# When and why did Grain Belt Beer get so expensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [May 18, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647 "2013-05-18T00:47:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/1 "2013-05-18T00:47:23Z")
Up until about 2000 I could buy [Grain Belt Beer](http://robsbeercans.com/images/1.5d/Grain%20Belt%20Gold-Silv.JPG) for $4.99 a case of 24 cans. Sometimes it’d be on sale for $3.99 a case. It wasn’t great but it quenched a thirst and gave you a buzz, so good enough for the price. It disappeared from this area for a while, I guess another brewer took over making it and such. I saw it at the Woodmans yesterday for $11.99 a 12 pack of cans, $18.99 a case of cans! WTF?:eek: That’s more expensive than Bud. What could account for a crummy ass swill to jump in price so much? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/2 "2013-05-18T01:04:26Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > What could account for a crummy ass swill to jump in price so much? I’m going to go with hipsters. For reference, see PBR. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/3 "2013-05-18T01:08:10Z")
[Hipsters’ PBR Obsession Driving Up Prices Of Cheap Beer: Study](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/17/hipsters-pbr-beer-prices_n_3294536.html) ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/4 "2013-05-18T02:20:37Z")
Was this for their Nordeast brand? When it came out it was kind of scarce (coming from the Schell brewery in New Ulm, MN) and as their premium brand. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/5 "2013-05-18T02:25:31Z")
I remember my family in Minnesota drinking Grain Belt when I was a kid. Dad was a Budweiser snob so my only recollection was that it was indeed an inferior beer. He’d be rolling in his grave at almost $20/case. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/6 "2013-05-18T02:46:18Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > [Hipsters’ PBR Obsession Driving Up Prices Of Cheap Beer: Study](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/17/hipsters-pbr-beer-prices_n_3294536.html) That and … > [@](#): > > In 2001, the company launched a line of specialty craft beers under the “Brewer’s Cave” and “Grain Belt Archive Series” brand names. These beers were high quality, all-malt products brewed without adjunct grains such as corn or rice. Most were highly hopped and very flavorful to appeal to the new breed of craft beer drinkers. Unfortunately, in a classic case of “too little, too late”, these fine Grain Belt beers came a bit late to save the company, which was facing financial problems. > > History repeated itself yet again, and by 2001 sales were off 50% from their 1996 highs. The company’s debt deepened, and Minnesota Brewing filed for bankruptcy in February 2002. On June 24, 2002 the brewery’s doors were closed. The Grain Belt brand was bought in August 2002 by a longtime rival Minnesota brewer, the August Schell Brewery of New Ulm. Schell brews and packages Grain Belt Premium and Grain Belt Nordeast primarily for the Minnesota market. Grain Belt Premium has since become Schell’s most popular brand, and has earned an especially strong following in the younger demographic of the region. [Grain Belt (beer) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain_Belt_%28beer%29) The beer you enjoyed in 2000 is not the same beer today. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/7 "2013-05-18T05:23:35Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I’m going to go with hipsters. For reference, see PBR. I don’t buy it. First, I don’t seeing anyone buying or drinking this stuff. Second, PBR isn’t very expensive. Around here it’s $6.49 a 12 pack regular price (that’s 50 cents cheaper than Milwaukees Beast or Miller Highlife) and occasionally it’s on sale for $5.99. That’s not bad. Also I actually see people buying/drinking PBR. I’ve never seen Grain Belt in any bar this side of the Mississippi. > [@JohnGalt](#): > > Was this for their Nordeast brand? No. Did you not click on the picture in the OP? It was for regular old Grain Belt Premium. > [@Duckster](#): > > The beer you enjoyed in 2000 is not the same beer today. I think you read that wrong. The all malt beers were Nordeast and such. Regular old Grain Belt is about the same. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/8 "2013-05-18T06:03:18Z")
Well, my guess is that when the new owners got a hold of it, they rebranded it a bit and priced it at a low-mid-market level. That seems to be about Schlitz-level pricing to me. I’ve never had Grain Belt, but looking at the beer review sites, it’s well-regarded for its style, so seems to be priced accordingly. Wow. $3.99 for a case of 24. Even adjusting for inflation, that’s only about $5.25 today. Those were the days. The cheapest drinkable beer I could get these days is $3.33 a six-pack (the Big Flats at Walgreen’s, and this will depend on your definition of “drinkable.” It’s better than Bud or Miller, in my opinion, but not as good as Old Style or Schlitz.) ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/9 "2013-05-18T06:16:56Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Well, my guess is that when the new owners got a hold of it, they rebranded it a bit and priced it at a low-mid-market level. That seems to be about Schlitz-level pricing to me. I’ve never had Grain Belt, but looking at the beer review sites, it’s well-regarded for its style, so seems to be priced accordingly. "Rebranding it’ may be the answer. Odd to take rock bottom priced beer and make it so expensive. Where are you seeing it well regarded? It’s average on [ratebeer.com](http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/grain-belt-premium/5595/1/2/) is 2.6 out of 5. 52% is a failing grade. A case of Schlitz was $15.99 in the same store, $3 cheaper, so GB is much higher than Schlitz level pricing. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/10 "2013-05-18T06:26:41Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > "Rebranding it’ may be the answer. Odd to take rock bottom priced beer and make it so expensive. Where are you seeing it well regarded? It’s average on [ratebeer.com](http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/grain-belt-premium/5595/1/2/) is 2.6 out of 5. 52% is a failing grade. Well-regarded for style. It scores [95/100](http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/grain-belt-premium/5595/) for the pale lager category. (Incidentally, scoring exactly the same as Schlitz, it seems.) For comparison, Milwaukee’s Best scores 0, Budweiser scores 3, Blatz gets a 16, Big Flats gets a 30, and Old Style is 80. > [@](#): > > A case of Schlitz was $15.99 in the same store, $3 cheaper, so GB is much higher than Schlitz level pricing. I could have sworn Schlitz was more expensive, but it looks like even here it’s $15.99 a case. I just remembered being surprised what I thought was a high price when they did the whole “back-to-the-60s” formula a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/11 "2013-05-18T06:37:40Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > 2.6 out of 5. 52% is a failing grade. It doesn’t really work like that. The 2.6 is already an average, so what that is telling you is the average [ratebeer.com](http://ratebeer.com) drinker thinks that the beer, on a scale of 0 to 5 is a 2.6, which would be pretty much smack dab in the middle between awful and awesome. So, overall an average beer, but excellent for style when comparing apples with apples (which is what the 95 number tells you.) ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/12 "2013-05-18T11:29:24Z")
Can’t speak to Grain Belt, but there’s still plenty of cheap beer in Wisconsin…as I’m sure you know, **pkbites**. I’m generally a snobbish hophead, but I do like cheap, cold and domestic for certain situations - cutting grass on a hot summer day, floating down the Kickapoo or Wolf rivers, etc. Most of these are adequate (although I admit to a soft spot for Blatz) at best, but here’s a good [list](http://onmilwaukee.com/bars/articles/10cheapbeers.html). I personally find Point especially repellant, but some friends drink it regularly. I wonder why Hamm’s didn’t make that list… [This](http://cheepbeer.blogspot.com/) is a fun little blog. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/13 "2013-05-18T11:46:05Z")
When I load the cooler for a day of pontooning, I put a case of BudLight Lime on ice, along with a six of Dales Pale Ale. I always toast other boaters with a Dales can. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/14 "2013-05-18T11:48:16Z")
Both fill a need on the water. Love me some Dale’s. I’ll occasionally bring a six of Moose Drool also. I’m pleased that more and more craft brewers are canning. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/15 "2013-05-18T12:24:31Z")
> [@picker](#): > > Most of these are adequate (although I admit to a soft spot for Blatz) I must admit, Blatz is not one of my favorite ones, but I love the name. I love how so many Wisconsin beers sound to me like German synonyms for getting shitfaced (as in, “man, I got so Schlitzed/Blatzed/Pabst last night.”) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/16 "2013-05-18T12:30:08Z")
ETA: Ah, yes, Huber Bock! I remember that from college–probably the cheapest beer you could buy that actually had some flavor to it. I remember liking it well enough, but, holy shit, it’s $18.38 a case? That’s the beer I remember at the prices **pkbites** mentioned, something like $5 or $6 a case in the mid-90s (which would be $9 or $10 in today’s prices.) It seems to me that all beer has outpaced inflation. I could be wrong, but in the early-to-mid 2000, I generally hoped to pay $5.99-$7.99 for a decent 6 pack craft brew. Now, it’s more like $7.99-$10.99. ETA2: $10.99 for a 30-can case of LaCrosse Lager. That’s the deal I’d hit there. LaCrosse Lager is your macrobrew style pale lager, but pretty darned good for what it is, in the company of Schlitz and Old Style (and Old Style used to be brewed here. Some say LaCrosse Lager is the old Old Style, but I don’t think it’s the same recipe. I think it’s a slightly different beer.) ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/17 "2013-05-18T12:43:03Z")
You can always pick up some [Mountain Creek](http://oshkoshbeer.blogspot.com/2010/07/cheap-beer-no-3-mountain-creek-classic.html). :eek: Tastes like your tongue upon waking from a three day meth and drano binge. It’s insanely cheap and pretty potent, though. I think here in Madison it’s $2.99-3.49 a six. I used to be in a band with a singer who would bring it to rehearsals, confident that his ability to tolerate it would outlast our thirst and unwillingness to drink vaguely malted horse piss. But he could bring a case of it for the cost of a twelve of anything else… My favorite quotes from the article above: > [@](#): > > No, if you put your money down for this you know just what you’re going to get: Flat-out macro swill. It’s light and grainy, with a hint of malt and a whisper of hops and nothing so troublesome as too much flavor to get in your way. and > [@](#): > > Flavor-wise, there’s nothing singularly offensive about it. You can actually drink this one without cringing. ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/18 "2013-05-18T18:56:06Z")
That’s absolute crap beer. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/19 "2013-05-18T20:30:57Z")
> [@picker](#): > > Most of these are adequate (although I admit to a soft spot for Blatz) at best, but here’s a good [list](http://onmilwaukee.com/bars/articles/10cheapbeers.html). I personally find Point especially repellant, but some friends drink it regularly. Blatz in a glass bottle is celestial. In cans not so much. [QUOTE=picker;16302030I] wonder why Hamm’s didn’t make that list… [/QUOTE] 😕 It did. Look again. Around here Hamms goes for $3.69 for a 6 pack of pints. Not bad at all! > [@kayaker](#): > > I put a case of BudLight Lime on ice, along with a six of Dales Pale Ale. I always toast other boaters with a Dales can. [Dales](http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/oskar-blues-dales-pale-ale/11576/4000/) is currently my favorite beer EVER! It’s [BEAUTIFUL!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Ak4nW1Rg8) ---
**Author:** ![Katie\_Mae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/858c86/32.png) [@Katie\_Mae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katie_Mae)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647/20 "2013-05-18T20:44:53Z")
"Blatz"and “celestial” in the same sentence? Oh my, but we must work on raising the taste bar around here…though I confess an occasional fondness for certain American beers of similarly insubstantial character such as Goebels, Genessee, and Old Style - none of which are available in my dark corner of Appalachia ☹ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-grain-belt-beer-get-so-expensive/658647.md?page=2)