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Steven Coulson
Steven has been drinking beers, wines and spirits for decades and has a propensity to go about them at length after a few drinks.
Latest Posts
- Dissecting The Beer Menu – An Irish Pub & Layered Brews
- Has anyone else noticed that every “limited release” somehow stays on shelves for months?
- Dissecting The Beer Menu – An Irish Pub & Layered Brews
- Headed to Asheville – looking for top breweries to get German style in cans / bottles
- Does anyone else feel guilty drinking beer alone because it’s supposed to be a social experience?
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The Illusion of Limited Releases: A Critique on Craft Beer Marketing
In the world of craft beer, the allure of a “limited release” is often a tantalizing promise to enthusiasts and collectors alike. Yet, if you’ve visited your local bottle shop recently, you may have noticed a troubling trend: many of these supposedly “rare” brews seem to linger on the shelves indefinitely.
Just the other day, I walked into my local store and spotted an “extremely limited” barrel-aged stout that has been gathering dust since last October. The accompanying shelf talker boasted about its scarcity, claiming “only 500 cases produced.” However, with a price tag of $25, it seems that few are willing to invest in a brew that closely resembles a standard bourbon barrel stout.
There was a time when iconic beers like Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) and Bourbon County Brand Stout (BCBS) would fly off the shelves, with enthusiasts even camping outside popular retailers for a chance to snag a bottle. In stark contrast, I can now casually grab vintage 2020 BCBS at my leisure, as if it were a common six-pack of High Life. This raises a pressing question: when did limited editions become so readily available?
The truth is, breweries are increasingly churning out these “limited” offerings, only for them to sit idly on the shelves, often past their optimal “drink by” dates. This phenomenon leads to a disheartening reality — the marketing strategy of artificial scarcity has become all too apparent.
As a consumer, I find it increasingly frustrating to pay a premium for these so-called “limited edition” beers that are less elusive than we’re led to believe. It’s time for breweries to either create genuinely hard-to-find brews or stop the charade that their contact-brewed barrel-aged creations are hidden gems waiting to be discovered.
In a market saturated with gimmicks, transparency and authenticity should be at the forefront. Craft beer lovers deserve better than an endless cycle of overhyped, underwhelming releases. Let’s hold breweries accountable to bring back true rarity and quality to the craft beer experience.