In Chicago, if we don’t like the price, we go somewhere else, and we leave our pencils, notebooks and calculators at home. They get in the way of reasonably-priced beers as we drink.

You go to great lengths to demonstrate your knowledge of wholesale keg pricing. If keg cost was the only cost input in operating a restaurant and bar, your smear might have some creditability. However consider the following factors:

• There are other costs associated with serving draft beer properly such as maintaining the glycol system, compressed gas, free samples, customer returns and waste from line cleaning.
• Most retail rents increase annually and contain percentage of sales clauses which multiply the effect of raising prices to cover costs. Sales tax has a similar multiplier effect.
• Retail rent can vary widely based on the local market, property location and condition of the improvements and should be considered when comparing prices.
• Labor costs continue to climb. Here in California, the minimum wage increased to $8.00 on Jan 1. Adding 20 percent for payroll taxes and workers comp, results in a $9.60 cost an hour for the bartender to pour that pint for you. Assuming a busy bar pouring an average of 20 pints an hour, another 50 cents gets added to the cost of a pint.
• Food costs have increased significantly over the past six months:

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It can be a competitive advantage to hold food prices and raise beer prices if you compete directly with similar restaurants but have a unique beer list.
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Of course there are many other costs associated with this type of business (entertainment, insurance, utilities, etc.) which may not have increased dramatically over the past year but must still considered when determining profitability.

Those in the restaurant and bar business sell more than just food and drink. Location, ambience and service also have costs.

I am not familiar with the business that is the subject of your rant but I doubt the owner is loading up the Brinks truck at the end of the night. It seems to me like you are bitter that a bar with prices you deem to high is still operating. It is fine to have that opinion but at least acknowledge the economic environment that business is operating within.

In very rare circumstances, I agree that demand overcomes supply in terms of a very limited release beer. If we’re talking about 20 sixtels of a particular beer, say Dieu Du Ciel’s Peche Mortel, being spread evenly around the country, with say 2 logs total in the Massachusetts market, you are certainly correct. This is not the case with any of the beers I’ve mentioned. Each of these selections is available to any bar that wishes to place an order and so the price ratios should not reflect any measure of scarcity. In terms of beers that do not move, I would wager that there are very few accounts (the likes of which I am discussing, namely a niche within a niche) that do not move a significant amount of beer in their 12, 16, or 24 taps. If you are the Sunset, with 100+ taps, it may be a different story. If you are Redbones with 24 taps, you shouldn’t be putting anything on (or should remove it and return it to the wholesaler) if it can’t move a certain amount in a specified time frame. My overarching point in this comment I suppose is that, yes, indeed, I believe that publicans should mark up their beers at a specific ratio point absent distinct circumstances to the contrary. Now, this is just my thought and publicans certainly can and do act to the contrary. As such, they’re not likely to get my business and I’m going to write about their practices. They, of course, are more than welcome to add their own justifying comments here.

Cheers and thanks for the thoughts,

Andy

Simple math?

Let’s take Stone’s IPA jump of 20 bucks. It’s still the same 124 16 oz. pints. The only thing that increases is the cost to the bar owner. There is no extra labor – the only increasing cost that must be covered by the pint sale is that of the price raise of the brewer. Works out to roughly 17 cents a pint. So where is the other 33 cents going on your 10% raise of 50 cents a pint?

It’s not an issue of price increase, it’s an issue of price increase under false pretense. You expect price markups of 300-400% – bars have to pay for everything from staff to rent to upkeep and much more. You expect price increases – beer prices go up, we know that. However, inflating the markup and assigning the reason as price creep when in fact that is such a small factor? Straight up dishonesty.

>>As for Bukoswki’s being expensive… it’s called free market capitalism.

“In a free market environment buyers and sellers do not coerce or mislead each other nor are they coerced by a third party.”

You did notice the “mislead” part, right? Claiming a 50 cent increase in price due to a 17 cent increase in cost certainly falls under misleading.

This is disrespect – so do what any self-respecting person would do, buy it by the case and have friends over.

P.S. – 3 bucks for a PBR pint? Man, I can grab a 64 oz. pitcher for $1 more. If that isn’t gouging, I’m not sure what is.