Why is our beer so cheap?

One of the frequent comments we've been receiving since slashing prices for winter specials has been, "If your beer is so cheap, it must not be that good." Fair enough, people generally expect the higher the price, the higher the quality and vice versa, if it doesn't cost much, the quality or something must be missing, ie what's the catch, why are you doing this...

First off, regarding the quality, if the beer isn't considered top-notch or an award winning brew, I dump it immediately, no exceptions. Sometimes things go wrong or sideways, it is what is, a risk present anytime one creates something or tries something new. Our goal is to produce the highest quality beer possible, an internal goal of mine is to produce the best beer ever, a recipe I'm constantly researching and trying to figure out, using a blend of ancient herbs and spices considered sacred for thousands of years, whether from the Druids, Egyptians, Greeks, you name the mythology, this beer will have it, and bringing them back to life in a combination that's never been done before. Sure, obviously those are the words of a dreamer, but if you're going to do something, why not try to make it the best ever, what's to lose. Oh, it's only the second best beer ever, whatever, we'll hit it next time, have to start somewhere and if you don't have that perspective in mind when doing something, why do it in the first place. Plus, we have arguably the best water to work with, an immensely strong foundation to start from.

Secondly, regarding the pricing, it's winter. The population of the area is reduced by half or more and the ones that are here, ie most everyone reading this post, are living on a budget. This isn't Minneapolis, San Francisco, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, London, etc, where an $8 beer or $12 drink is considered reasonable, this is Ranier, we work with what we have. And with producing our own beer and not going through a distributor, our costs are much lower so we have room to reflect that in our pricing. So, with $3 pints, $5 liters, or $6 for a 64 oz growler refill, we're making it an affordable option to have a few, take one home to share with others, all at a very reasonable price. ie You can come down with a $20, have 4-5 pints and a great time in the process (or a $5-10 on Thirsty Thursdays with $1 pints), versus a larger city where most of the breweries are located, going through a $100 can be done no problem, I've been there, done that but that's not where we are and our pricing is only showing an appreciation of our audience, the same that any good live musician will do when performing, making eye contact and adjusting to what's appropriate to make sure people are having a good time for the service they're expecting, nothing more, nothing less.

All that said, at the end of the day we simply want to produce great beer for others to enjoy. Brewing beer as a living has been a dream of mine for longer than I can remember and thanks to the support we've received, has allowed us a start towards fulfilling such an endeavor. It's harder and much more work than I expected but I love it. From researching and figuring out a perfect recipe for different styles, to milling the grains ourselves (many other breweries don't do this), getting the mash going and slowly increasing the temperature enticing the starches to change to sugars, sparging just the right amount, getting the boil going and adding the different unique spices at just the right time in the boil, not too early or late, moving through the wort chiller and constantly adjusting the speed to hit the ideal temperature, prepping and adding the appropriate yeast from dozens to choose from, waiting the right amount of time for the yeast to go through its three key phases, kegging and adding the appropriate carbonation based on the style of beer, aging it appropriately for the different flavors to properly blend and settle, and finally serving to new customers and watching their expressions as they're blown away by what we've created.

In summary, we're a brewery and our aim is not to produce low quality beers and sell for cheap, but beers that will become world renown from a combination of the excellent water source (our ace in the hole) with an artists strive for the ultimate perfection, or at least as close to it as humanly possible.

Come on down to try one or three for yourself, and please don't be offended if it doesn't cost too much. Beers currently on tap include:

• Amaizing Cream Ale
• Flying Squirrel Amber Ale
• Sand Bay Wheat
• Gold Portage Blonde Ale
• Voyageur Pale Ale
• Black Swan Stout

Cheers,
The Fired Up Damn the Torpedoes Loony