France 44 has an upcoming series of cellar beer tastings that sound cool. They’re $20 a piece and the first in the series is on January 19th. The first class will be all about stouts and porters. They will be opening a few past vintages of each style and whenever possible, they will open the new vintage of the same beer to compare and contrast. Register here.
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typical, overcharging like usual. no one should buy beer at the price gouging money hungry France 44. I’ve seen some beer there go for double retail.
Seems a little quick to judge a class before knowing what one gets with $20. Just sayin’.
$20 for a tasting seems absolutely reasonable for any tasting, whether it be beer, wine, scotch or cheese. If you are looking for a bargain I guess you’ll have to wait until Sam’s Club starts hosting beer tastings.
Where are they doing these?
$20 is a fair price to my mind, and it’ll probably garner you a buzz alongside your share of artisanal cheeses and breads, so what’s not to like?
And besides, Matt is one of the more knowledgeable beer guys out there at retail.
How can they charge $20 for a tasting? I thought it was illegal to do so at a liquor store in the state of Minnesota? What kind of liquor license covers that?
I know I’ve been to tastings at other stores that have been free, even though they charge upwards of $100 a person (single malt scotch tasting at Zipps) for the same event in New York.
It is illegal to charge for a tasting/class in a liquor store. That’s why I asked where they are doing it.
aperfectpint: Exactly. I would assume you’d need an on-sale license to do so.
I wonder if it is in their cafe next door?
Suppose they could try claiming that you’re paying for the snacks and not the alcohol.
They have tastings at the Liquor barrel in Crystal all the time, they charge you $5 for the pint glass you get to keep then taste in the back room for 2 hours.
Ben-
France 44 has the appropriate license but thanks for making a big deal over it!
$20 a tasting isn’t expensive. Its who gives the tasting and what you will be tasting that are the most important. I would say a lot heavier on the first than the latter. I’ve been to tastings that had great beer/Scotch/wine that have been horrible b/c the person giving it either 1) didn’t know wtf they were on about or 2) they wouldn’t stop trying to sell you something.
If it’s in line with their normal pricing, you could probably expect the same tasting somewhere else for around $15.
I agree with Kristen. You aren’t just paying for the beer, you are paying for the education. If the presenter is good, $20 is a fair price.