Small Liquor Store Beer Selections

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Cheesefood

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I've noticed a few things at all the small, non-craft liquor stores in my area. (FYI, in Illinois you can buy beer at a liquor store, which also sells wines, spirits, pre-mixes, soda, etc). Anyway, they all seem to carry the same selection of craft beers: Big selection of Sam Adams, big selection of Leinie's. Blue Moon, Smithwicks, Stella, Guiness, Goose Island (Honkers), and MGD Chelada (damn them to hell). Sometimes one will carry some New Castle, or another will have SNPA.

Biggest thing I've noticed is the effect the hop fires had on this year's beer. Everything is lightly hopped belgians. A lot of Wit or wheat beers. That's probably why Wyeast released Belgian strains. Anyone else noticed a big lack in hoppy beers at the neighborhood, non-cool liquor stores?
 
Not up here. If anything the uber-hopping is getting worse. Had a Red Saturday night (in a bar), you could not have told from an IPA. I'd had the brew a year before & it had been a really nice, malty & complex. As it was the only non-IPA on tap, I was a bit annoyed.

The grocery store carries about the same mix as before. I don't think the guy at the liquor store knows what craft beer is.
 
Everything in Indiana is being hopped all to hell. I see a lot of beers coming out of Michigan that are extreemly hoppy and really good also, some of my favorites are comming out of the Dark Horse Brewery right now. Their Crooked Tree IPA is awesome and the Dubble IPA is the best I have tasted. And anything from Three Floyds you know will be hoppy.

Cheers
 
besides the higher end commercial brews i.e. bass, guinness, newcastle, most of the small stores around me tend to have a larger selection of malt liquor than craft beer. Occasionally you'll see saranac, ithaca, and maybe long trail...

Incidently, one of the more ghetto liquor stores in my area had Colt 45 30pks for more than the price of the BMC selections.... just thought that was odd...
 
I don't usually hit the liquor stores around here as they are usually a pain to get to with short hours, poor selection and cash only for liquor purchases. Mostly a result of state liquor regulations.
However the local grocery stores usually carry a selection of beers. In Cleveland that usually means at least a few Great Lakes, often some Bells, and a few imports like Guinness and Bass. My local grocery is a little higher end grocery and carries at least a few from Goose Island, Flying Dog, Dogfish head, and about 4 other breweries. I have also found a few Belgian imports in the store. Come to think of it I usually only see 2-3 Sam Adams beers.
In addition a WholeFoods recently opened nearby and I have found they carry about twice the selection as my local grocery including a few smaller local breweries like Hoppin Frog out of Akron.
And a few more miles away is my closest LHBS who is mainly a beer and wine store. They carry just about everything distributed in Ohio.
Now if only the bars and restaurants were as good. With a few exceptions it seems local bars/restaurants carry Great Lakes Dortmunder, Bud or Miller and one of the lite beers and perhaps Blue Moon on tap. Some also will have Guinness. Bottles are not usually much better. It kind of annoying as the local brewery Great Lakes makes some great beers but Dortmunder is easily my least favorite from the brewery.

Craig
 
Around here, for the most part, you need to go to a liquor warehouse type of package store to have any selection.
Another thing that kind of sucks, you'll stumble across something fairly obscure and tasty at a small local packy, like I found Rogue Dead Guy one time, then when you go back they don't carry it in stock. I guess it's economics - a volume game really, stock the shelves with fast moving inventory at all times...
 
I Definitely miss the beer selection I enjoyed in Houston. In Dallas (being surrounded by dry counties) it is a bit of a scavenger hunt to find any really good beers. Liquor stores are a joke. Luckily there is a new Beer and wine store right down the street from me, and I have been working on getting to know the owner. So far I have gotten him to stock 3 beers for me.
 
I had a Sierra Nevada Maibock this year and they absolutely MURDERED the beer with hops. Any time spent lagering was completely wasted, there was no subtlety to the beer whatsoever. Just in your face 50-some IBU bitterness in a lager. yuck.
 
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