Liquor stores

Some of my local liquor stores really suck ass. I've been sold old sour beer on numerous occasions. Yesterday I was on the hunt for something new and wanted to go with something by Brooklyn Brewery. So as I was in line about to pay for a 6pk of Brooklyn brewery lager, I noticed it said best by March 07 on one of the bottles. So off I went back to the beer shelves and saw BB's Brown Ale. I had 't tried that beer either so I picked up one of the bottles (this is when I got really pissed). The son of a ***** said September 05. OMG. Aren't their regulations on how long you can keep a product which expires on the shelves. Another thing thats really pissing me off is the six pack I ended up getting is, well you probably get the picture.

In hindsight, I think I've learned my lesson to not trust local hole in the wall liquor stores. Big liquor stores here I come.

Seriously though, are there any regulations on how long they can keep expired stuff around for? It makes me mad when there's a possibilty some unsuspecting BMC drinker actually purchases a craft beer, thinking to him or herself "man maybe this stuff'll really knock my socks off", then upon returning home finding out they'd be much happier to not explore the beer world cause the stuff is always old and nasty.

>:-(

Caveat emptor...

I'm confused. What exactly is a "big liquor store"... I mean, are there national chains as opposed to independant stores?

As to "regulations" on "expired" beer, I'm going to say no. Firstly, because alcohol is "bad" and "evil" the government doesn't treat it as food - in fact, in some ways, advertising food values is actually illegal (it's got some of the same good stuff as bread but saying that is a no-no.)

Secondly, I'm not sure all of those beers are "expired". I don't know for sure, this is only speculations, but I'd think that a properly stored beer that's been filtered could be aged a LONG time.

My advice is to not go back to that store. If you feel there's been a sin committed upon the Beer Gods, you might also like to call the breweries/distributors yourself. Everything in a sales system is a chain. The liquor store might not care if their products aren't flying off the shelves, but the breweries certainly DO care if they know that you're not drinking their beer because Joe Storeowner is being a moron. I know Phillip Morris has a task force to "strike" at people who stock stale cigarettes.

By "big liquor store" I just mean the ones who stock many many varieties and always have a line at checkout. Some of these stores have more than one checkout too. The idea is that the beer in these stores (I'm hoping) flies off the shelves at a better rate so that I'll be sure to get my hands on something worth taking home.

I'm not saying that a small liquor store can't stand tall with a big heart and give all beer drinkers what they want. I am saying that there are lots of liquor stores. Some big, many small, most of the small ones don't even carry the beers I want to purchase. The two small ones I've frequented lately (past 3 years) have sold me some bad tasting beer. One time I actually exchanged a 6er which was nice of them, but now I'm feel I need to frequent somewhere else.

As for sins on the beer Gods. If I went and told on this paticular store, I'm betting they'll just stop distributing certain beer to the store, and thats if they even care. hmm... For now I'll take your advice and go somewhere else.

I worked at a liquor store in AZ for a while, we had over 600 different kinds of beer. It's not easy keeping track of that many but we did try and we'd put the old stuff in a bin for $1 a beer.

A few of us were brewers so we understood the rotation that needed to be done to keep good beer on the shelves. The distributors should really be the ones paying attention though, because most small store owners don't even know what they are selling.

Generally speaking liquer store owners/employees are not going to care how long the beer sits on the shelf before it is sold. I go to a little local (grocery) store that has an awesome beer/wine department and they have two people in charge of ordering and stocking. they take great care to make sure that the beer is rotated properly.

I second the contacting of the breweries/distributors. I went into a local brewery where our Homebrew club has it's meetings and told the headbrewer that i was in a grocery store (different then my usual one) and saw that some of their beer there had dust on the bottles and was pretty old (by the dates on the bottles) and He called their distributor and toold them to go and pull the beers and not restock it there if the store wasn't selling enough.

Where i would see the most problem with it is in th IPA's and Wheats. Given that those beers are usually better "fresh".


Cheers

I'm confused. What exactly is a "big liquor store"... I mean, are there national chains as opposed to independant stores?

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Unlike MD most States allow big chain stores (Safeway, Giant, Albertsons, Hyvee etc) to sell alcohol. Some of them have pretty good selections. In Nebraska, Whole Foods had a great selection of imports. One issue I have with MD is the stupid law that Chain stores can't sell alcohol it ensures the prices stay high and the selection stays limited.. I used to ***** about $5.99 for a 6 of Sam Adams.. Here I'm Happy if I can get it for $7.99

Budbo is right, all the Hy-Vee's and Super Savers and such around here sell beer and hard liquor. The Hy-Vee in my neighborhood has 70-80 microbrews in stock in 6pk's, and even lets you mix and match warm bottles.

The best is in Wisconsin, though, they have these stores called Woodmen's..... and their liquor stores are the size of our grocery stores. Huge, cavernous emporium of beer. The one I went to in Madison had more variety of craft brews and imports than I've ever seen before in my life.

doubleb said:

In hindsight, I think I've learned my lesson to not trust local hole in the wall liquor stores. Big liquor stores here I come.

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I had a flashback to shopping in one of the "hole-in-the-wall" liquor stores here. It reminded me of the Naked Gun movie where Emilio Estevez walked into his meager trailer and the view inside was of the Taj Mahal. Seriously, this place looks like a seedy booze mart(and it generally is), but the guy running it stocks more imports and craftbrews than even BevMo. Some of his prices are lower to boot, but most of the expensive stuff has dust on it because the average customer is coming in for a bottle of Thunderbird or Camo malt liquor, not $4/bottle Gulden Draak tripel from Belgium.

budbo said:

Unlike MD most States allow big chain stores (Safeway, Giant, Albertsons, Hyvee etc) to sell alcohol.

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I didn't realize that was a Maryland state law but I have noticed the lack. I "got legal" in Michigan and I recall Wal-Mart and Kroger and Hardings carrying beer but they've always had piss poor selection. That is, every brand of BMC every done and then some Corona in for "flavor". I did pick up several packs of Bell's at Wegman's in Ashburn VA though, so I don't feel the loss totally. :rockin:

chriso said:

The best is in Wisconsin, though, they have these stores called Woodmen's..... and their liquor stores are the size of our grocery stores. Huge, cavernous emporium of beer. The one I went to in Madison had more variety of craft brews and imports than I've ever seen before in my life.

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I was wondering if there were places like that, and if they're common enough to try and find one within an hours or two drive. Perhaps this will be inspiration.

budbo said:

Unlike MD most States allow big chain stores (Safeway, Giant, Albertsons, Hyvee etc) to sell alcohol. Some of them have pretty good selections. In Nebraska, Whole Foods had a great selection of imports. One issue I have with MD is the stupid law that Chain stores can't sell alcohol it ensures the prices stay high and the selection stays limited.. I used to ***** about $5.99 for a 6 of Sam Adams.. Here I'm Happy if I can get it for $7.99

Click to expand...

Yeah, it sucks...I was visiting relatives in Ohio for Christmas, and noticed that the Mejer's near them had a big selection of beer and liquor. I was surprised to say the least. Then again, I've been living in Maryland for most of my life.

Luckily for me, there is a big liquor store near me that is like it's own small supermarket, and which has an entire side of the store dedicated to a wonderful selection of beer