For days now I have been pondering something. Which is more stupid, a dollar beer or a $150.00 beer?
Sam Adams recently released this year’s version of Sam Adams Utopias. The retail price tag on a single bottle is $150. I’ve seen people reselling it for $500 a bottle. Now, I’m all about the free market, and I totally agree that something is worth whatever someone else will pay for it, so the fact that it retails for $150 per bottle doesn’t bother me. I just think it’s stupid.
For $150 you get a very fancy bottle full of a beer that weighs in at 25% ABV. They claim it to be the strongest beer ever made. Some people have compared it to a fine cognac or sherry.
Jim Koch (Sam Adams’ brewmaster and founder) says, “Drinkers have long been familiar with light beers. I wanted to show them the opposite end of the beer spectrum. A beer that is strong, rich and dark.”
For my money, I would rather spend $150 on an entire keg of something strong, rich and dark. I would have plenty of beers to choose from and I wouldn’t even have to tolerate a beer that tastes like cognac or sherry.
I don’t mean to rip on the good folks at Sam Adams, and I’ve got nothing against cognac or sherry, but in my opinion a $150 beer is stupid; however, is a one dollar beer even stupider?
Tonight in Sacramento the Kings play the Washington Wizards in a nationally televised NBA matchup. The Kings have not exactly drawn big crowds this year. In fact, attendance has been dismal–so dismal that the organization fears that they will be embarrassed on national TV when the rest of the world sees a largely empty arena.
The answer? Dollar Beer Night. During the first half of the game, fans will be able to buy beers for a dollar. It is a thinly veiled lure at best. They are expecting a sellout.
There are so many reasons why this is stupid:
- Worried about empty stands? The stands will be empty during the first half. Unless the vendors in the stands are selling dollar beers, and unless there are a lot of them, nobody will be in their seats for the first half. Everyone will be out at the concession stands buying, and very rapidly drinking, dollar beers.
- Is this really the kind of thing that the NBA wants to promote? Can you say, “National Binge Association?”
- Though the stands may be full during the second half, they will be full of very drunk people who care more about dollar beers than they do basketball. More likely, the bathrooms will be full during the second half.
- This is the stuff of legend. In 1974, the Cleveland Indians had a Ten Cent Beer Night for a game against the Rangers. They couldn’t ferry beer to the concessionaires fast enough. Basically, they ran out of beer. Guess what happened? Naked fans ran on the field. Lit firecrackers were tossed into the Rangers’ bullpen. A jug of wine was thrown at Texas first baseman Mike Hargrove and nearly hit him in the head.
The Sacramento Kings are worried about being embarrassed by lame attendance. That may end up being the least of their worries. Let’s hope nothing stupid happens in Sacramento tonight.
Okay, now that I’ve thought it through, dollar beers are stupider than $150 beers.
