact that people are willing to pay those prices shows there there is some value there. Real or perceived, it’s there. If you dont want to spend that much money on beer, dont. The best way to try a bunch of expensive beers is to host a dinner party and have everyone bring a bottle to share.
I think the point it becomes a freaking rip off is just shy of the point where people stop paying.
I’m a bit of a beer geek myself, and the way I look at it is that I would rather have the chance to try rare and sought after beers and sometimes the only way to make that happen is to pay the price. There is an imbalance in the market where breweries will release a limited beer that took them a year to make for $10-$25/bottle and then it will show up on ebay for many times that amount. I would rather see the brewery get that money, but the beer drinking public really isn’t open to that idea. In the case of a beer bar that raises the price on rare beers, it only makes sense to find the price that the market will bear. Fortunately there are lots of other great beers available for reasonable prices - and besides, we can make our own!
That’s very expensive beer IMO. I certainly wouldn’t pay that much for any beer unless I hit the lottery or something.
I would’ve said “no thank you” and walked out.
I’m with Denny, since the prices were out there no one to blame but yourself. What I hate is being blindsided.
I remember in Belgium we went to Velootje in Ghent and there was no price list (if you have ever been there you would understand there never will be one). We had 5 bottled beers IIRC and my friend talked the owner out of a used T-shirt. Total 56 Euro!!! (Laughed about that one for awhile.)
Of course I am to blame. I knew what I was going to pay for the beer I enjoyed those beers but still I felt like I paid way too much. What I’m getting at is that I don’t think beer really should be in that realm of expense. Beer for me was always a fun and an affordable outlet. A social thing that everyone can enjoy when beer starts becoming prohibitive to enjoy because they cost is way up there then I feel it starts to get in that level of snobery where if you don’t have enough money to pay for this great beer then sorry you just don’t get to drink it. I think all beer should be affordable so every beel enthusiest can enjoy it. OK the freaky beer with the $1,000.00 a tsp of truffle I can see being more expensive as it cost that much to make due to some expensive ingredient but only then will I see there being any reason for the cost of beeer being high like that (mind you that is just an example). After all the brewery doesn’t make beer for free. Having said that mark ups in the 3, 4 or high times is just not right. Two times the cost of the beer say from where you can get it at the brewery or distributer may be acceptable but $42.00 per bottle of Cotilion Frambois is a little uncalled for don’t you think? These are the prices I was seeing and unfortunately for me also paying. Not any more. I just won’t do that. Like someone else said here. I can buy 200 pounds of malt and make my own. Beer should never be that exclusive.
Here’s the thing. Now that standard beer offerings in bombers or 750’s go for $15 or more per bottle, the price of truely great beer has risen as well. A truely great beer should be worth, at least, double what a standard offering would be worth. For example, if the total process to create a beer requires more than a year and the end product is delicious then I have no problem paying $30 or more per bottle. On the flipside I’d love to go to the bottle shop and pick up a fresh sixer of Mild Ale for $5, that would be awesome.
The way I see it is that the craft beer market is maturing and price increases for more sought after beers are a part of the natural progression.
We basically are left with a choice - either you can’t get the beer because it was priced too low and sold out immediately and is no longer available, or it is available and it is expensive. The way I see it, nobody owes me anything - if the asking price is too high then I won’t pay it. I don’t expect the Lexus dealership to set Kia prices. Fortunately a lot of what drives the high prices is that the beer is perceived to be better than more readily available and cheaper alternatives, but that isn’t necessarily the case. A modestly priced Girardin 1882 can hold its own against a whole lot of the higher priced sours.
Or you can stay out of Park Slope when you’re thirsty. I’m sure there are other places in NYC you can find those beers and pay a lot less, but look where you were! I believe Park Slope is the international capitol of Yuppydom.
