The Bar Towel

Looks like Left Field is following Godspeed's lead and charging $3.75 for a 355ml can of beer.

I was at Left Field today and excited to see they had several new beers offered in the 355ml format, but when I saw the price my eyes bulged a bit. The price drops a bit if you buy a 4-pack ($12.75 for 4), but they won't let you mix and match (it has to be 4 of the same beers, otherwise it's $3.75 a go). I left empty handed.

Seems a bit pricey...depends on the type of beer I guess though.
If it is their core beers like Eephus or Maris, that is considerably higher than their 650ml bottle prices / ml.

Yikes, Eephus used to be $2.90 for a tall boy at the LCBO. But in general I think prices will keep rising as the market grows.

Yeah, I'd probably pay these prices once and not come back.
https://fanshop.leftfieldbrewery.ca/

For those willing to venture a little further out, Scarborough's Common Good sells 500ml cans for around $2.50, and I find the quality to be quite decent. I believe their double IPA clocks in at around $2.95, and growler fills are ridiculously cheap.

I expect rent is a huge factor for some of these places - we used to live near Cowell subway and our house went up 70% in 5 years.

Radical still sell their staples for less than 3 bucks for a 500.

I understand that there's all sorts of factors that can put pressure on prices, but when the likes of Great Lakes offers most of their lineup in 473ml cans for between$2.80 and $3.25 I'm going to vote with my wallet, especially when you won't meet me halfway on mixing 4-packs.

Gedge wrote:The price drops a bit if you buy a 4-pack ($12.75 for 4), but they won't let you mix and match (it has to be 4 of the same beers, otherwise it's $3.75 a go).

That's crazy for a brewery to be like that.

S. St. Jeb wrote:

Gedge wrote:The price drops a bit if you buy a 4-pack ($12.75 for 4), but they won't let you mix and match (it has to be 4 of the same beers, otherwise it's $3.75 a go).

That's crazy for a brewery to be like that.

I sympathize... I wonder if businesses know that may seem disrespectful, that your time and interest in going there to support the place feels taken for granted; people may just bail, as in your case. In the scenario you mention it's barely worth splitting up two four-packs with a friend to save a buck and a quarter but one could.

Honestly I like Godspeed, they are one of my locals but I have no keen interest supporting $3.75 cans of session beers all the time. I can get Founders Prima Pils or Mosaic Promise for $2.35 per bottle, and those compare favorably in quality and value to GS and LF as good daily session drinkers. A moderate two-a-day beer drinker could save a thousand bucks a year and that could be a month's mortgage + property taxes.

You can currently even buy Backwoods Bastard - a one-year bourbon-barrel aged scotch ale - for a mere 25¢ more than Godspeed (OK it is an insane example of value for $4.00 but still.)

I say that with all love for my locals, I would never disrespect them & good luck boys. I know people who live right off Gerrard who feel the same, it's fancy prices and yet moderate value. Perhaps weekly support from locals is not important to these places at their current level of production volume and if they are happy, that's fine too no harm no foul. Whatever the market supports. I'll accept them on tap any day & look forward to what they bring to our exciting brew scene.

Belgian wrote:

S. St. Jeb wrote:

Gedge wrote:The price drops a bit if you buy a 4-pack ($12.75 for 4), but they won't let you mix and match (it has to be 4 of the same beers, otherwise it's $3.75 a go).

That's crazy for a brewery to be like that.

I sympathize... I wonder if businesses know that may seem disrespectful, that your time and interest in going there to support the place feels taken for granted; people may just bail, as in your case. In the scenario you mention it's barely worth splitting up two four-packs with a friend to save a buck and a quarter but one could.

Honestly I like Godspeed, they are one of my locals but I have no keen interest supporting $3.75 cans of session beers all the time. I can get Founders Prima Pils or Mosaic Promise for $2.35 per bottle, and those compare favorably in quality and value to GS and LF as good daily session drinkers. A moderate two-a-day beer drinker could save a thousand bucks a year and that could be a month's mortgage + property taxes.

You can currently even buy Backwoods Bastard - a one-year bourbon-barrel aged scotch ale - for a mere 25¢ more than Godspeed (OK it is an insane example of value for $4.00 but still.)

I say that with all love for my locals, I would never disrespect them & good luck boys. I know people who live right off Gerrard who feel the same, it's fancy prices and yet moderate value. Perhaps weekly support from locals is not important to these places at their current level of production volume and if they are happy, that's fine too no harm no foul. Whatever the market supports. I'll accept them on tap any day & look forward to what they bring to our exciting brew scene.

this is what i found ridiculous.

Holiday 24 Mix pack is waiting for you at Godspeed Retail. $58.99 + hst.
6 x Natsu
6 x Trans Atlantic Pale Ale
6 x DaiDai
6 x Dortmunder

all of those are arguably warm weather beer, with one literally named a summer ale.
the optics of buying a 24 of lower abv beer for $60+ is not great.

as far as Left Field goes: i know the Murphys still check this forum so they'll possibly reply. not defending them, but since I don't know what beer was offered in cans, i'd remind people that hop prices have been shooting up and will only get worse. APAs, IPAs and DIPAs are no longer cheap to make if they are hopped and dry hopped adequately. also, canning ain't cheap. you buy a canning line and you're plopping down close to $1 mil. you're getting a mobile canner and you're paying a premium plus the % of beer loss during the canning process.

The canned beers were, generally, in the 6% ABV range. One was a sour and at least one was dry hopped (it may have also been the one they add lupulin powder to).

I'm by no means going to avoid/boycott LF. The beers are consistently solid, they have a great, family (and dog) friendly space where you can relax with a couple of drafts AND you can BYO food from your favourite curry joint on Gerrard. I'm just not likely to buy many to go cans at that price point.

Godspeed however - haven't set foot in that place since visiting during opening week.

Price of Maris and Eephus drops to $2.75 per can when you buy a 6-pack, but yes it's still a bit high for 355 ml. No doubt a premium is being paid for the mobile canner (I'm guessing, I'm pretty sure they don't have their own canning line yet). Left Field has being doing some great things so I'm still inclined to support them, but my regular/daily drinkers are definitely beers like Canuck Pale Ale for the value proposition.

That said, Left Field has a great space and atmosphere, and being fairly close to home is a place I like to visit and pick up a selection of beers about once a month or so. If the price of their core beers comes down a bit, or they offered a volume discount on 24 I'd easily be there several times a month.

I think it's just supply and demand. My guess is LF is doing quite well and has a limited capacity, probably a bunch of debt, so price goes up. Burdock's prices are sky high. It makes business sense to produce lower volume and sell for a higher price, especially when you're operating in an urban environment. Provided enough people still buy it, of course. I don't think businesses just jack up prices without factoring in less sales volume.

GLB has been uniquely stubborn in keeping their prices low, and people love them for that. But they are very well established and I'd guess they have more capacity.

Look at craft prices in the US and you'll see that people will pay much more for craft and ours is still mostly a bargain, comparatively.

I don't blame Brewers from capitalizing on beer 'tickers'.

beerstodiscover wrote:I think it's just supply and demand. My guess is LF is doing quite well and has a limited capacity, probably a bunch of debt, so price goes up. Burdock's prices are sky high. It makes business sense to produce lower volume and sell for a higher price, especially when you're operating in an urban environment. Provided enough people still buy it, of course. I don't think businesses just jack up prices without factoring in less sales volume.

GLB has been uniquely stubborn in keeping their prices low, and people love them for that. But they are very well established and I'd guess they have more capacity.

Look at craft prices in the US and you'll see that people will pay much more for craft and ours is still mostly a bargain, comparatively.

I'd agree with the last point regarding more specialty offerings, but I can go get 12 Founders Centennials for $15 USD (about $20 CAD) or other comparably high quality beers for a similar price point. There's really nothing at a comparable price here except budget and macro brands, and a comparable quality beer here would be at more like $30 bucks for 12.

I do think there's at least a little bit of gouging/taking advantage of the trendiness of craft beer at the moment, and when it becomes more of a norm like it is in the US, I think we'll see prices become more competitive across the board.