Hy-Vee Wine & Spirits

Thought this Hy-Vee would be similar to others that I have visited. I was wrong. Very small selection with nothing that stood out. The make your own six pack section was the best part of store, it had most of their stock represented. Nothing else positive to report on.

Someone wrote this store hadt he best selection in town. Well, that ain't saying much. Perhaps it's the local beer culture, but their slection would be an embarrassment in other states. Almost nothing in the way of foreign beers. Few craft/micros. Boulevard Brewing was, of course, well-represented.

This is the best place for craft beer in St. Joseph. The selection is pretty good considering what is available here. I will say that the staff is very helpful and willing to try their best to order what I am looking for if they do not have it in stock. When they do get something in stock they think I will like, they are sure to tell me when I come "beer browsing". Of course, there is much Boulevard to choose from. The prices are low, and that is great for picking up items for trades. When I want something cold and possibly new to the area, this is where I head. They do their best to keep the shelves stocked and clean.

When I drove past Hy-Vee on the way to a music/book store my beer-sense tingled and I pulled into the parking lot. The liquor store is attached to the main grocery store (which looks rather new) and it can be entered via the grocery store or the liquor store front door. There is plenty of parking.

The beer was off to the left, straight ahead. I noticed right away bottles of Holy Grail Ale, Fuller’s 1845, and Lindemans. There wasn’t many other singles but the six-packs were pretty quality overall. There were offerings from Boulevard, Pony Express, Goose Island, SA, Berghoff, Rouge, and about ten more American microbreweries. Imports included the typical Samuel Smith, Youngs, Chimay, Paulaner, Ayinger, Spaten, etc. I was very happy to see five different four-packs of Unibroue. There wasn’t much else in the way of Belgians. Overall there was enough style variety that a local shopper could be relatively satisfied. Honestly the selection was limited by space but the back coolers weren’t so loaded down with macro beer that I felt this place didn’t care about the good stuff. Actually, I felt this place had a solid focus on micros; for one thing everything was chilled and there wasn’t any noticeable old bottles.

When I visited there was no “bier guy” around, it was Sunday afternoon. There were only two employees. They seemed nice enough.

Is this place good enough to make a detour if traveling via I-29? No, it is nothing special but it is good enough to be in Beerfly. I suspect I’ll stop here again… from my conversations with locals this is all St. Joe has for good beer.