Just Left the Beer Store

1) Budweiser Masterbrewer's Private Reserve (curiosity)
2) Bomber of N'Ice Chouffe Christmas Ale
3) 1 Trappistes Rochfort (I love this stuff)
4) Four pack of Samichlaus (I am going to age one until next year for comparison).
5) Four pack of Allagash White
6) Four pack of Froach Heather Ale (just a lovely, ancient brew)
7) Sixer of Titan IPA (love it)
8) Sixer of Stoudt's Double IPA
9) Sixer of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
10) Sixer of Stella Artois (wife loves this)

Meanwhile - just cracked an Oatmeal Stout homebrew - life is Good!

That's quite a store! I'd have to go to three or four places (or drive to Portland) to get that many different brews. We have a weird three-tier distribution system in Oregon that is designed to maximize the distributor's profits and restrict entry by new brands. Things are so tight, that a store's recycling machines won't take "foreign" cans & bottles!

Fuggles said:

5) Four pack of Allagash White

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WOW Allagash in FLA, I didn't realize this stuff actually left New England

WOW Allagash in FLA, I didn't realize this stuff actually left New England

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Allagash is quite readily available here in Seattle. Right now in my beer cellar I've got 1 bottle ea. of Interlude, Musette, Curieux and Four. Allagash does some great stuff. I particularly like the barrel aged beers.

david_42 said:

That's quite a store! I'd have to go to three or four places (or drive to Portland) to get that many different brews. We have a weird three-tier distribution system in Oregon that is designed to maximize the distributor's profits and restrict entry by new brands. Things are so tight, that a store's recycling machines won't take "foreign" cans & bottles!

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That is a great thing about Florida now - the laws on the importation and sale of beer have been de-regulated a lot. I happened to be in Tampa today so I stopped at a place called, "Total Wine & Spirits". Don't let the name fool you - while they have an amazing wine selection (and great prices) - their beer selection is fantastic and the prices are great. We have great places to buy beer all over the Bay area though. I had to pick up some Rosenblum 2004 Zinandel and a 2004 Ravenswood Zin also. Gotta mix in a little wine here and there.

Glibiddy, just found a source for your buddy Ray's beer - Smoker's Den (or whatever they're calling it now, over in Bennington) has probably a half-dozen of his brews in bombers. Picked up some Slopbucket Double Brown and the Imperial IPA. One of them's a present for the Secret Santa, the other's chilling for my enjoyment.

That little damn store is pretty frickin' incredible.

It's not that the stuff isn't available, it's just that the distributors have a complete lock on things, so you have to go to multiple stores because each store only carries that distributor's beers.

Nice score....I'd hate to see the bill for all of that!

Dude said:

Nice score....I'd hate to see the bill for all of that!

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That's exactly what went thru my head as I salivated over that list.

Dude said:

Nice score....I'd hate to see the bill for all of that!

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Well - I ended up with a couple of bottles of wine on top of that. The total was $115 something. Not terrible considering what I'd spend if I went out and was drinking these beers.

Just the beer on that list was around $85.00.

Fuggles said:

Just the beer on that list was around $85.00.

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Honestly, that isn't bad at all.

david_42 said:

It's not that the stuff isn't available, it's just that the distributors have a complete lock on things, so you have to go to multiple stores because each store only carries that distributor's beers.

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Ah - so you're dealing with the dreaded distribution mafia.

gaelone said:

Honestly, that isn't bad at all.

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They are like the size of a grocery store - but with only wine, beer, and spirits. They undercut a lot of the smaller stores. I only go there if I happen to be in Tampa (which is a 20 minute drive). The store a few miles from my house is great but they cannot compete price-wise. So when I do go over to Total Wine - I stock up a little.

Whenever a utahan (especially transplants) leave the state it is customary to violate the law by smuggling in some good stuff. Just got back from the left coast with a case of Pacifico. 12 pack of Negro Modelo. 6ers of Pilsner Urquell, Bohemia, Stella Artois and Peroni Nastro Azzurro plus a couple bottles of Bushmills.

Fuggles, have you tried the Bud PR yet? I bought a bottle meself the other day but haven't cracked it open yet. A tad big for one person. Gotta go buy some friends to share it.