Seriously? $200 for a bottle of beer?

[cali]

When Shaun Hill first noticed a bottle of his beer for sale on eBay last fall, it was a jolt. “I was like, what? People are trying to sell our beer for $100?” recalls the Hill Farmstead brewer. “Then it just started getting worse.”

In subsequent months, a bottle of Hill Farmstead Mimosa, a saison, sold for $199.99, and bottles of Damon barrel-aged Russian Imperial Stout — named for Hill’s childhood Labrador retriever — went for $154, $179 and even $249. The prices were inflated 10 to 15 times beyond those at Hill Farmstead’s limited bottle releases, events where fans trek to the Greensboro brewery and wait in lines to score a few bottles. Some go home empty-handed. Others, Hill says, are “buying as much as they can simply for the sake of selling it all.”

Hill makes beer on land that his family has owned for generations, and he names some of the brews after his forebears. That he sees the work as part of his family’s legacy, and part of the resurrection of the Northeast Kingdom’s agricultural landscape, made him resent the profiteering that much more sharply. In April, Hill went public with his concerns, writing on Facebook, “We encourage beer enthusiasts to look within their own community — the community of enthusiasts — [and] stare at the folks that are hoarding beer until it is far beyond optimal, scowl at the people that are disrespectfully and illegally reselling beer on eBay in order to gain a significant profit.”

In response, Hill decided against releasing Ephraim imperial IPA in bottles, instead opting for draft only. And he tried to contact eBay to let the site know such alcohol sales are illegal. (Transporting alcohol over state lines is illegal, and both federal and state laws require permits for alcohol sales.) But he got no response, and Hill Farmstead bottles kept popping up for auction.

<snip>

http://www.7dvt.com/2012hill-farmstead-beer-auction-ebay

[datasuspect]

1. they should bring in bandit and snowman on this

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. Beer thread..... reminds me to get some

for dinner ..... thanks, off to the store.

I'm gonna get some Carlberg for $4.50

[woodsprite]

3. He could get more if he packaged them like this...

Some are over $700 a pop. (WARNING: Gross squirrel pictures. Supposedly only roadkill squirrels were used.)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38376048/ns/us_news-weird_news/t/its-percent-wrapped-roadkill-worlds-most-shocking-beer/

[cali]

4. yikers. that is quite, er, something.

[woodsprite]

5. Can you imagine someone, who's already half-lit,

putting that to their lips to take a swig.

[T_i_B]

16. I drink in a bar that has an "End Of History" in highland dress!

It's in a glass case in the Sheffield Tap, one of the top pubs in the UK.

Brewdog do actually make some brilliant beer, but they have a fondness for pureile publicity stunts that detract from this. Plus their draught beer is sold at prices which can only ever be described as a rip off. Doesn't help that they've stopped producing cask beer either.

I've hardly had any of Brewdog's beer this year. There's plenty of other good brewers out there who don't insist on foisting vast quantities of bullshit on their customers.

[phantom power]

6. Evidently, the market bears it...

God knows, I love a fine beer, but wow.

That reminds me, we need a beer/homebrewers group.

[TeamPooka]

14. artists face the same inner conlflict when their art sells on the

secondary market for more than they sell it for while if they are alive.
If they are this lucky they need to just paint more....

[TeamPooka]

7. Seriously, the brewers need to get over it...

"Wah people are selling my product."
Beer is being treated like wine in the marketplace by their consumers.
People buy wine as an investment and they seem to be doing the same with beer now.
The illegality of alcohol sales on eBay aside the secondary market will exists regardless of ebay or not.
If your problem is people are making more money than you for your beer raise your price.
If your problem is just ebay allowing it then problem solved.

[cali]

9. Well, first of all, I support Shaun's position

Beyond that though, is that it says to me that some people have too much money. And wine is not beer. Some wines improve as they age. Clearly, Shaun's problem is not that he's pissed that people are making more money than he is. He's one of the most lauded small brewers in the country and he WANTS to stay small. He's against people being ripped off and profiting disgustingly off of him.

[TeamPooka]

12. the collectors market determines the price.

There is no difference in how the market works regardless of beer or wine.
It doesn't matter if the product ages well.
People want it.
have old comics and the price the publisher put on them is ten cents but they costs thousands of dollars.
Rarity is a commodity.
If he doesn't want a collectors secondary market...make more beer.
The noogies can be tough sometimes.

[GoCubsGo]

8. Why not? People pay a hell of a lot more than that for a bottle of wine.

I have seen bottles of Dom Perignon champagne listed for $45,000. Back when Sam Adams first came out with their "triple bock" some 15 years ago or so, there were bottles of it that went for at least that much. Count me among those who think that these people are nuts for paying that much, but to each his or her own I guess. Although, I do think it's pretty sleazy to profit by resale like that.

[HopeHoops]

10. Well shit. I've had a few bottles of empty returnable bottles (capped, small amount inside)...

... that they've pulled because it contains "alcohol", even though I specifically stated that it's old and you wouldn't want to drink it even if you were desperate.

[hfojvt]

11. the easy answer for the brewer

increase your own prices.

If people are going away empty handed, that would seem to indicate a market for increased prices.

If the brewer is getting $80 a bottle, that makes it harder to re-sell for a profit.

[TeamPooka]

13. or make more beer

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. But then again, maybe he's not an extreme capitalist

Maybe he takes a pride in his beer being good, and vaguely affordable for normal people, rather than making the maximum possible profit.

I'd rather give him the benefit of the doubt. Why don't you?