Blog Tracker
01-02-2012, 09:01
Visit the Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog site (http://boakandbailey.com/2012/02/01/depends-how-much-did-it-cost/)
http://boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/samsmithis21.jpg (http://boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/samsmithis21.jpg)
Last week, this Tweet got us thinking:
@HardKnottDave (https://twitter.com/HardKnottDave) @GhostDrinker (https://twitter.com/GhostDrinker) so sam smith ain’t craft? ‘cos it’s cheap?
— Carpe Zytha (@CarpeZytha) January 25, 2012 (https://twitter.com/CarpeZytha/status/162188903221178368)
Well, in a way, the answer is yes, but bear with us.
How do you reduce the price of beer when you’ve got a price point to reach? You reduce the cost of production, storage and distribution by
producing in greater volumes
using fewer and/or cheaper ingredients (e.g. hops)
conditioning/lagering (http://boakandbailey.com/2011/11/01/to-those-who-wait/) for shorter times (see Tandleman on this here (http://tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/miscellaneous.html))
brewing your beer to be acceptable to the widest possible market.
It’s still possible to brew a good beer within those parameters and, in fact, we’ve had the odd pint of Sam Smith’s Old Brewery Bitter which rivals Harvey’s Sussex Best for complexity and zing (http://boakandbailey.com/2010/02/11/a-certain-i-dont-know-what/). On the whole, however, the more corners are cut, the more industrialised the process, the less likely the beer is to excite anyone (http://boakandbailey.com/2012/01/07/dont-tell-us-whats-funny/). Everyone got that likely, right?
While it would be wrong to answer the question “Is this a craft beer?” with “Depends, how much did it cost?”, it wouldn’t be reckless to bet that a pint that costs £1.30 will be a bit boring (http://boakandbailey.com/2011/08/30/eight-alternatives-to-boring-beer/). It might still be satisfying, it might not be nasty, but it probably won’t be exciting.
Note: we’re not making the case for super-expensive beer (http://beerblog.genx40.com/archive/2012/january/whatisthevalue#comments); our beer of the year for 2011 costs £2.60 a pint. And the Sam Smith’s beer pictured above is anything but cheap…
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2012/02/01/depends-how-much-did-it-cost/)
http://boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/samsmithis21.jpg (http://boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/samsmithis21.jpg)
Last week, this Tweet got us thinking:
@HardKnottDave (https://twitter.com/HardKnottDave) @GhostDrinker (https://twitter.com/GhostDrinker) so sam smith ain’t craft? ‘cos it’s cheap?
— Carpe Zytha (@CarpeZytha) January 25, 2012 (https://twitter.com/CarpeZytha/status/162188903221178368)
Well, in a way, the answer is yes, but bear with us.
How do you reduce the price of beer when you’ve got a price point to reach? You reduce the cost of production, storage and distribution by
producing in greater volumes
using fewer and/or cheaper ingredients (e.g. hops)
conditioning/lagering (http://boakandbailey.com/2011/11/01/to-those-who-wait/) for shorter times (see Tandleman on this here (http://tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/miscellaneous.html))
brewing your beer to be acceptable to the widest possible market.
It’s still possible to brew a good beer within those parameters and, in fact, we’ve had the odd pint of Sam Smith’s Old Brewery Bitter which rivals Harvey’s Sussex Best for complexity and zing (http://boakandbailey.com/2010/02/11/a-certain-i-dont-know-what/). On the whole, however, the more corners are cut, the more industrialised the process, the less likely the beer is to excite anyone (http://boakandbailey.com/2012/01/07/dont-tell-us-whats-funny/). Everyone got that likely, right?
While it would be wrong to answer the question “Is this a craft beer?” with “Depends, how much did it cost?”, it wouldn’t be reckless to bet that a pint that costs £1.30 will be a bit boring (http://boakandbailey.com/2011/08/30/eight-alternatives-to-boring-beer/). It might still be satisfying, it might not be nasty, but it probably won’t be exciting.
Note: we’re not making the case for super-expensive beer (http://beerblog.genx40.com/archive/2012/january/whatisthevalue#comments); our beer of the year for 2011 costs £2.60 a pint. And the Sam Smith’s beer pictured above is anything but cheap…
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2012/02/01/depends-how-much-did-it-cost/)