Beer Vendors in Bay Area

Sorry I don't but I recently moved to Berkeley from the East Coast and its a good move. Berkeley is also seeing a SN tap room, 2 breweries and a beer garden open this year. Good year to be in the East Bay.

 

East Bay is definitely less expensive. You're specifically looking for distributors and not just "in the industry"? I remember googling around a while ago and finding a list of bay area distributors, there are a bunch active around here. Artisan is the City Beer related one (I think, anyway) which might be interesting to you.

 

Bay Area is a very expensive place to live as you probably already know.

 

I'd look at local Whole Foods...always the chance of a good position available there. My Whole Foods in San Rafael is in need of a new beer guy.

 

San Francisco craft distributors:
http://www.matagrano.com/
http://www.morrisdistributing.com/

East Bay craft distributors:
http://bayareabev.com/
http://www.bayareadist.com/1601.html

wider-area CA distributors:
http://www.dbibeverage.com/
http://www.winewarehouse.com/
http://www.southernwine.com/OfficesNationwide/California/CAHome/tabid/396/Default.aspx
http://www.chrissaimports.com/
http://www.epic-wines.com/public/index.asp
http://www.lvbev.com/
http://www.artisan-distributing.com/

I'm located in SF, so I don't deal with the East Bay distributors very much, but if you have any specific questions feel free to PM me.

 

I thought the San Rafael store was looking for a wine buyer? Anyway, that position was filled a week or two ago. Also, if OP is currently a buyer with a distributor/importer, taking a buyer job at WF would likely mean a pay cut.

 

More distributors in Bay Area:

Youngs market co.
Southern wines and spirits
Bay Area bev co
Bay Area bev dist co.
Wine warehouse

Hope this helps.

 

Well, if they filled that position and that person oversees the beers as well, he deserves to be slapped.
Four month Palete Wrecker on the shelves?! Unacceptable!!!!
Their old guy, Joe, was cool as hell. But then again, the San Rafael WF is pretty pathetic beer-wise.

 

I have no problem with 4-month-old IPA on the shelf, and it's entirely possible that the beer was a few months old before it even arrived at the store. I've had 6-month old Double Jack delivered before. Furthermore, what do you expect them to do with that beer? Distributors don't like to take back beer because it's "old," and frankly I'd be amazed if they were willing to offer a refund for an IPA bottled four months ago.

Also, I was wrong. They did hire a new beer buyer; he started less than a week ago.

 

Well, as someone who bought a bomber a day when the PW was fresh, I've had to buy elsewhere. And while it may not hit their bottom line, I've steered good beer seeking customers away from the four-month old PW. Hell, i think the may have six minth old double jack! Beer like that is best enjoyed fresh, so four months is off...noticeably. Let alone six.
Granted I don't know the ins and outs of the business, but is refuse beer that was that old if it showed on my stockroom floor. Might as well be stale bread.

 

It appears many of us have adopted a 'princess' mentality demanding instant gratification. I'm guilty too. I think it's funny though that the beer industry has created a product meant to survive months in storage at sea, yet we reject it because it is days or weeks old when we see it at the store.

Then we have some who say they only drink it on draft so it's fresh. But isn't the draft coming from a keg that was also in storage at the distributor, and likely not refrigerated until it got to the retailer/bar?

 

There are a few breweries listed on that Morris site which are carried by WW in SoCal, for instance Allagash, North Coast and Anderson Valley. Are they not carried by them up there?

 

Gold star for the straw man, but this isn't 19th century England. If Stone can successfully brand, distribute, and sell out of an IPA with an enjoy by date that is roughly 5 weeks from the time it first starts to hit shelves, then there is a bar that has been set. I can also use RR as an example if we need a product with greater brand history.

Seriously though, can anyone on this site in good conscience tell me that they drink IPA's because the hops help prevent the beer from spoiling rather than because the enjoy the taste?

 

It's a pretty damn tired argument. The original British style IPA is pretty much nothing like the West Coast IPAs we're drinking these days. And who's to say those beers actually tasted good after several months of aging?

 

North Coast and Allagash are both carried by Morris in SF. Anderson Valley comes through DBI.

 

Not to mention it's not even true, someone posted a pretty extensive debunking just yesterday. When is this myth going to die?