I thought I had more time.  What do I mean?  When Brewdog released their beer, I thought to myself, “Why can’t I, as a homebrewer, go after the record?  Even if I don’t beat it, it will be fun to try.”  So, I embarked on the arduous task of making a huge Chocolate Vanilla Bourbon Imperial Stout and vacillated between the two names above as a fun tongue-in-cheek reference to taking down a Tactical Nuclear Penguin. Go for the gold, right?

Well, where did I end up?  The answer is still in the wings.  I didn’t get quite the yeast performance I wanted, but I’m still in the process of finding out.  I suppose the record seems a little moot at this point because a German company is about to release a 45% beer.  However, I had fun and I’m holding back a bit of information simply because I’m actually in the eisbocking stage of my beer, so I can’t tell you the end result.  Plus, I like being withholding about my pre-eisbock strength.  Let’s just say that I’ve got a submarine with which I’m trying to sink a Bismark.

I’m going to be posting more on the story along with details about the beer on the site in the coming week.  Stay tuned because I’m going to have some cool stuff to report.

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First of all, it really did take quite a bit of effort to post as much as we have.  I think about it sometimes. We’ve literally written the equivalent of more than a 1,000 page book on the site.  That’s a serious amount of writing.  As far as myself, I also do quite a bit of reading and thinking on the subject of beer aside from writing for the site.  So, for every hour of writing I do on the site, I’m doing at least a few hours of reading, thinking, and dreaming about beer.  I know that Nate does a lot in that respect as well.  But why do we write?  Why am I irritated when we don’t put up a post on a given day? Why am I happier when we have a couple of posts up?  Simple…you guys and girls.

I’m certain that writing for our humble site would have been a very difficult task without the encouragement, interaction, and sheer readership that you have given to us.  It makes it so much easier when you have fellow enthusiast around you. I could name, re-name, and re-re-name all the people who have supported our site.  I’ve written a post or two thanking them for their support, so I won’t go back into that aspect of the site right now.  At any rate, Nate and I would like to thank everyone for stopping by.  Our ardent readers, our new readers, and even our occasional ones deserve a ton of credit.  Thanks to everyone…I hope to be telling you about a million before too long.

Enjoy the picture of me plotting for more visits with my dastardly perv-stache.

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At my usual bottle shop tonight I examined a 750 ml bottle of Brooklyn Brewery’s latest release of Black Ops, again, for the second week in a row.  There was a certain amount of hype going into the release of this beer, and rightfully so.  The ever respectable Garret Oliver put a considerable amount of TLC into this beer:  11.6%, aged in oak bourbon barrels, and bottle conditioned with champagne yeast.

I first saw Black Ops over a weak ago, but did not purchase it, simply because I am typically not partial to bourbon beers, and I was not keen on dropping $18.00 on a beer I was not guaranteed to fall head over heels for.  This week–however–I caved.  Here is why:

As I stood examining the bottle and reading the label an individual exclaimed incredulously, “That’s a lot of money for a bottle of beer!“  The man was not being rude…he was just quite shocked at the price.  He had been talking wine–not beer–with the store staff.  Nick, the knowledgeable beer geek on staff quickly explained that while there were only 1000 or so cases of black ops produced, his store chain had received only five cases of Black Ops statewide, and here in Toledo, only two cases had made it.  That’s 24 bottles of this one singularly unique beer for one metropolis of 651,000 potential Black Ops consumers.  Besides the finer ingredients and aging, it seems that obscurity (supply and demand) boosted the value of this beer.  After my wife pointed out that I hadn’t bought beer in several weeks, I purchased a bottle that will go into my cellar for a while.  The man behind me was quite interested, and perhaps may dabble in beer.

While Nick satisfied the shopper’s curiosity, as I peeped into his cart and saw several bottles of what appeared to be mid range wine, I considered engaging him in further conservation.  Is $18.00 really a shocking price for a 750 ml bottle of this quality of beer?  The few bottles of wine in his cart easily cost between $15 and $45 per bottle (I strolled down the aisle he had picked them from and eyeballed the price tags), and I doubt they were as obscure as the Black Ops.  I will give him that his wine most has age to weight the value; most likely it was aged three years.  But then again, respectively, my Perseguidor, also aged three years, was just over $20.00 for 750 ml ($10.00/12 ounces).

If Milwaukee’s Best is the moderate standard for determining a costly beer, than perhaps Black Ops is a tad pricey.  But is Boone’s farm the determinate for leveraging the value of a fine wine?  My boss, an experienced wine connoisseur, recently told me that a well rated wine runs a minimum of $75/per bottle; with Boone’s Farm as the standard, that well rated wine or even the $30 bottle in the inquisitive man’s cart is outrageous.  But if we are able to lump beer and wine in the same general family of “alcohol” and use the mid range $30 bottle good wine in his cart as the standard, the Black Ops is actually a bargain. The highly rated wine is $2.96/ounce (mid range about $1.50/ounce) while the highly rated beer is $.71 per ounce.

In perspective, even the pricier craft brews are actually quite inexpensive.

Like many of you, I am not in a position in life to fill my shopping cart each weekend with loads of craft beer.  Yes, it is more expensive than what the majority of American beer drinkers consume, but the trade off is I drink less.  But, compared to other fine beverages, like wine, I am able to drink more and, as per my preferences, I enjoy it more!

So next time you shell out ten or more dollars for that bomber or 750 ml bottle of special release or seasonal beer, I hope you cringe a little bit less as you consider the more costly alternatives in the vast world of alcohol.

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My wife and I don’t like wasting anything.  We cook carrot tops, beet greens, broccoli stems—basically anything that is edible and is subsidiary to the actual vegetable or fruit.  Everything gets used, so I speculated that the blueberries might have more life in them.  I also had some wort I had frozen from a hydrometer reading of a brew.  I figured it was sweet and sugary, so I could find a use for it. I also had some cocoa beans left from roasting.  The result?  Beer wort jam.

I took some fresh-squeezed lemonade we had made and used it for the base liquid.  Why use water when you have lemons, which are a great preservative?  At any rate, I took the 1/2 cup blueberries, 1 cup lemonade, 1 cup of wort and a few cocoa beans that I ground with a mortar and pestle (I made a little cocoa bean coffee with the rest) added some sugar and vanilla, then let it cook down until is was jam.  The results were great, and it was just one more way to use what we had in order not to waste anything.  Who knows, this sort of creative thinking might come in handy for a brewery some day.

I have no purpose in sharing this other than to simply share my world of homebrewing with you folks.  I’m having fun. Here are some pictures to prove it:

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The most unfortunate part when I learned to mash–in fact, for my whole brewing career–is that I never really had anyone to offer me a guiding hand along the way.  Perhaps this is why I feel compelled to be that guiding hand for those who wish to navigate the world of mashing.  Here we go: this promises to have a fair amount of expatiation.

There are several types of mashing that can be performed on the basis of beer style.  Wheats, for instance, call for a more intense process than an IPA. If you want to mash, it would behoove you to get a book like The Brewmaster’s Bible by Stephen Snyder. He gives the style guidelines and mashing techniques for many styles of beer, and the book is in simple, accessible terms.  It is very helpful in determining how you will approach a given brew.  I highly recommend it.  In fact, Snyder covers mashing methods and gives a definition for them.  Don’t get the book just yet, there’s more to read here.

Let’s work from simplest to hardest (or should I say, more to less intense) in terms of mashing requirements. There are several types of mashing that one can utilize in the brewing process.  Terms are relatively simple when it comes to defining what you are doing.  Single Infusion Mashing, Step Mashing, Decoction Mashing are the three most common type of mashing that are used in the brewing process.  This post will cover the single infusion method.

Single Infusion Mashing:  As is implied by the name, this method of mashing works based on a single infusion of something into the grains.  What is that something?  Water.  Water is added to the grains to achieve and maintain certain temperature levels.  Let’s say, for instance, that you want to make an IPA.  More times than not, the recipe for the beer will suggest a single infusion method.  You might be asking yourself “how does this work?”  Well, there are two enzymes that are critical for the conversion of starches into sugars when you are mashing your grains.  The problem is that they operate optimally at different temperatures.  You have to find a happy medium for them both to work well.  The temperature range for this to occur (or best occur) is 148-158° (all temperatures are in Fahrenheit).  The grains are cracked and the starchy endosperm is exposed. The water and heat penetrate to simplify polysaccharides (complex sugars) into the more fermentable maltose.

Here’s what I do.  I pick the temperature that I want to mash at, depending on the recipe, and I heat my water to roughly 15° higher than that amount.  Typically, I figure on about a quart of mash water per pound of grain.  So, if I have 12 pounds grain that I want to mash at 158°, then I heat 3 gallons of water to about 173°.  Once the water is heated, I add it my already milled grains which are sitting in my igloo cooler.  I give it a good stir with my long stainless steel spoon (this insures that I have equal heat distribution) and take an initial temp, which will normally raise for a few minutes.  Once I’ve taken my first reading, I place my cooler lid tightly on top of my igloo.  Mash times can be between 45 minutes to 120 or more.  Mash time depends on temps and recipes.  Normally, I have a 60 to 90 minute mash, which I stir every 15 to 20 minutes.  Once the conversion is fully finished, I sparge my grains and get boiling (a sparge post is on the way).

How do you know if conversion is complete?  Simple.  Go to any drug store and buy a tincture of iodine.  Take one or two tablespoons of the mash and put in in a white bowl or on a white plate.  Take one or two drops of the iodine and drop it on the mixture.  If the iodine doesn’t change colors, then it’s done.  If it immediately blackens, then you need to keep mashing. Don’t put it back into the mash; throw it out.

This stuff may or may not sound complicated…it really isn’t.  Either way, this is single infusion mashing in a nutshell.  Here is how I would recap it:

1. Milled grains in igloo
2. Heat 1 quart of water per pound of grain in stock pot to 15 degrees higher than desired mash temp
3. Stir water into grains
4. Cover with lid
5. Stir every 15 to 20 minutes until full conversion.

It’s really that easy.  I would also like to point out that a lower temperature mash, generally speaking, will give you a more fermentable mash, which will dry/thin out more.  A higher temp will give you a less fermentable with more dextrines (i.e., mouth-feel).

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Wheat Bock/Double Bock: This is one of the wheat beers that is a great winter beer, although I will enjoy it in the heat of summer.  Wheat bocks are a very strong style of wheat beer that often uses a lager strain in addition to an ale strain and/or undergoes a lagering period.  They are thicker, stronger, and often darker than a normal wheat beer, yet they are oddly refreshing.  To me, the quintessence of the style is the classic Aventinus by Scheider and Sohn’s.  The beer is huge on the normal wheat characteristics of banana and cloves (some vanilla as well).  Plenty of residual sweetness balances out the 8.2%ABV.  There is an eisbock version of this beer that is huge.  Kulmbacher makes a nice version as well.  Recently, I enjoyed Ayinger’s Wheat Bock, which was also a real treat.  However, I think that the classic version is firmly given to Avenintus.

HefeWeizen: There are many alternative spellings and names under which a hefe can go.  I’ve seen Edelweisse, which is really a hefe but Edel is a way of saying royal wheat or wheat of the king.  Ur-Hefe would mean original.  Either way, one of the classic and wonderful hefes is Weinhenstaphaner’s version.  It takes the cake as the world’s oldest licensed brewery from 1054 A.D.  Their hefe is beloved and classic.

Of course, there are several other companies that make terrific hefes.  Franziskaner Hefe and Dunkel (Dark) Hefe have to be classic renditions.  Paulaner, Erdinger, and even Grolsch (theirs is terrific) offer their versions.  The list could go on forever, and it’s unlikely that too many American versions could even come close to being on the list.  However, the real powerhouse, in my mind, is Ayinger.  Their hefes are stunning, and I love their Brau-Weisse. This is certainly my choice for a classic.

Lambics: This is a very interesting style of beer.  With 35-40% unmalted wheat, this is actually a big wheat beer.  Of course, one of the beers that immediately comes to mind for a multitude is Lindeman’s. Their versions range from Kriek, Framboise, Cassis, Pêche, Pomme and Gueuze, the latter being an un-fruited and blended version of a true lambic. The sweeter versions have their place as well, and all of the Lindemans, with the exception of the Gueuze (called Cuvée René) are of that variety.  Perhaps Lindemans Framboise is a classic in its own way, but their Cuvée René is the real prize of their brewery.  For my money, Rosé de Gambrinus by Cantillion is a more classic version of Framboise specifically.  My favorite and what I consider to be the most classic Gueuze is Fond Tradition by Saint Louis, who also makes some sweeter versions of lambic, which I enjoy more than the Lindemans varieties.  Liefman’s also makes some good sweeter versions.  Boon and almost anything done by Hanssens (although they are actually only blenders) is terrific.  I’m a little reluctant to name one classic among the myriad of lambics, but I’d pick Cantillion or Hanssens as classic makers.  I will also say that America is making some serious headway on the the lambic style, so don’t pass them by.

I’m going to add more about various wheat styles, but I’m saving that for another post.  Remember that these are mostly opinions (I hope they are informed ones), so let’s not get too crazy or dogmatic about this or that beer.  I do feel I have discussed some very good/classic versions.  I’m going to make a effort to post the rest of these soon (it was way too long between posts).

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Here’s the thing: the basic message deals with the fact the all aspects of the market place are dominated by the big boys. Distribution independence is a rare commodity, and everyone is in bed with the big players.  I wish that I was simply being hyperbolic like I love to be, but the issue is real.  I remember a while back that a certain other website was grousing about not being able to get Stone while they were planning a new facility in Europe.  But maybe the fingers could have been better spent pointing right down the street at Budweiser.  Either way, fair distribution and a level playing field are veritable impossibility.

Have you ever complained about not being able to get certain beers?  Me, too.  There are a myriad of reasons why you might not be able to get a beer.  A brewery might just not be big enough.  Maybe there are simply a finite amount of possibilities.  Maybe you can see the beer at eye level (a point made in the movie).  But maybe, just maybe, the distribution is just not there.  Either way, is craft beer awareness a bad thing?  Is putting a dent in the wallet and mullet (NASCAR reference) of an empire such a bad thing? Click and read the original apologetic for the movie.  And purchase it.  I’m answering the call to action as many ways as possible.

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I’m writing this with the hope of inspiring more intentionality about sharing beer with neophyte friends.  Something as simple as the difference between a lager and an ale sparked some interest at my party.  With the exception of one or two other people, I was really one of the only craft/import beer lovers.  It’s a unique opportunity to expose some people to the sheer beauty of the beer world.  We had  some magical stuff happening that night, and I wanted to share the list.  We can all see that it’s not a cheap venture, but it’s certainly a beautiful one.

At this tasting, I did a bit more pairing than at the one last year, so I have included specifics with the particular beer and explained why they went together.  Some pairings will be a hit and others might fail miserably; we had fun either way. The following list in my selected tasting order:

1.  Black Tuesday.  I knew that this would be the biggest and strongest beer that we tried, which is not normally what you want to drink first. I’ve had it once before while drinking some other selections when I interviewed the Bruery, so I didn’t want to miss it this time.  We enjoyed it with a very nice coffee rind cheddar called “Barely Buzzed” (purchased at Whole foods).  The beer seemed like it would link up nicely with the coffee rind of the cheese, which becomes very nutty toward the middle.  Dark beers tend to be slightly acid, as does cheddar.  We spoke about the beer, the style, and I explained some facts about Stouts.  After this beer, we ate something to cleanse the palate and take a break so that we could be ready for our first beer in the series.

2.  Weinhenstephaner Hefe.  This is a light and finely carbonated beer that I think would be a nice introductory beer and a sort of aperitif for the food and beer to come.  Andrea made kimbap, Korean picnic food that is similar to sushi but without any fish.  The seaweed paper adds a touch of delicate fish flavor to the food, which seemed to match nicely with the delicate tones of the wheat beer.  People loved trying a beer from the oldest licensed brewery in the world.

3.  Pilsner Urquell was the first Pilsner in the world, not the first lager…but still (Ur=original; quell=source).  The touches of hop and snappy bitterness of this beer also did well the with the kimbap that Andrea made, and people also responded to the bready depth of our second German beer.

4.  Delirium Tremens is a classic beer, and this was one of the favorites.  It’s a delicate but delicious beer.  People weren’t quite to the point of seeing the pink elephants on the label, but they were well on their way.

5.  Trappist Triple was a homebrew creation of mine that came in a 12.5% ABV, which is pretty big even for the style.  However, the alcohol is well masked behind of touch of sweet sourness and citrusy tones.  I’ve also found that I got some butterscotch tones (diacetyl), which are actually very pleasant in the beer.

6.  ESB was another homebrew of mine.  At 7%, it’s still big for an ESB.  Plenty of those raw sugar qualities found in the British counterparts, low carbonation, and English hops made for a very British version of the style.  Perhaps a little less malt depth than some British versions but still very good.

7.  Old Brewery Pale Ale from Samuel Smiths is classic British Pale Ale all the way.  I love this particular version, and many at the party did as well.  I explained a bit about the Yorkshire squares and the beer itself while people sipped away.

8.  Green Flash Imperial IPA is a huge piney and citrusy (lots of grapefruit) beer.  It’s a West Coast IPA all the way.  I made some Thai style chicken kabobs to match with this brew.  Lots of Thai food has citrus, spice, some sweetness and lots of depth.  I figured that an IPA would link nicely with all those qualities.  Also, there was a smoky char (caramelization) that did nicely with the caramel touches in the brew.  Lovely match.

9.  Lindemans Kriek.  Of course I’m not a fan of this beer all the time but I still enjoy the sweeter versions on occasion.  German Chocolate cake is my favorite, and a friend made a homemade one for me.  I figured the sweet cherries and chocolate would be a match made in heaven.  The coconut was easily handled by the depths of the Kriek.  It seemed to be a crowd pleaser.

10.  St. Louis Fond Gueuze was the next beer on the list.  Having sipped a fruited lambic, I figured I would let people see what the beer was like naked, so to speak.  Although not a lambic proper, this one is pretty close.  I think people were a bit shell-shocked by the stark difference in the Gueuze and the Kriek.  Still, some people thought it was wonderful.  My personal feelings would have me drinking this about 95 times out of 100 against a fruited lambic.

11.  Sour ESB was next on the list.  I figured we could do a line of sours, and people would get an idea of how wide the world of beer could be.  In fact, there were comments about the surprise from the possibility of a beer tasting like the Gueuze or this one (mission accomplished…now they are aware).  This was a homebrew of mine.  I used the same ESB as above but used some carrot and beet sugar that I had made, and I used a sour yeast mix that I had.  It’s drastically different from the original.  It goes to show you how great the effect of yeast can be.  In this case, it was 5 yeasts and two bacterial strains.

12.  Duchesse de Bourgogne was next on the list.  I don’t know that a ton of people really appreciated the Flanders style sour.  A few did, but it was certainly part of an epiphany for all.  I don’t think most people knew what they were getting into when they agreed for me to host a beer tasting party, but they certainly got a full range of experience.

13.  My Funky Valentine was another of my homebrews.  I brewed a sort of chocolatey type porter and used some sour yeasts strains that I had–hence the name.  Chocolate and funk?  Maybe the Chet Baker reference doesn’t fully work, but the beer seemed to just fine.

14.  Small Monster, yet another homebrew, was number 14 on the list.  I made a huge Imperial Stout…more on this beer in future weeks. Anyway, the first runnings of the three mashes were devoted to the Imperial Stout and the second runnings still resulted in the 9% ABV beer, which also used a nice sour yeast mix.  I’m excited to watch this one change.  Lots of stout flavors without the typical fullness. Turns out that I got two good beers for one.  I’m going to do more small beers, if you can call them that.

15.  Abita Double Bock.  I decided to save this one for a later date because the evening was starting to wane and I wanted to taste this on it’s own merits.  There was still plenty to come.

16.  Old Chub by Oskar Blues is a great Scottish/Scotch Ale.  I actually did two pairings with this beer.  Caved Aged Gruyere cheese and Robusto, a 7-month gouda, worked beautifully with this beer.  The briny caved aged was very nice  with the smoky peatiness of the Old Chub, while the malt sweetness complimented the Robusto.  This was a hit.

17.  Smoked Marzen Bamberg was up next.  I would have liked to have some nice barbecue or smoked pork to pair with this brew but went with it straight up.  This was certainly a unique beer for a lot of people.  I think someone said it was like drinking a campfire.  There was more to it than that, but now they can say they tried it.

18.  Quadruple that I brewed was also on the night’s menu.  Mine weighs in at 15% ABV and has herbs de Provence in it, which has receded a bit with time.  I’m don’t intend to brag when I say that I think this is a very good beer and people really seemed to enjoy the slight herbalness of it.

19.  2010 Bigfoot from Sierra is a brash beer.  It ages beautifully, but it’s pretty hoppy and youthful in its fresh form.  It’s so hoppy that when I tried some 2004 a couple weeks ago, it still had a very notable hop presence (although the malts were becoming very nice.  To cut the beer, I paired it with a solid blue called Saint Pete’s Blue (Whole Foods has a great cheese selection).  The two were wonderful together.  Someone asked me how I came up with such a good pairing (they thought it was spot on).  I told them that experience, trial and error, and Garrett Oliver from the Brooklyn Brewery were key factors.

20.  Murphy’s Irish Stout was next on the list.  I had to have something dark and wonderful to get past the Barley-wine and blue; this seemed to do the trick.  I’ve always like Murphy’s better than Guinness and made a stew using it, so I decided to share this beer rather than the more ubiquitous stout.  This is currently my wife’s favorite, so I wanted her to have a blissful time.

21.  Eis Oatmeal Stout.  In preparation for another beer that I’m currently brewing, I experimented with Eisbocking my strong Oatmeal Stout.  It went into the freezer at 11% and emerged as a big beast.  I’m thinking I jumped it up to about 17%.  Either way, this beer was the answer to the opening salvo of Black Tuesday.  It was my way of saying that the night started and ended with some big exclamations.  People thought it was big and strong.  By that time, who knows what anyone could actually taste.  At any rate, this was the end of the night when it came to beer.

Overall, I had a great time, and I think people learned a great deal about beer.  It was just by telling them about it, it was by having a financial investment in it and sharing the beer with them.  I’m not saying that we should all go out and have a beer party, but maybe share a beer or two with people who are new to the beer world.  Wouldn’t it be cool if they were hosting their own beer party sometime?

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Of course, a beer analogy ensues.

In 2002 Samuel Adams wowed the world with it’s release of a monster of a beer, Utopias, which boasted an ABV of 27%.  Go ahead and search around online for it.  A quick google search revealed a several year old bottle for $599.99.  Sam Adam’s spends years making this beverage, aging it in used liquor barrels.

Sam Adam’s inadvertently started the big beer race, and it seems to have picked up speed in recent months.  First off, let me state that there is an overwhelming trend of bigger beers.  It seems the higher the ABV, the more interest a beer generates.  Remember The Bruery?  Of course you do.  They brewed that big old imperial stout, Black Tuesday.  Prior to the Black Tuesday hype were they even a blip on your radar?  Interesting to the theme of this article is a comment made to Mike when he was touring Bruery.  I recall him telling me that a brewer said, in reference to Black Tuesday, that they wanted to eventually push the ABV beyond that of Utopias and that they didn’t even care what it tastes like.

This was before the release of Tactical Nuclear Penguin, by Scottish bad boys, Brewdog.  Tactical Nuclear Penguin was marketed as  The Strongest Beer in the World.  This experiment in ridiculously high ABV weighed in at 32%.  I still have not tried it, so I cannot vouch for it’s magnificence, and I am not going to spend my kids’ college fund on it, so go here to read some reviews.

It seems a German brewery–Schorschbräu–just couldn’t stand the fact that Brew Dog’s proverbial lawn was greener than their own, so they brewed up a better tasting higher ABV brew that boasted and alcohol content of 40%.

Weeks later, Brew Dog is now announcing the creation of their latest brew, Sink the Bismark, that one-up’s the Bavarian Beast by 1% with an ABV of 41%.  And I am getting tired.

Now, I am not opposed to avantgarde brewing and feel that for my purposes Reinheitsgebot is a tad silly.  I am not opposed to big ABV beers.  In fact, I brewed up a 17.4% Belgian Stout; however, in mind was not highly elevated alcohol, but rather a unique flavor.  In fact, Mike defended Tactical Nuclear Penguin, and I agreed with every word he said.  I uphold Brew Dog as brewery that makes fantastic beer, and champion their right to brew up a beast of a beer and still call it beer.

I suppose I’d offer up a cautionary tidbit of advice to brewers, including myself as a homebrewer:  Let’s keep exceptional flavor in focus as the desired end result rather than peripherals such as enormous ABV’s.

For the record, I still want to try all of aforementioned beers in this article, and please do not misconstrue my words as passing judgment upon Brew Dog or Schorschbräu as having forgotten their first love of better beer, because I do not believe they have.  Unlike certain critics, I’ll concede that Brew Dog’s latest creation is still “beer.”  I  just hope that in the next few months I hear less of the world’s strongest beer, and more of the world’s tastiest beer.

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The law of supply and demand seems like a simple concept.  Almost everyone takes the idea for granted, but it’s amazing how little we actually think about it.  In a consumer based economy, this law is a pillar to purchasing.  Simply stated, there is a certain amount of a given commodity; let’s say beer could be the one we’ll talk about.  There is not an infinite supply of a given beer.  Naturally, this is irrelevant if no one wants said beer, but the real sticking point may be seen when a lot of people want the beer.  Ideally, the amount of beer will meet (or come close to meeting) the desire for it.

The reality is that if more people want a given beer than there is of that beer, brewers are in a position to charge, within reason, what they want for the products.  The ideal position for a brewer seems to fall firmly within this sphere of economic situation.  Of course, care must be taken not to extort nor to alienate one’s customer base, so brewers must figure out how to balance the supply and demand of their products.  An increase in output may or may not be the solution for the brewer; aspirations play a major role here.  Let’s assume that the brewer wants to expand.  Where will the money come from?  Well, raising the price of that beer seems to be one of the most direct and viable solutions.  Even when the new production capability is met, the price of that brew is not likely to go down.

But the brewer is not the only player in the situation.  Let’s say the distribution network and individual store owners are allowed a discretionary amount of room to further capitalize on a beer’s popularity.  It’s shocking how much can be added when it comes to these various layers of price adjustments.

Nevertheless, people are often willing to pay when the beer is limited or special, and this can play a big role in dictating product prices.  Granted, it sounds like a policy of extortion, but no one is forced to buy any given beer.  Where demand falls, so can price.  The reality remains that we are consumers in a consumer-based economy that has a limited (sometimes very much so) supply of beer.  Whatever the case may be, we are often willing to price that price.  Not that it’s necessarily wrong to do so, I’m just saying that our desire for a given beer helps to dictate what the beer will cost.

But it’s not even that simple.  Supply is not simply related to the amount of beer but also its location.  I live in California, and if I want to buy Three Floyds brew, I can stock-up when I go home to Indiana (and raise demand by doing so).  I can also have my little bro ship some to me.  I’ve got the demand, he’s got the supply.  The problem is that for my supply, I’m going to have to pay for some shipping.  Most people who have purchased beer this way will tell you it isn’t cheap.  What about places where I don’t have a reliable purchaser for my beer?  I’ve still got an option or two, but now I’m really going to have to get creative and pay.

Beer trading can be a very nice way to meet the demand for beers that I can’t get.  But I’m still running into the issue of shipping, thus increasing the cost of the beer I buy.  Trust me, there is a demand for this out there.  Of course, it doesn’t make the beer any cheaper.

I’ve saved the most heinous option for obtaining the hard-to-find beer for last: eBay.  You don’t have to look hard or far on eBay to see that you have the option to get almost any beer that you demand from a very limited supply.  In terms of simple economic ideology, you are going to pay out the ass.  Why?  The lower the supply and the more the demand, the better position the seller.  You can buy Alesmith’s Barrel aged 2007 Decadence for the starting bid of $199.00 or buy it outright for $299.00.  Don’t worry, you get the bonus bottle of 2007 non-barreled for no extra cost.  The original cost for the beer was probably under $20.00.  However, if there wasn’t a demand, this beer would not be nearly the same on price.

There are other factors for consideration, but demand can really play a role in the normal marketplace…even when you don’t consider eBay.

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