[dmtaylor]

One of our best local bottle shops allows you to break a six pack. Of course the cost per bottle is more, but you can variety to your heart's content.

Money for nothing.

[Visor]

   In Utah, all non grocery beer is sold by the one pack, the ultimate in variety. Whadda country!

[dmtaylor]

   In Utah, all non grocery beer is sold by the one pack, the ultimate in variety. Whadda country!

I gotta get me to Utah!   

[erockrph]

I just bought my first sixer of craft beer in about 2 years a couple of days ago. $11 for a sixer of Sam Adams, damn! I used to be able to get a 12-rack for 13-14 bucks. The next day I found Warsteiner Dunkel for $10.49/6 - that's something I don't mind paying for.

[dmtaylor]

I found Warsteiner Dunkel for $10.49/6 - that's something I don't mind paying for.

Mmm... German imports...... I don't mind paying premium prices for TRULY premium beers, either.

[HoosierBrew]

Mmm... German imports...... I don't mind paying premium prices for TRULY premium beers, either.

Quick derail for my favorite German beer buying story - back in the late 90's I saw that a local liquor store was selling can cases of Paulaner's helles. The owner had ordered bottles and, assuming it wouldn't sell in can format, sold the cases @ $7ish. I bought a case and noticed that they were filled barely over a month prior! I went back and bought the rest (all same packaging date). One of the best German imports I ever had from can or bottle.

[ethinson]

I might buy more sixers if they were marketed as variety packs.  Especially cans... not sure why no one seems to be doing this.   Give me the option to try six different beers from your brewery, not six of the same.

  "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

At least at the brewery I work at, the 12 pack variety packs are a pain in the arse to pack.  Essentially you run 12 packs of all four styles, and then someone has to repack them by hand as the 3 of this, 3 of this, 3 of this and so on.  Magic Hat recently did a mixed 6 pack of their two hefs, Circus Boy (American Style) and Zircus Boy (Bavarian style) but it was very limited time thing with people voting on their favorites.

I totally get where your coming from because I love the 12-pack variety packs for that very reason, let me try 4 different things, especially when it's seasonals.  Just from a packaging standpoint it is an enormous labor cost.  At a huge place like New Belgium it might be easier for them to feed all four into the drop packer and load them at once, but we basically have to do 12 packs of all four and then rearrange them by hand.

[reverseapachemaster]

One of our best local bottle shops allows you to break a six pack. Of course the cost per bottle is more, but you can variety to your heart's content.

Money for nothing.

Not necessarily. If the store can't sell the entire six pack after breaking it up then they lose money on whatever they have to discount or throw out. Breweries normally won't take back individual bottles. This is the biggest problem with IPAs because people pay attention to the bottling dates. People aren't buying the old IPAs left behind from mix-six.

[blatz]

At a huge place like New Belgium it might be easier for them to feed all four into the drop packer and load them at once, but we basically have to do 12 packs of all four and then rearrange them by hand.

I saw the guys at Sierra Nevada's Asheville facility packing the mixers by hand.  lots o labor...

[Visor]

   As I've commented before, I'm not opposed to the idea of mixed 12 packs, but almost every one I've ever seen has at least one dog of a beer I know I'm not going to like, so I wind up paying for 12 beers but only getting 9 drinkable beers. That's poor economics from my skewed perspective. Yes, I know I should be more open minded and try things before passing judgment, but I am certain that I won't like the blueberry, pringle, peanut butter saison and don't think there is any scientific need to prove my assumption by sampling it. 

[hopfenundmalz]

At a huge place like New Belgium it might be easier for them to feed all four into the drop packer and load them at once, but we basically have to do 12 packs of all four and then rearrange them by hand.

I saw the guys at Sierra Nevada's Asheville facility packing the mixers by hand.  lots o labor...

Some of the mixed packs have bottles and cans. Lot of hand labor involved for that.

[Phil_M]

On a related note, what happened to being able to buy a case of beer?

Once upon a time, local stores offered cases (24 12oz bottles) for a small discount. Now everything gets sold by the six pack, and rarely the pure 12-pack.

I can still special-order a full case, but there's no longer a discount and of course it's a crap shoot if I'll get fresh beer or not. (And on a special order I may be stuck with it, as I was with a recent case of Saison Dupont a year past the drink by date...)

[dmtaylor]

On a related note, what happened to being able to buy a case of beer?

Once upon a time, local stores offered cases (24 12oz bottles) for a small discount. Now everything gets sold by the six pack, and rarely the pure 12-pack.

I can still special-order a full case, but there's no longer a discount and of course it's a crap shoot if I'll get fresh beer or not. (And on a special order I may be stuck with it, as I was with a recent case of Saison Dupont a year past the drink by date...)

The smaller the volume, the more money they make.  This goes right along with my previous comments about singles and bombers.  Breweries don't make as much money on cases.  There should be a discount at higher volumes.  If not, then they're making even more money!  Money money money, the almighty dollar...

[Phil_M]

I realize that, it was a semi-rhetorical question. The issue is that people aren't discerning, and will pay those prices. The "old" prices would come back if folks stopped shelling out for over-priced beer.

[Steve Ruch]

   In Utah, all non grocery beer is sold by the one pack, the ultimate in variety. Whadda country!

I gotta get me to Utah!   

Make sure you get a round-trip ticket, you'll be glad you did.