Bottle shops near Lowell?

Hi everyone I'm going to be visiting Massachusetts soon and have a cousin in Lowell... Can someone give me the scoop on decent bottle shops in the area?

I'm really trying to find a few one stop shops as I dont want to be bouncing around town too much... Any place that carries six point and southern tier would be awesome.

Thanks!

Not in Lowell but close.

I visit Harrington's in Chelmsford since I'm always travelling on route 495. They have a large selection and will probably have what you're looking for:

http://www.harringtonwineandliquors.com/index.html

You may want to check out Jasper's homebrew shop up in Nashua. Small but interesting selection. Plus check out Martha's Exchange just down the street. A good microbrewery/restaurant that has good happy hour deals:

http://www.boomchugalug.com/

Awesome! Thanks for the intel!

Cheers!

I'm gonna go ahead and disagree and say that Martha's is terrible, please don't waste your time there. Nashua has its own dedicated beer store now (called... The Beer Store) but there's very little distributed in NH compared to MA. If you're up for a hike Julios in Westborough is one of the best shops around, but if you're driving that far you might as well hit up some of the great beer bars in/around Boston instead. Sorry, since I don't spend a lot of time there I don't know of any shops in Lowell. There's an OK one in Tyngsboro near the NH border but I remember it being pretty pricey.

If you really want to make it a good beer trip, plan to spend a day barhopping in Boston. Or else drive up to Novare Res in Portland ME, or head to the Portsmouth Brewery/Smuttynose in Portsmouth. Jack's Abby in Framingham is also great, though I haven't visited the brewery yet.

I was going to put Julio's if it wasn't so far. There's some good places in Concord and Acton but figured those were too far.

I use to live in Nashua a long time ago and would have agreed back then about Martha's. It would be either the beer was bad and the food was good or the beer was good but the food bad. Lots of times the service was consistently bad.

I've visited twice recently and was pleased. Maybe too small of a testcase but I was happy. To each their own.

Nah it's been a while since I've been so maybe it's worth another shot! I just feel like if you're gonna drive 20 minutes to Nashua, you might as well drive 30 minutes to Boston and hit up CBC in Cambridge which is one of the best brewpubs in the country.

Thanks guys, I'll look into all of these and make some calls ahead of time!

If you're going to make the trip into the Boston area, I've always been happy with a both Downtown Wine & Spirits in Davis Square in Somerville (just over the border from Cambridge). Blanchard's in Allston also has a pretty good selection. I can't recall whether either have Six Point or Souther Tier, specifically. I find that NY beers are harder to come by in MA than they should be. Maybe it's a Yankees-Sox thing...

You can actually get six point and southern tier pretty much anywhere around here. I think I remember seeing them at Wegman's. What else is desired from the lefty coast?

I was out in San Diego and I was in a good bottle shop. The clerk was very helpful but I think insulted by me negating good recommendations. It was just that I could get it out here. Freshness is key tho.

Zach is right. If you're looking to sample things from the New England area hit the areas in Cambridge. They have a good selection of local.

Try Maine Brewing Company's Lunch if you see it in the shops. Good IPA that is produced every so often. Their Titus is pretty good too. Just a recommendation.

EDIT: Sheet! I must be surrounded by the Yankee community

I would suggest Jaspers in Nashua as well. Its about 15 min from Lowell. Small shop but very good quality.

My favorite pub would be the Armsby Abbey, that's in Worcester but worth the drive IMO.

I live in Cambridge/Somerville and yes, every store is stocked to the hilt with just about every local small batch and New England beer. Maybe that's what crowds out NY beers around here.

+1 on the Jasper's recommendation. Another shop with a larger inventory in Nashua is The Beer Store on 101A.

Mc Aloon's Liquors in North Andover
Groton Market in Groton
Berman's in Lexington

Glad to hear differences of opinion on Martha's in Nashua. Years ago the place sucked, but they brew very good beers now, and I'd definitely recommend it if you're in the Nashua area. I wouldn't call it a destination brewery by any means, but the brewmaster does good work. Plus, M-F, 4PM-6PM, they have the best Happy Hour north of FL - buy one, get the second for a penny, on every drink but martini's and shots.

In Lowell, there's a bar called Ward 8 (http://wardeightlowell.com/) that has a good tap selection, and the food's not bad either.

There's also Lowell Beer Works brewery right off the canal in Lowell which isn't bad (part of the Boston Beer Works conglomerate).

NH. Have you ever been to Montreal? I have. I think.

I'm convinced the best eclectic selections can be found at the following:
Redstone on rt 38 in Stoneham
Quality Liquors in post office square in Salem, MA
Bogie's/Alexander's on rt 62 in Beverly