Kroger

Wow. I really did not expect this kind of selection from a Kroger. They have a wide selection of American craft brews and international beers. One whole aisle is taken up with sixers and twelvers of good, quality beers. In addition, there's a whole cooler of bombers of even better beers. I also saw Corsendonk and Schneider gift packs that contained a few beers and a glass. You really cannot find a better Kroger for good beer; it might even be the best place for beer in all of Roanoke. A complete surprise, but certainly a very pleasant one.

Nice big food store, with lots of parking.

They have all your food needs covered.

Beer wise it is fairly pedestrian, but plenty of the usuals and a smattering of the local good stuff can be had.

Beer and wine to the left and towards the rear as you enter.

Worthy spot to get some chow and drinkable beer.

This store used to have (pre-2015) one of the best selections in town, and the prices made it a pretty desirable stop. Not sure what happened--selection dropped off, shelf space allocation for the good stuff diminished, staff attentiveness no longer supported--it's like some corporate-level bifocal decided that this 'craft beer thing' wasn't a good investment.
This grocery store still has enough selection to find something that you'd like but you won't get a mixed case of anything special out of it. Prices are high, and the selection of VA beers has really dropped off.

 

Vibe? It's a big grocery store. Quality is decent for a grocery store, as is selection and price, but vibe and quality (especially regarding selection) are not competitive with a real beer store. Service was not so great. I asked one question, and the person who I asked had to go ask someone else the answer, so staff knowledge is obviously not consistent. But most disappointing was the lack of any "make your own 6 pack" option. There were several beers I would have liked to try, but I certainly was not willing to spend $10 or more for a sixer just to sample something unknown. If you know what you want, and they have it, you can probably get it at a good price.

Took my growler with me on a road trip to Roanoke, VA for the weekend and found this place, thanks to BA. Excellent selection of craft brews and had several taps loaded with Founders, so I fill my growler with the Founders Stout. The service was very friendly and helpful. Definitely want to go back whenever I have more time

Love this Kroger. They have almost all of the beers you'd typically see from a dedicated beer store but the prices are a bit lower. The only thing they don't have are the rare imports. Even have a nice selection of locals. Best beer selection from a national chain you'll find, hands down.

Soooo much beer for a Kroger. All kinds of bombers, including limited stuff. They also have a large selection of cold beers, and a mix and match 6 pack cooler. Freshness can be an issue if you aren't checking dates, but all things considered, they do an excellent job with product turnover.

 

 

 

Hidden in the corner of this Kroger is one of the most glorious beer sections I've ever seen. I seriously felt like I found buried treasure when I discovered their beer and wine isles. Tons of outstanding craft and microbrewery beers, along with seasonal and everyday beers. I will def be returning to them pretty frequently.

This has got to be the best place to get 6-packs in the Roanoke Valley. They have a good selection of bombers also. Service may actually rank a tad higher than a normal grocery, as during the day they have a dedicated employee in the beer/wine section that is very helpful. This store is adding new labels every week, and has built an impressive selection.
New this weekend: 20% off a case, but you have to buy 4 separate 6-packs (12-pack and full cases don't count?)
Good store. You'll be surprised.

The Kroger is a grocery chain that is mainly East of Indiana. The atmosphere is typical of most grocery stores...so I don't know how to give it a ranking higher than average. The quality and service of Kroger is fine. Tehh aisles were clean and the cashier was friendly. There was no-one in the beer aisle....b ut honestly....didnt need help to find what i needed because the aisle were well lit. The beer seleciton was above average for a typical grocery store. Didnt try any food and the prices were good.

One of the better chain grocery store beer selections I've seen in this entire area, although the Kroger's in Blacksburg kills this (but they're also competing with Vintage Cellar over there).

This Kroger (one of many in Roanoke), yeah, plenty of good stuff, all of it nicely displayed, and there's even a big walk-in cooler full of much of what's out in the room temperature area. I found plenty of local-ish brews from breweries I've never encountered before, so that's a big selling point, and also nabbed stuff from Long Trail, Smuttynose, Schlafly, and Cricket Hill. Lots of the "usual" Belgian and U.S. craft names, you know 'em (Chouffe and Delerium, Dogfish Head and Stone...amongst many others). So, lots of quality here, and a few little surprises.

Service? Well, it's a huge grocery store, so tracking down someone isn't always easy, but I didn't need anyone and left with a smile on my face and a belly ready to welcome some of the liquid I found. Worth a stop for sure.

This Kroger is by far the best one in the area, including the one a half mile down the road. One way I judge a Kroger is the DFH selection. They had Festina Peche, Raison, 60, 90, and some of the 750ml. Most of these I can't find anywhere in Roanoke, unless you go to a specialty wine/beer store and pay way more. The staff doesn't help, I mean, it's Kroger, which I didn't mind since I wanted to be left alone to look. Out of the 10 Krogers in the area, this one is better then the rest. It is a drive for me, and is placed in a more upscale area, but is worth the drive should you be in town.

The selection at this Kroger was much better than I have seen in any grocery store besides Whole Foods. I walked away with a Bruery 3 French Hens (last bottle) and a DFH Squall IPA.

This seems to be the place for locals to get beer that isn't brewed in the area.

If you are heading here from out of town, don't expect to get a beer specific to the area, but beers that I had to act quick to get in NOVA/DC (limited releases from west coast breweries) were here still. They didn't, though, have any Duck Rabbit and had limited selection of Roanoke/Western VA beers.

For local beers check out the Wine Gourmet.

Price is quite reasonable though. For example, Stone beer is cheaper there than any place I have been to in the DC area.

I was totally impressed with this store. I live in North Carolina and they had beer that we cannot get in Charlotte. Full Sail and 21st Admendment to name a couple. This store stocks many selections that I did not even know about and I consider myself fairly educated in the Fermented Arts!! I was really impressed with their bomber selection. It was top notch. It really is amazing how much better this Kroger is compared to the one up the street. I'm going to hit this store on my way out of town back to Charlotte!!

Confusingly there is another Kroger less than 1/2 mile to the north of this location, on the same street. That other Kroger is the same as any other Kroger I've been to in Ohio. But this one at 4404 Brambleton is maybe 4x better.

There are maybe 200 different beers to choose from, most in open coolers. About 30-40 bombers, the rest in 6-packs, lots of choices all around. And being a grocery store the prices are lower than you see at many other stores. Mostly the beers were from breweries you'd expect at a good grocery store, DFH, Stone, Terrapin, Troegs, etc. Also a sound assortment of Belgian beers.

Not as good a selection as you want to see from a major beer store, but more than OK for a grocery store that's not a Whole Foods.

Throughout my time at Roanoke College, my roommate (the reviewer below) and I went to various Krogers in search of good beer. The Roanoke area Kroger stores all had at least respectable selections, but this one was by far the best.

The beers in the store range from typical BMC fare (it's a Kroger- they must sell it) to a good variety of craft brews and, arguably, a better selection of imports. There are some Belgian beers here and my roommate once picked up some Fraoch Heather Ale. Of course, there's a number of Rogue Bombers, Stone beers, and then a wealth of sixers and twelve-packs which I cannot recall off the top of my head.

Since this is a Kroger, all of the beer is fresh and is in a cooler, so quality is really no issue at all and all of the beer can be had at affordable prices. I can't speak to service as I never needed any help while there, but I rated service as a 4 since there are self-checkout lines at the store, which always saved me time.

This store doesn't have the best selection you'll find anywhere, but in the Roanoke area this is the best store I can remember. Seriously, I know it may just be a Kroger, but if you're in the Roanoke area and need beer- this store is a must-stop.

This was once the location of a Harris Teeters that had the best beer selection around. Kroger and Harris Teeter swapped stores-- Kroger taking the Virginia Harris Teeters and Harris Teeter taking the North Carolina Krogers. Hence this Kroger store is only a block and a half from the older Cave Spring Krogers.

Let's give all credit to the management here, who kept the great Harris Teeter beer selection, and yes, even improved on it.

Last time I counted, there were 187 different brews, and that's just on the microbrew side. It's certainly a higher number now.

Incidentally, I only gave a 4 for service, as I always buy beer late, after getting off work, so there's never anybody there.

I concur with CpnYates. This Kroger's selection keeps expanding and continues to keep me happy. The prices are (in my opinion) very reasonable. I have developed a relationship with the ordering person and he is very willing to attempt to obtain what one might desire. Ask for Jeff or Kelly if you are ordering. Jeff has no problems ordering kegs (non-macro) although he does not have much room to store them and keep kegs on hand. He likes for you to pick them up as soon as you can. I have also been able to order items he is not currently stocking (most likely due to space). The turnaround for ordering kegs and cases has been exceptional. Sometimes in one business day! The beer and wine sections are busting at the seams. I no longer have to deal with / travel to Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg, VA (had some bad experiences with ordering, poor customer service and lack of knowledge) or Wine Gourmet in Roanoke(I try to throw support to the little guy but their prices stink).

This Kroger has been steadily expanding it's quality beer selection to rival that of the Kroger next to vintage cellar in Blacksburg.

As of right now April 1st. This is probably the best place to get good craft beer from around the country in the Roanoke valley.
The prices put nearby Wine Gourmet (huge chain I know but still) to shame, there is almost always staff there to help (seriously, at a Kroger!) and, they are knowlagable- without being snotty.

The belgian style selection has grown to occupy not only a section of the cooler (maybe 5 feet) but also some shelves of the area directly in front of the bank. This is easy to miss, I didn't notice it until recently. Today there was a vast selection of allagash 750's up there, as well as some rare dogfish. There are Three walls of coolers and a walk in area where you can find some singles off to the right.

Great selection, I try and stop in a few times per week just to see what's new.

As a side note, my office is a stones throw from this place, if your hungry, and can take something home- the gourmet express counter at this Kroger rivals some of the best dining in the area with some really great selections for super reasonable prices.

2011 Edit- The food here has gone waay downhill. Beer selection is still top notch.

I was pleasantly surprised when I went to the beer section of this Kroger. It's completely different than most Krogers people are used to. It carries a very impressive line of beers from several popular micro breweries such as many offerings from Stone, Dogfish Head, Rogue, Ommegang, Delirium, Troegs, Victory, Brooklyn Brewery, Chimay, and West Coast. There are several others as well and the selection has both 4/6 packs plus a huge selection of 750ml bottles. The prices are very competitive and every now and then you can get some real steals. I recommend this place to anyone in the Roanoke Valley area.