A Rye Smile

I officially feel dumb. I'll check VM because I remember roughly where my selections were displayed. I was torn about my choices and it was a last minute decision to go "all NABC". It's entirely possible that I'm talking about beer that someone else brought. I'll let you know.

My guess is that the mystery beer was Thirsty Dog, Siberian Night

If it was Siberian Night, that is an excellent stout. I always call it the best stout nobody has ever heard of.

If it was Siberian Night, that is an excellent stout. I always call it the best stout nobody has ever heard of.

Ohhh...I dunno. The exact time table evades me but I've been drinking Siberian Night since sometime back in the late 90's when "Thirsty Dog" was actually a brew-pub in (two locations) North Canton and Montrose (OH).

Are "bombers" 22oz'ers? I've only ever known of them as the proverbial double deuces .

So am I the only one who has actually sat down and did the "math" for these "Bomber" beers (NOT for one nano-second picking on any one local mind you !!). At an average price somewhere in the eight dollar (plus) range that works out to be (roughly) 36.6 cents an OUNCE. To put this in perspective a six pack of Bell's Hopslam (one of the best beers known to man-kind mind you) will run you $17.99 a sixer -or- a mere 24 cents an ounce. Let's take one of those Dogfish Head goofier-than-sh** beers as an example. At (what ?) $8.50 for 22 ounces (which is probably a low ball guess) that runs ya <cha-ching> almost 39 cents an ounce OR (if you prefer) over $28 Dohhhh-lers for the equivilent of a six pack...All of this for beer that, if people were completely honest, most people would just as soon pour down the sink after the first sip (come on now beer geeks, you know what I'm talking about)

Are "bombers" 22oz'ers? I've only ever known of them as the proverbial double deuces .

So am I the only one who has actually sat down and did the "math" for these "Bomber" beers (NOT for one nano-second picking on any one local mind you !!). At an average price somewhere in the eight dollar (plus) range that works out to be (roughly) 36.6 cents an OUNCE. To put this in perspective a six pack of Bell's Hopslam (one of the best beers known to man-kind mind you) will run you $17.99 a sixer -or- a mere 24 cents an ounce. Let's take one of those Dogfish Head goofier-than-sh** beers as an example. At (what ?) $8.50 for 22 ounces (which is probably a low ball guess) that runs ya <cha-ching> almost 39 cents an ounce OR (if you prefer) over $28 Dohhhh-lers for the equivilent of a six pack...All of this for beer that, if people were completely honest, most people would just as soon pour down the sink after the first sip (come on now beer geeks, you know what I'm talking about)

Actually, I've never bothered to do math and I'll still never pay such prices even for something that I absolutely love. I'm not sure what it is about a beer costing $9 each that actually offends me on some level. I lose no sleep over the matter however. The market will out.

I just bought 18 beers from Todd Antz at a total cost of about $30 or less than $1.70 per beer. These were only 12oz beers and at that they were more expensive than my normal purchases. A 22oz bomber is of course nearly twice as large but it is more than four times as expensive. Can't do it.

Are "bombers" 22oz'ers? I've only ever known of them as the proverbial double deuces .

So am I the only one who has actually sat down and did the "math" for these "Bomber" beers (NOT for one nano-second picking on any one local mind you !!). At an average price somewhere in the eight dollar (plus) range that works out to be (roughly) 36.6 cents an OUNCE. To put this in perspective a six pack of Bell's Hopslam (one of the best beers known to man-kind mind you) will run you $17.99 a sixer -or- a mere 24 cents an ounce. Let's take one of those Dogfish Head goofier-than-sh** beers as an example. At (what ?) $8.50 for 22 ounces (which is probably a low ball guess) that runs ya <cha-ching> almost 39 cents an ounce OR (if you prefer) over $28 Dohhhh-lers for the equivilent of a six pack...All of this for beer that, if people were completely honest, most people would just as soon pour down the sink after the first sip (come on now beer geeks, you know what I'm talking about)

No, you're not the only one to ever do the math. But the way I understand it, the arithmetic is a little more complex for the brewers in pricing out the ingredients. Take it or leave it, Steve. You don't like the choice to try a beer that's costly to brew, fine. They're still gonna keep doing it as long as we're curious. It's like cheese or wine or fine cuts of meat, whatever. But I know it's sometimes fun to bitch just to be bitchin'.

I gotta wonder what this whole rye thing is about. I'll admit I may not have the discerning palate that others have, but I've yet to figure out what taste rye adds to beer. I went over to Against the Grain tonight to try out their rye beer. Of course it was also aged in oak rye whisky barrels. Guess what I could taste? There was a sweet vanilla flavor that for me overpowered anything else that might be going on.

On the bright side. The black IPA they had on cask was fantastic! The open faced brisket sandwich was spectacular! My company - Justin Hammond and Dan Thomas made for three Hoosiers having a couple of beers at a Kentucky bar. In other words slumming!

I gotta wonder what this whole rye thing is about. I'll admit I may not have the discerning palate that others have, but I've yet to figure out what taste rye adds to beer.

Just keep drinking them, maybe it will come to you or not.

My company - Justin Hammond and Dan Thomas made for three Hoosiers having a couple of beers at a Kentucky bar. In other words slumming!

Watford for 3!

I gotta wonder what this whole rye thing is about. I'll admit I may not have the discerning palate that others have, but I've yet to figure out what taste rye adds to beer.

Just keep drinking them, maybe it will come to you or not.

My company - Justin Hammond and Dan Thomas made for three Hoosiers having a couple of beers at a Kentucky bar. In other words slumming!

Watford for 3!

I found it very hard to believe that out of the five places downtown that we wanted to hang out at, not a single one of them were subscribed to the Big Ten Network. Considering that Hoosierland is less than a mile away only seperated by the river, I found that disheartening to say the least. If the frickin SEC had their own cable network that you could only see the majority of UK games on, I'm sure everyone would pony up the cash for that for that. So why would you discriminate against arguably the best conference in college basket ball this season. Especally with the big farmer convention in town, I'm sure that most of them come from Big Ten states.......

three Hoosiers having a couple of beers at a Kentucky bar.

Where the hell was INS on this one? They cross our river and they drink our beers...

three Hoosiers having a couple of beers at a Kentucky bar.

Where the hell was INS on this one? They cross our river and they drink our beers...

Too busy harassing food truck operators?

Where's the like button?

Let's take one of those Dogfish Head goofier-than-sh** beers as an example. At (what ?) $8.50 for 22 ounces (which is probably a low ball guess) that runs ya <cha-ching> almost 39 cents an ounce OR (if you prefer) over $28 Dohhhh-lers for the equivilent of a six pack...All of this for beer that, if people were completely honest, most people would just as soon pour down the sink after the first sip (come on now beer geeks, you know what I'm talking about)

Okay, for the record, I am not a huge fan of many of the Dogfish Head beers with other junk in them, though I do make an effort to try many of them. The other day I was having a joke with the beer buyer at Old Town about how I don't want to see any more beers with crazy spices or hog's heads thrown in the fermenter or wherever they put that stuff. But most of those DH big boys are 750s not 22 oz, though that only buys you 3 more ounces so the per oz cost would be 34 cents. Just sayin', if you're pinching pennies, then at least get the math right.

Here's my problem with 22s (or pint + 6), 750s, whatever. If you're going to make a beer with some weird stuff in it, who really wants that much of it? And then you've got to finish that much at one sitting. No thanks. Even for not so funky beers, 9 times out of 10, when I am at a brewpub, I ask for 10 oz pours so I can taste more of the brewery's line, if there's more than 2 or 3 available.

For those off us on the KY side of the river, I think there are some wholesale level taxes that get passed on to the customer. For spirits and wine there is an 11% tax at the wholesale level. So our markup comes on top of that (meaning if the markup on the product is 20%, 2% of that is actually markup on taxes paid to the state, not actual cost of goods), then you pay another 6% at the register. I honestly don't know if that's the case for beer, but I do know that our margin on beer is tighter than on wine and liquor and we actually make so little money on corporate product that it is only barely made up for in volume. I'd be interested if David or Roger have any insight to offer on the economics of 22s over 12oz six packs. Maybe less expensive front end cost for the bottling hardware?

Here's my problem with 22s (or pint + 6), 750s, whatever. If you're going to make a beer with some weird stuff in it, who really wants that much of it? And then you've got to finish that much at one sitting. No thanks. Even for not so funky beers, 9 times out of 10, when I am at a brewpub, I ask for 10 oz pours so I can taste more of the brewery's line, if there's more than 2 or 3 available.

For those off us on the KY side of the river, I think there are some wholesale level taxes that get passed on to the customer. For spirits and wine there is an 11% tax at the wholesale level. So our markup comes on top of that (meaning if the markup on the product is 20%, 2% of that is actually markup on taxes paid to the state, not actual cost of goods), then you pay another 6% at the register. I honestly don't know if that's the case for beer, but I do know that our margin on beer is tighter than on wine and liquor and we actually make so little money on corporate product that it is only barely made up for in volume. I'd be interested if David or Roger have any insight to offer on the economics of 22s over 12oz six packs. Maybe less expensive front end cost for the bottling hardware?

Double Deuce, 22's, bombers, and 750's are all considered share bottles. And yes, the front end cost of start-up is lower with a share bottle size packaging system. Warehousing and shipping of the empty packaging are a factor as well. We also like the larger package as a billboard for Tony Beard's artwork on our labels.

Package size aside, our lowest margins are on the beer sold in Kentucky. Beer has the same wholesale sales tax scheme as liquor and wine.

For those off us on the KY side of the river, I think there are some wholesale level taxes that get passed on to the customer. For spirits and wine there is an 11% tax at the wholesale level. So our markup comes on top of that (meaning if the markup on the product is 20%, 2% of that is actually markup on taxes paid to the state, not actual cost of goods), then you pay another 6% at the register. I honestly don't know if that's the case for beer, but I do know that our margin on beer is tighter than on wine and liquor and we actually make so little money on corporate product that it is only barely made up for in volume. I'd be interested if David or Roger have any insight to offer on the economics of 22s over 12oz six packs. Maybe less expensive front end cost for the bottling hardware?

These taxes make Kentucky the state with the 2nd highest beer taxes in the country. I don't think most consumers are aware of how much tax they are paying. Before you drink a beer in Kentucky, you've paid four different taxes.

For those off us on the KY side of the river, I think there are some wholesale level taxes that get passed on to the customer. For spirits and wine there is an 11% tax at the wholesale level. So our markup comes on top of that (meaning if the markup on the product is 20%, 2% of that is actually markup on taxes paid to the state, not actual cost of goods), then you pay another 6% at the register. I honestly don't know if that's the case for beer, but I do know that our margin on beer is tighter than on wine and liquor and we actually make so little money on corporate product that it is only barely made up for in volume. I'd be interested if David or Roger have any insight to offer on the economics of 22s over 12oz six packs. Maybe less expensive front end cost for the bottling hardware?

These taxes make Kentucky the state with the 2nd highest beer taxes in the country. I don't think most consumers are aware of how much tax they are paying. Before you drink a beer in Kentucky, you've paid four different taxes.

I'm missing something here. An (extremely) cursory internet search indicates KY actually has one of the lowest "beer taxes" in the country.

http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/245.html

Case in point, When I go to Ohio, I pay a full dollar and 10 cents MORE for a six pack of Great Lakes Beer in an Akron grocery store 20 miles from where it is brewed than I do here in L'ville 400 miles away.