Spec's #63

This is my go-to for beer in my corner of the world. Just a few miles from my house up I-35 in North Round Rock, Tx.

This is a huge place. Rows and rows of wine, booze, and a nice assortment of cheese, food, beer/alcohol glasses, etc. They have a pretty big wall of refridgerated beers...bombers, sixers, 12 packs, kegs in the back (ususally listing a great offer or two on kegs on the fridge door). A very nice section of Texas brews, which are quite often offered on a special discount. The beer selection on the regular shelves is even more extensive than the cold beer, offering a multitude of styles.

One thing I've noticed about this Specs as compared to other Austin Specs or Central Markets is the lack of special release beers or even local stuff (Jester King for example) that seem to be more prevalent to the south. Other than that, it's hard to knock the selection.

Always a friendly smile and a "can I help you sir" when I visit. The staff will always be willing to chat or offer their advice if solicited.

Nice to have you in town Specs.

 

 

Situated North of Austin is Round Rock, a suburb community. With that comes much strip malls and highway roads, and big box stores. Specs is pretty much a big box liquor store, if you are from the East coast it's the equivalent of the Total Wine chains.

Huge selection here of EVERYTHING, even craft sodas and some cheese along with wine, spirits and beer. There is a very good selection off to the left when you enter for the beer. It's not hard to find anything mostly because it's just a huge open floor plan with no tall shelves.

Prairie, Deschutes, and quite a few other gems are in the area for selection, and there is a good selection of decent bombers. Foreign items are a little sparse but have some decent options to choose from. There is only a few selections though of singles, but they are at least their, but you are not allowed to break up packs.

My personal favorite though is a big shelf dedicated to local Texas brews, and specifically a lot of Austin based brews also such as Adelbert's, Austin Beer Works, and quite a few others.

It's a pretty solid impressive stop if you find yourself in this area, and the service is really good as one beer guy who was working there could describe the beers very well and what they were. If I am ever in the area again I am easily going back here.

 

 

Stopped in briefly while in town on business. A huge place with loads and loads of liquor and wine but the beer selection is limited. The guy walking the floor was very helpful though and seemed to know his stuff. It's worth a stop if you're in the area.

Stopped in here 29 May 2010.

Fairly large selection, found a number of beers here that I had not seen in Texas before, inclunding several from Allagash, Harpoon 100 barrel series, much of Rouge's lineup and some Twisted Pine offerings. They had a number of Texas micros as well, including Independence (Stash IPA and Convict Hill) and Southern Star (Pine Belt and Buried Hatchet). Was asked if I needed help a couple of times.

Overall prices were a little higher than Grapevine (visited same day) but selection was quite a bit larger too.

There is a discount for cash, think it was 5%.

I've visited Spec's in Round Rock a few times while in the area, and both times I've been pleasantly surprised. At the far left of the store as you enter are a number of closed-door coolers with American craft six packs, some imports, and macro. At the back-left corner are three large shelves of room-temp beer, pretty much anything available that you'd want. I especially appreciate that Spec's has prices easily visible and that they point out new beers with signage. Also in the back corner is a small shelf of single 12 oz. bottles. I don't think they get much traffic, and some look pretty exposed to light, unfortunately.

Probably my favorite aspect of this store is that certain offerings might stick around a little longer than at other locations, allowing second chances to pick up beer you missed. For example, I picked up a Unibroue 17, which wasn't available anymore at other stores I checked. Also found a random Redhook Tripel for $2.99 that I'd not noticed anywhere else in the area before.

Despite spending quite a bit of time in the store both times I've visited, I was only asked if I needed help once, and that was when I was heading to the register. Other staff seemed a bit oblivious, in contrast to the Austin Arbor Walk store where service is usually great.

This is a nice store, one I'll visit again when I'm in the area or looking for beer that's vanished from other more heavily trafficked stores.