Towamencin Beverage

So, this is my local beer retailer-about five minutes from my house. I'm probably overly negative on the place because I think it could be a lot more than it is. That said, it's a decent place.

Vibe: It's a warehouse type, metal building, high ceilings, concrete floors. It's adequate. You don't really notice that kind of stuff at a retailer. Some open areas with beer on the floor and pallets (mostly AAL type stuff) and a lot of shelving for the craft beers.

Quality: One negative aspect is the lack of climate control-especially in the summer. It gets very hot in this building (no AC) which can't be great for the beer. They did add a bunch of new coolers recently, so there's a bunch of craft and AAL selections cold.

Service: Hit or miss. Sometimes you run into some folks who know beer here, sometimes you don't. Once you get the lay of the store though, it's easy enough to find what you're looking for. Price listings are hit or miss as well.

Selection: Decent selection of craft, especially PA craft (Troegs, Victory, Yards, et.al.). And a lot of the usual craft suspects, Stone, SN, Lagunitas, Fat Heads, etc. And you can find some off-the-wall stuff occasionally too. Import selection seems to be lacking. Cigars and lottery tix too, if that's your thing. And CJ's, which is more of a bottle shop, is right next door if you don't find what you're looking for.

Overall, decent place. Could use some TLC, but once you know it, it's serviceable.

 

 

 

Great store, huge selection. Updated stock and NOW a bottle store (yes singles, six packs) and a gourmet hot dog "dining room". It is right next door, new, clean, big, great selection, a bit pricey but about 8 beers on tap and they have growler fills.

Check it out. Worth a trip to see what they have or what they can get.

This local PA distributor has a reasonably good selection of import and craft beers in addition to the usual macro beers. Unfortunately, there are several annoying things besides those already mentioned by the other reviewers.

First, very few of the selections are priced on the shelf. I guess they assume price is no object in this area of PA. On one recent visit, a case was marked on a display card with a sale price but when I arrived at the register the price she rang up was significantly higher. When I objected she seemed annoyed with me and yelled out to another employee to check the price rather than walking over about 25 steps to check it out herself (no other customers were in line).

Second, in warm weather the building is not cooled in any way so the beer can become very warm for extended periods of time.

Finally, I have not found the staff very knowledgeable or helpful. They seem more interested in getting rid of the stock on hand than procuring what the customer is interesting in purchasing.

A: Huge warehouse style. Lots of room to move around, and plenty of parking.

Q: They have quite a good cigar selection as well. Very clean and organized.

Ser: Most everyone came up and asked me if I needed any help, and/or offer suggestion's. I asked if they had something in stock and they went looking for it, (they didn't just say no). Super friendly and polite; old timey service...must be the area.

Sel: Crazy good for a case store. (I spent over an hour perusing.)

V: Very very good for PA!!!

I'll def be back again. And I ended up getting a case of Chocolate Sombrero by Clown Shoes; awesome.

This is a case distributor. I would say that no less then 50% of the shelf space is dominated by macro and bmc products. However, There is a good selection of crafts and micro brews but a little unorganized, but for a beer geek this actually helps when trying to land certain limited beers. They are not the greatest when it comes to rotating stock, but they are good when it comes to special ordering or reserving cases. Prices are pretty much at industry standard for distributors in the Philadelphia area.

Towamencin Beverage is an OK place to shop for beer. However there are much better places in the area. Selection is slim but I do find a few gems here and there. Last time I was in I found 2 cases of Wake n Bake and a 4 pack of Ten Fidy. Everytime I go there they are smoking in the building which is definitely a turn off. Occasionally they have free samples on tap. They do have a decent cigar selection. Overall not a bad place to go to in the area but there are two other distributors that I go to regularly that are much better.

When I was there last week, they had in-stock the following Mid-West and West Coast breweries that are desirable (and more I just can't recall of the top of my head):

Russian River, Lost Abbey, Avery, Great Divide, Founders, Bells, Bear Republic, Stone, Great Lakes, Anchor, Left Hand, Mad River, North Coast, Rogue, etc.

Plus then they have a big display for all the local craft: Victory, Yards, Philly, Weyerbacher, Lancaster, Stoudts, Troegs, River Horse, Flying Fish, Dogfish Head,etc.

There is a section for imports, mainly British and other European beers, South American, but also some high-end Belgians as well.

They have a "Microbrew Club" card that once you buy 10 different brewery's beer, you get a discount. They also sell cigars too, if that's your thing. Service is fine, and there is a big friendly dog that is usually hanging out.