Galway Bay Breweries

irish_goat · 03-04-2014 12:02pm

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

lolwut?

Just wait til Seaneh gets back! :pac:

Lovely Bloke · 03-04-2014 12:03pm

irish_goat wrote: »

Just wait til Seaneh gets back! :pac:

yeah but he makes it obvious

snowblind · 03-04-2014 12:04pm

upforit101 wrote: »

It's the absence of Capitalism/competition that leads to high prices and price gouging.

This isn't a politics thread, but I disagree that capitalism would be the only possible way to organize economics to accomplish that. It's a very specific set of rules, driven by a very specific ideology and we as a human race have not even tried enough different options to be able to say what you just said about "absence of capitalism". I guess what I mean is that absence of capitalism doesn't necessarily mean Soviet Union or North Korea you know...

Be as it may, there is no onus for an individual to "have to accept capitalism" as it is. If we are not allowed to air our disagreements with the prevailing system, we are not free.

upforit101 · 03-04-2014 12:04pm

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

why do you think BeerNut is receiving renumeration from GBB?

It's a simple question; He writes a blog and ALWAYS appears to staunchly defend GBB/cottage group practices. I'd like to know if he receives any inducements from them.

Lovely Bloke · 03-04-2014 12:12pm

upforit101 wrote: »

It's a simple question; He writes a blog and ALWAYS appears to staunchly defend GBB/cottage group practices. I'd like to know if he receives any inducements from them.

it's none of your business though - but it's well known that Boards.ie mods of various forums can and do accept "gifts" from suppliers of goods relating to the fora which they moderate.

It's a bit like Ray D'Arcy getting a few cupcakes from CupcakeWorld delivered into his studio on a friday morning - he might mention that the cupcakes from cupcake world are delicious or something.

upforit101 · 03-04-2014 12:17pm

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

it's none of your business though - but it's well known that Boards.ie mods of various forums can and do accept "gifts" from suppliers of goods relating to the fora which they moderate.

It's a bit like Ray D'Arcy getting a few cupcakes from CupcakeWorld delivered into his studio on a friday morning - he might mention that the cupcakes from cupcake world are delicious or something.

It's everybody's business, He writes a blog and defends certain businesses to the hilt. I'd like to know in the name of transparency whether the person's opinion is 100% independent or not

Lovely Bloke · 03-04-2014 12:20pm

upforit101 wrote: »

It's everybody's business, He writes a blog and defends certain businesses to the hilt. I'd like to know in the name of transparency whether the person's opinion is 100% independent or not

erm, he's not in any paid positions, so he's entitled to air his personal opinions in any way he likes, and not be answerable to the likes of you, with your scurrilous accusations.

why don't you start a blog with the opposite opinions?

upforit101 · 03-04-2014 12:27pm

snowblind wrote: »

This isn't a politics thread, but I disagree that capitalism would be the only possible way to organize economics to accomplish that. It's a very specific set of rules, driven by a very specific ideology and we as a human race have not even tried enough different options to be able to say what you just said about "absence of capitalism". I guess what I mean is that absence of capitalism doesn't necessarily mean Soviet Union or North Korea you know...

Be as it may, there is no onus for an individual to "have to accept capitalism" as it is. If we are not allowed to air our disagreements with the prevailing system, we are not free.

I don't want to derail the thread but Capitalism doesn't have any specific rules - it's more of a creed and an aspiration/end goal rather than anything else.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is still the best way for a civilized community to get along. The more you depart from it, the worse off you are.

The more you go away from true free enterprise the more cronies and parasites (90% of the Public sector) you have and the less well the system works.

upforit101 · 03-04-2014 12:30pm

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

erm, he's not in any paid positions, so he's entitled to air his personal opinions in any way he likes, and not be answerable to the likes of you, with your scurrilous accusations.

why don't you start a blog with the opposite opinions?

You misrepresent what I said.
No accusation -It's just a simple question!
I'd like to know if he gets any inducements in the form of free beer from GBB/cottage group and if he would like to make a statement on the matter.
If he doesn't want to - that's his choice.

snowblind · 03-04-2014 12:38pm

upforit101 wrote: »

I don't want to derail the thread but Capitalism doesn't have any specific rules - it's more of a creed and an aspiration/end goal rather than anything else.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is still the best way for a civilized community to get along. The more you depart from it, the worse off you are.

The more you go away from true free enterprise the more cronies and parasites (90% of the Public sector) you have and the less well the system works.

90%, really? That's an outrageous misrepresentation. And heavily loaded at it.

Social democracy worked really well in Scandinavia in the 80s. It would not have worked if that was true.

Capitalism has allowed greed to subvert local policies and lately this has caused a lot of problems in the financial sector, undermining small businesses and their chances of making it. It's an outrageous lie to claim that capitalism is self regulating and "just works". It's the same people that claim that everything else is "idealism" and capitalism isn't. It is, and it's only one type. But it's one in which greed is rewarded and modesty is ridiculed.

03-04-2014 12:43pm

I was in the Black Sheep last Friday, €5.50 for a pint of buried at sea & €5.75 for OFAF which I thought was reasonable enough for a pint in the city centre.

upforit101 · 03-04-2014 12:47pm

snowblind wrote: »

90%, really? That's an outrageous misrepresentation. And heavily loaded at it.

Imo if you got rid of 90% of what the Govt/state/public sector does - things would run the same if not better.

snowblind wrote: »

Social democracy worked really well in Scandinavia in the 80s. It would not have worked if that was true.

And countries like Sweden are now adopting more Libertarian/Capitalist policies e.g. School vouchers
Go figure.

snowblind wrote: »

Capitalism has allowed greed to subvert local policies and lately this has caused a lot of problems in the financial sector, undermining small businesses and their chances of making it. It's an outrageous lie to claim that capitalism is self regulating and "just works". It's the same people that claim that everything else is "idealism" and capitalism isn't. It is, and it's only one type. But it's one in which greed is rewarded and modesty is ridiculed.

Cronyism is the result of the abscence of Capitalism not because of it.
The more state involvement - the closer you get to North Korea.

snowblind · 03-04-2014 1:01pm

upforit101 wrote: »

Imo if you got rid of 90% of what the Govt/state/public sector does - things would run the same if not better.

Untrue. You cannot prove that, and you are obviously prejudiced against anything public. Again, things ran better in Nordics in the 80s than anywhere else I've ever been to. BEFORE all the massive privatizations. Proves your argument wrong.

upforit101 wrote: »

And countries like Sweden are now adopting more Libertarian/Capitalist policies e.g. School vouchers
Go figure.

You are discounting the fact that largely public economy can work. The 80s were a glorious time in the Nordic countries.
What you are describing is the greedy nature of capitalism. It will conquer all, until greed destroys civilization. The fact that it conquers, does not mean it is good. Getting rid of local schools, libraries, worsening healthcare, mass transport, widening income gaps. Is that good?

upforit101 wrote: »

Cronyism is the result of the abscence of Capitalism not because of it.
The more state involvement - the closer you get to North Korea.

There we go - the North Korea card. Everything that is not capitalism is fascist communism? You just made your argument totally void. That is like U.S. Republicans saying Sweden is some sort of a communist utopia.

upforit101 · 03-04-2014 1:15pm

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

It's a bit like Ray D'Arcy getting a few cupcakes from CupcakeWorld delivered into his studio on a friday morning - he might mention that the cupcakes from cupcake world are delicious or something.

And what about those Bank ads where they say the person in the ad was paid a gratuity for their involvement in the ad.

It's all in the name of transparency.

upforit101 · 03-04-2014 1:16pm

snowblind wrote: »

Untrue. You cannot prove that, and you are obviously prejudiced against anything public. Again, things ran better in Nordics in the 80s than anywhere else I've ever been to. BEFORE all the massive privatizations. Proves your argument wrong.

You are discounting the fact that largely public economy can work. The 80s were a glorious time in the Nordic countries.
What you are describing is the greedy nature of capitalism. It will conquer all, until greed destroys civilization. The fact that it conquers, does not mean it is good. Getting rid of local schools, libraries, worsening healthcare, mass transport, widening income gaps. Is that good?

There we go - the North Korea card. Everything that is not capitalism is fascist communism? You just made your argument totally void. That is like U.S. Republicans saying Sweden is some sort of a communist utopia.

Your argument is all over the place
It's clear your mind is made up and this isn't the forum for discussing this.
I don't want to derail the thread.

BaZmO* · 03-04-2014 1:47pm

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

and yes, I don't buy BrewDog bottles either - just pints when I see them.

I don't get that logic, your original point was about value for money, BrewDog beers are anything but value for money in pint form, delicious as they may be.

snowblind wrote: »

I dunno why everyone would have to just agree with capitalism and all it's rules just like that. "It's the real world blah blah" yeah but maybe everyone doesn't agree with that. Maybe capitalism is a flawed system just like any other system we humans have tried before. Why would we just have to accept it and not be critical? It's a very poor argument to just say "it's capitalism stop complaining".

But the great thing about capitalism is that you don't have to complain, you just vote with your feet. That's when those damn capitalist really sit up and pay attention!!

The main problem though is when you have a monopoly, but in the case we're talking about, Galway Bay, they are anything but a monopoly.

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

it's none of your business though - but it's well known that Boards.ie mods of various forums can and do accept "gifts" from suppliers of goods relating to the fora which they moderate.

Wait! What?!?? Why haven't I been informed about this?

upforit101 wrote: »

Your argument is all over the place
It's clear your mind is made up and this isn't the forum for discussing this.
I don't want to derail the thread.

You're doing a good job at it so far. You've asked BeerNut the question now, it's his choice if he wants to answer it or not. Either way, I'd be grateful if you just dropped the matter now.

drumswan · 03-04-2014 1:55pm

Dustin Hot Pocketful wrote: »

€5.75 for OFAF which I thought was reasonable enough for a pint in the city centre.

Its €5.75 for 400ml

Lovely Bloke · 03-04-2014 2:15pm

BaZmO* wrote: »

I don't get that logic, your original point was about value for money, BrewDog beers are anything but value for money in pint form, delicious as they may be.

There is no logic, I'm an illogical human, not Mr Spock

I don't like 330ml bottles of craft beer. I perceive them to be a rip off (since proven wrong, but meh, that's beside the point).

I don't like the serving size (unless it's over an arbritary %, that can change, or unless I particularly enjoy that beer, also arbritary)

Thing is this, the 330 ml bottes appeal less to me, so I usually avoid them in favour of 500ml.

Am I missing out, probably, but I'm not losing sleep, there are plenty of beers available in 500ml bottles to keep me going.

Aaaaannnnyyywwwaaayyyy. you really need to get on the mod bandwagon of free stuff!

*************

also, I consider BD pints value for money, particularly 5am Saint, I'd drink that from a tap out of a wellie if I could.

drumswan · 03-04-2014 2:25pm

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Am I missing out, probably, but I'm not losing sleep, there are plenty of beers available in 500ml bottles to keep me going.

You are mad, there isnt a single beer in the ratebeer top 50 sold in 500ml bottles for example

BaZmO* · 03-04-2014 2:29pm

Oddly enough, I veer towards 330ml bottles rather than the 500ml.

Lovely Bloke · 03-04-2014 2:31pm

drumswan wrote: »

You are mad, there isnt a single beer in the ratebeer top 50 sold in 500ml bottles for example

that's great, look, I don't never get them, I just prefer the other type.

Ravelleman · 03-04-2014 3:05pm

Regardless of what anyone says, it is quite disappointing that the prices have gone up so much in recent months.

I'm not sure it's anyone's job here to stand up for the virtues of capitalism or the intricacies of Galway Bay's business model. I find this quite typical of the forum though. Whenever price increases are questioned, we get the usual 'if the market supports it' response. I, for one, have been alienated somewhat by their price increases and price gouging. I can accept changes due to tax increases and inflation but I'm not convinced it all results from this. I can get Fran Well pints in the Gingerman for €4.20 every day of the week (though their prices have gone up by 70c too in recent months). Galway Bay stuff is generally €1 more expensive.

Of course, from history, we know that capitalism is capable of great excess. I'm not sure how the small producer and artisan necessarily fit in here because they are not generally considered capitalists in the true sense. Historically, 'craftspeople' have been quite threatened with either extinction or proletarianisation by big business.

Ideally, money would be socialised to some degree but that won't happen here. In the meantime, I'll just drink in other pubs. In fact, I actually changed my drinking venue for this evening because of the prices in ATG, before I read the thread, so it goes to show.

drumswan wrote: »

You are mad, there isnt a single beer in the ratebeer top 50 sold in 500ml bottles for example

A cursory glance has revealed at least one - Russian River Pliny the Elder, which is sold in 500ml bottles.

snowblind · 03-04-2014 3:07pm

BaZmO* wrote: »

But the great thing about capitalism is that you don't have to complain, you just vote with your feet. That's when those damn capitalist really sit up and pay attention!!

Not exclusively in capitalism! In my utopian society one could do that too...:rolleyes:

If we were just voting with our feet and not complaining at all, the internet would be a very quiet place indeed. The fact that a company has the right to choose their pricing, doesn't necessarily mean that one would have to accept it without talking about it at all.

But as I said, I don't see a problem in this particular case. I don't see GBB prices as specifically high compared to (for example) UK, Finnish or Italian craft beer prices at all. Plus the stuff is often super fresh. edit: and their newest beers I find are much nicer than anything I've tried from Fran Well.

When it comes to bottle sizes, I don't have a favourite. For sub 6% beers I would prefer a 0.5l size, but also there are a bunch of beers on the top shelves in bombers and wine sized bottles that are very complex, sour and/or strong flavoured, and sometimes I'd love to buy them in 0.33l sizes for private consumption. But essentially if all beer was sold in 0.5l cans I'd be pretty happy. I think we might need some lessons from North Korea on how to attain such uniformity of production :pac:

03-04-2014 3:22pm

drumswan wrote: »

Its €5.75 for 400ml

Yeah I should have pointed that out but still thought it was reasonable considering I paid €7.50 in Cassidys later for a 330ml bottle of my name is Vladimir

matrim · 03-04-2014 3:26pm

One thing that people aren't taking account of is the vast improvement in both quality and consistency from Galway Bay in the last 2 or 3 years.

I can only judge based on when the pubs went to Dublin, but when I started going I gave the GB beers a go and didn't think they were great, sure they were cheap but poor. When I went to the pubs it was to see what other beer they had and I think after the initial try the only times i got the GB beers were when I got the free beer bat in Black Sheep for being in the cinema.

Then over the last 2 years, after they changed brewer, the quality of the beers has increased to the point where I would go just for one of the GB beers. This includes the regulars like Stormy Port as well as the newer beers like Foam and Fury and even Buried at Sea.

snowblind · 03-04-2014 3:43pm

Yeah a year ago I hadn't been too impressed with any GBB beers. It seems to me that the price hike has come with improved quality and in the case of OFAF and 200 Fathoms, bringing a couple of styles to a level unseen before in Ireland. I'm sure the production costs for higher quality products can also be a part of becoming more expensive.

alastair · 03-04-2014 5:43pm

upforit101 wrote: »

Your argument is all over the place
It's clear your mind is made up and this isn't the forum for discussing this.
I don't want to derail the thread.

Now that you've thrown your tuppence out there eh? For what it's worth I'm another who thinks your points were wellll off the mark.

alastair · 03-04-2014 5:48pm

upforit101 wrote: »

It's everybody's business, He writes a blog and defends certain businesses to the hilt. I'd like to know in the name of transparency whether the person's opinion is 100% independent or not

He's got no responsibility for transparency whatsoever - he's not a publically funded service or a charity, you're not a shareholder in his business, and he's not running an advertising medium.

Colonel Sanders · 03-04-2014 7:51pm

Whatever the cause of the price increases (not just with GBB) I'm simply drinking less the last while as a result

I don't go to the pub much so if the odd time I do I end up spending an extra €1 per pint it's not a massive deal but any time I bring others to the GBB pubs they always comment on pricing. And not all are typical Bud/Heineken drinkers

BeerNut · 04-04-2014 7:38am

upforit101 wrote: »

Can you confirm or deny that you receive any inducements (in the form of free beer(s) from the cottage group/Galway bay brewery?

I can; I don't.

You buy the product they sell at the price they set, or you don't. Same goes for every other brewery, pub or consumer product.

Galway Bay Breweries

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