A 750-milliliter bottle of Dogfish Head Ta Henket. (Staff photo / Alan Shaw)
The New York Times this week published a story about the growing trend of craft brewers bottling their beers in 750-milliliter bottles and charging wine-like prices for them:
"But they are getting a chilly reception from many drinkers. Internet message boards dedicated to craft beer are replete with complaints that large bottles are too expensive and, thanks to their typically higher alcohol content, a challenge to finish in one sitting."
The article is coming under a lot of criticism. Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver posted a comment on the article criticizing most of its points. I wouldn't dream of trying to debate Oliver, who's also a beer historian, editor of "Oxford Companion to Beer" and a superstar in the craft beer world. A debate would turn out like "Bambi Meets Godzilla."
But part of the article really hit home for me. As I wrote back in 2011:
"The cynical beer geek in me has begun to think that more brewers are bottling in 22-ounce or 750s instead of 12-ounce bottles primarily because you can charge more for those formats and get away with it. Beer blogger Beer Drinker Rob has gone as far as to say that all 22-ounce bottles are rip-offs.
A great way to put these big bottles into perspective is to price them by the ounce. Doing this shows that a $25 750 ml bottle of beer costs about $1 an ounce, which would make it $70.98 for a six-pack of 12-ounce bottles. Yikes. I don't think many brewers would dare put out a $71 six-pack, so instead they release it in a 750."
With my disposable income not being what it used to, I generally avoid 22-ouncers and 750s because of the price issue, especially when a beer is cheaper in a 12-ounce than the same beer in a 22-ounce. Shouldn't the larger bottle be cheaper per ounce for the same beer, kind of like an economy size?
But this week's Times article also raises a point I hadn't thought of:
"Cost is also an issue. Cacao nibs and imported honey are expensive, and brewers say there is a ceiling for what consumers will pay for a 12-ounce bottle, one that doesn’t seem to exist for larger bottles, especially when they’re aimed at wine drinkers."
So have I been looking at this the wrong way? Are six-packs underpriced, instead of 22-ounce and 750-milliliter bottles being overpriced?
What do you think?
