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Author Topic: A bomber is rarely a good deal  (Read 13504 times)

Offline MDixon

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A bomber is rarely a good deal
« on: May 09, 2013, 06:32:43 am »
What I have been preaching for years! ;)

http://mashbang.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/i-told-ya-so/
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Offline klickitat jim

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2013, 06:45:35 am »
You pay for what you get, sometimes even more so.

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2013, 07:08:22 am »
What I have been preaching for years! ;)

http://mashbang.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/i-told-ya-so/
+1.  I totally agree.  I try to avoid it whenever possible, but some of the killer high gravity beers (RIS, etc.) only get bottled in bombers.
Jon H.

Offline deepsouth

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #3 on: May 09, 2013, 07:37:36 am »
so many bomber only beers, this is kind of a non-issue to me.  perhaps if i lived in a beer rich area, but living in a beer wasteland, you buy what you can in whatever form factor they have at whatever price is on the bottle.

options would be nice.
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Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #4 on: May 09, 2013, 07:46:19 am »
Really, the larger bottle should cost less.  This is the reason I typically end up buying 4 packs of Unibroue 12 oz (or 11.3, IIRC) rather than the bomber.  Same for others like Old Rasputin, etc.

It costs slightly more in total for the four pack, but you come out ahead.
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narvin

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #5 on: May 09, 2013, 08:31:54 am »
I thought this was going to be about drinking a bomber before going to the shooting range, with hilarious Darwin anecdote included.

The only bombers I buy are the ones that don't generally come in 4 or 6 packs, mainly because they're extremely high alcohol, barrel aged, or sour.


Offline MDixon

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #6 on: May 09, 2013, 08:43:28 am »
No, no shooting AFTER drinking. You can shoot BEFORE drinking, but you need to wash your hands and face to avoid the potential for lead contamination. There's your PSA for the day! ;)
It's not a popularity contest, it's beer!

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #7 on: May 09, 2013, 08:48:44 am »
And this is why we should ban all activities that can't be safely done while drinking.

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #8 on: May 09, 2013, 09:03:28 am »
Alcohol and gun stories usually end with  "Hey y'all watch this........". ;D
Jon H.

Offline Thirsty_Monk

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #9 on: May 09, 2013, 09:18:56 am »
I disagree with article that price of 22 oz bottle is almost the same as price of 12 oz bottle.
Absolutely not true.

Also process for filling 22 oz bottles is different. Price is all about productivity and cost.
If you are so much price shopper then buy it in the keg.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2013, 09:23:38 am by Thirsty_Monk »
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Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #10 on: May 09, 2013, 09:35:30 am »
This harkens back to the discuss a month or two ago stemming from the NYT article about bottle sizes and prices. I've yet to be convinced why a large format is superior to a 12oz (or less) bottle size other than it's more profitable for the brewer.
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Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #11 on: May 09, 2013, 09:41:46 am »
This harkens back to the discuss a month or two ago stemming from the NYT article about bottle sizes and prices. I've yet to be convinced why a large format is superior to a 12oz (or less) bottle size other than it's more profitable for the brewer.
Exactly.  You get less than twice the beer of a 12oz in one bottle for 3 or 4 times the price.  And they know how much in demand some of these high gravity, really good beers are.  So they almost all come out in bombers.
Jon H.

Offline MDixon

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #12 on: May 09, 2013, 09:42:00 am »
Thirsty -

So let's assume a 22 ounce bottle is 2X the packaging cost. That would make it equivalent to two 12 ounce bottles with labels and caps, correct? Still makes two 12 ounce bottles the equivalent packaging materials cost of a 22 ounce.

Anyone know the actual numbers of the packaging of a 12 ounce vs a 22 ounce?
I checked Northern Brewer to see what the difference is in their pricing and they are $0.50 per 12 ounce and $1.08 per 22 ounce, so from a homebrewer's standard the 22 ounce would be 2.16X the cost since the cap is the same and the label is essentially the same. FWIW - MoreBeer is $0.54 per 12 and $1.08 per 22 or 2X the bottle cost.

I do know some breweries who fill their 22 ounce by hand, but most are now using equipment to improve consistency and quality.
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Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #13 on: May 09, 2013, 09:53:17 am »
Price is all about productivity and cost.
If you are so much price shopper then buy it in the keg.

Buying by the keg is impractical for most, although I have considered it for Unibroue and some Goose Island products.  I can get a 5 gallon keg from Binny's for +/- $80, which is a pretty damn good deal for those beers.

Price is not just productivity and cost, it is also about market and demand.  For whatever reason, the market allows an up-charge on bombers (I'll trust you that this may also be linked to higher bottling costs).  If there wasn't demand that supports this we wouldn't be seeing $10 bombers.
It's all in the reflexes. - Jack Burton

Offline repo

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Re: A bomber is rarely a good deal
« Reply #14 on: May 09, 2013, 09:58:22 am »
Show me a brewery selling 12ouncers for a better deal than bombers, then you have an article. This one falls under water is wet, fire is hot. BTW if you can get a IIPA from a brewery about 2,000 miles away for $4.99,  you should already know it probably won't be stellar.