image from HAF taken from MoniCasey on flickr
There has been much bitching about the price of this year's Holiday Ale Fest. I was all but prepared to skip the whole damn thing.. that was until the beer list came out. Here's a peek at the list:
Alameda Brewing Papa Noel's Moonlight Reserve
Alaskan Brewing Vintage Barley Wine
Bear Republic Brewing Old Saint Chongo
Bison Brewing Bourbon Barrel Aged Chocolate Stout
Breakside Brewery Breakside Cranberry Biere de Table
BridgePort Brewing Old Knucklehead
Buckman Botanical Brewery Fruit Cake
Burnside Brewing TBD
Cascade Brewing 2011 Sang Noir
Coalition Brewing Lost Glove
Collaborator Hallucinator
Columbia River Brewing Drunken Elf Stout
Deschutes Brewery Super Jubel
Double Mountain Brewing Formidable Stout
Eel River Brewing Imperial Climax Classic
Elysian Brewing Bye Bye Frost
Fearless Brewing Mjolnir Imperial IPA
Firestone Walker Brewing 2010 Velvet Merkin
Fort George Brewing North V
Gilgamesh Brewing Chocolate Mint Stout '11
Hazel Dell Brewpub Goats Beard Double Bock
Hopworks Urban Brewery TBD
Lagunitas Brewing 2010 Olde Gnarly Wine
Laht Neppur Brewing Laughing Boy Stout
Laurelwood Brewing TBD
Lompoc Brewing Cherry Christmas
Lucky Labrador Brewing Scottish Holiday
MacTarnahan's Brewing Barrel Aged Humbug'r
McMenamins High Street Brewing Red Nose Rye
Natian Brewery TBD
New Belgium Brewing Rotating Lips of Faith
Ninkasi Brewing Itty Bitty Critty
Oakshire Brewing The Nutcracker
Off the Rail Brewing Sin after Sin
Rock Bottom Brewery Fozziwig
Rogue Ales Rogue Creamery 75th
Rusty Truck Brewing Belsnickle's Strong Ale
Seven Brides Brewing Drunkel 2011
Southern Oregon Brewing 2010 Old Humbug
Stone Brewing Oaked Stone Ruination IPA
The Commons Brewery Little Brother
Upright Brewing TBD
Vertigo Brewing Left, Nut Brown Ale
Widmer Brewing TBD
Strange how so many breweries are bringing beers called TBD. Must be a Unitarian denominational Christmas thing. Let's break down some ooh's and aah's here:
Alaskan Brewing Vintage Barley Wine - could be awesome, although isn't this a relatively new beer?
Buckman Botanical Brewery Fruit Cake - fruitcakes don't have hops in them, so this may work
Cascade Brewing 2011 Sang Noir - really? let's step it up, people!
Deschutes Brewery Super Jubel - this is tasting really great right now!
Elysian Brewing Bye Bye Frost - worth the price of admission. like Bigfoot, but better. super psyched for this one
Off the Rail Brewing Sin after Sin - i'm not even there yet and i've drain poured this
Rogue Ales Rogue Creamery 75th - blend this with the Voodoo beer and call it 'Unkosherale'
Stone Brewing Oaked Stone Ruination IPA - love oaked IPAs. still no chile beers from Stone in Portland, unfortunately
and finally...
Fearless Brewing Mjolnir Imperial IPA - no comment (hides behind desk)
Keep in mind, the special beers haven't been announced yet. Listen up, Alan. No Jim may be a dealbreaker for me. Just sayin'. It's my name and all.
You're making your own decisions about the list I'm sure, so let's talk finances..
$25 for 8 tastes.. that's 4oz tastes mind you.. so we're talking about $3.12 per taste, or $0.78 per ounce. That means a nice 12 oz serving of Elysian Bye Bye Frost (a 10-ish% strong barleywine) is costing me $9.36, and additional ounces will run $0.25, making my next 12 ounces a paltry $3.00. If I drink four 12 oz servings, or 12 4oz servings of my favorite Elysian beer EVER, I'll be looking at an average of $4.50 per 12oz. Have I justified this to myself? Yes. Have I justified it to you?
Postscript: Bring your own glass, and pour from your plastic mug into it. Tell 'em Jim said it was OK.
The Holiday Ale Fest pricing is offensive. I'm well aware of the party line...they want to reduce the size of crowd in a limited space. Fine. The strategy is working. I won't attend this or any other festival that gauges beer fans like this. Craft beer is a growth industry. Perhaps pricing like this will help slow things down. Absolutely shameful.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who regularly attends OBF and PIB can see the difference that a costlier pass and smaller crowd make. OBF is a moron party (not that cigarette and cigar smoking PIBers are much better). I'm afraid I've attended my last OBF, but am looking forward to PIB, HAF, and others. Don't like the price? Volunteer with me!
ReplyDeleteAnd PIB...GO SMOKE FREE!
Given I'm not seeing any "supermarket specials" on that list, I only wish I could be attending. A measely $25, which includes 8 tasters, plus just $1/ticket more (lord knows I'd be having more than just 8 tasters) seems like an absolute bargain compared to the crap fests I've been to lately. I've paid $30 for unlimited standard-stock micros at some fests, and I'd much rather have 13 tasters (that's still 52 ounces of some pretty heavy duty beers) from this Holiday Ale Festival for the same price. To each his/her own.
ReplyDelete