Best beer store on Long Island?

If I knew who had some of the rare, hard-to-find stuff, I probably wouldn't share. Sadly, I do not... (and doubt such a place exists). With the spread of distribution getting more and more broad across LI over the past few years, it seems like most every place has pretty much the same selection at this point. Can't complain, as it makes obtaining some great beers a lot easier that it use to be. With that said, a few of my favorite spots lately have been Superstar (Bayport), Hicksville Beer, St. James Beverage & Beer City (Babylon). Stock / selection of everything across the board has been pretty solid at these shops.

 

The word is always out on gems, so they dont last very long, chances of finding gems just sitting there are not great.

 

Yeah, Hicksville and Superstar are fantastic. Glen Cove Beer is actually a hidden gem.

 

I've found some 2 year old stone ris, beer geek weasel calvados and some Founders frangelic sitting on the shelves at Glen cove recently.

 

Bellport Beer & Soda. Dave is one of the best BA's on the Island, and has an exceptional selection of beers. A&R was phenomenal, however they're in the process of moving.

 

I refuse to ever go to Glen Cove Beer & Beverage again. Story time:

A few years ago when BCBVS came out I would regularly check Beermenus to see if anyone had it in stock yet (really hate calling tons of places). So one day Glen Cove posted that they had some. Cool. So I drive over there. It's my first time there, I did note that they had some pretty good stuff, but nothing that was rare, per se, at the time. Solid selection though. So I'm looking around the store for the Vanilla, don't see anything. So naturally I go and ask the gentleman behind the counter. I ask: "Hi, do you have any bottles of the Bourbon County Vanilla?"...he looks at me, hesistates, and asks "How do you know I have it?", I told him it was posted on Beermenus, he sighed and pulled out a bottle from under the counter. I don't remember how much I was charged. I asked why he didn't just put them out and just set a purchasing limit. He told me that he only wants to sell them to people who ask, and that he was going to remove it from Beermenus. I asked what he was going to do with the ones that no one bought. His answer: eBay. Never again. If your in the Glen Cove area, go to Franks Beverage. Bigger selection, and the owner (not named Frank) is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Their prices are, a little, better too.

To the OP: You in Nassau or Suffolk? I feel that makes a fairly big difference in places people might suggest, unless you don't care about driving all over this island.

 

Yup and he's still hording 4 bottles of rare. He still has 4 bottles of rare. I've offered to purchase but I think he's holing out to make a killing on them.

 

Bellport Cold Beer & Soda - Dave is awesome!

Superstar Beverage - Huntington & Beer City (Deer Park) are great. Melville is good, but they don't always get the stuff the other stores get.

Shoreline Beverage (Huntington) - They get a TON of stuff and Stu is easy to deal with.

Syosset Beverage - gets lots of stuff. check their Facebook.

I don't know what happened to Big Z, but in the past year the place has gone downhill FAST. They used to get tons of limited release stuff and now it seems they get nothing. The past 2-3 times I've gone there, they shelves appeared very light of product. They may be on the way out....

 

My favorite store is Huntington Superstar, and I try to go there whenever I can.

How does Hicksville Beer and Soda comepare to Beer Barn in East Meadow? I occasionally go to Beer Barn because of how close it is to my house but haven't heard of Hicksville, which is even closer.

 

I heard from a few of the other local places that Big Z what bought and sold twice in the last year. Apparently some guys who thought there was quick money to be made in the rise of craft beer. I used to go there plenty and the addition of the growler bar was pretty nice.

 

Apart from those mentioned I also like Superstar Deer Park and Bluebell in Greenlawn.

 

That's pretty sketchy and sucks.

From my experience, he's pretty nice. He was helpful with when Parabola was arriving and told me to call the store about it when it did. (Despite the Island getting 2 cases only).

Franks is a no-no for me. The selection is way worse than Glen Cove. They had 2012 Double Trouble sitting on the shelves after the 2013 Double Trouble release. They also don't sell single bottles, which is a deal breaker for me.

 

I haven't been to Glen Cove in a while so you might be right on the selection size. Although in Franks defense I think most of the aforementioned distributors are all guilty of out dated IPA's...just saying.

I had no idea they didn't do single bottles either...not a biggie for me, but I understand your point.

 

Have any updated info on A&R? My frustration with my local options since they closed in July has me very, very aggrivated every weekend and my wife is tired of hearing my complaints.

 

Where abouts on LI are you located?

 

Bellmore...my local on Newbridge is good, but not great and nowhere near what A&R had. I'm going to have to check out Beer Barn in East Meadow that was mentioned. 10-12 mins from my house, but I have never been there.

 

Hicksville is smaller but has a much better selection of harder to find beers. The owner is really into craft stuff and tries to get anything I ask for.
I used to always laugh when I saw 60min behind the counter in east meadow.

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinions and that I respect. But I have nothing but positive things for Glen Cove. The owner is a craft beer drinker, knows his stuff and a very nice guy. So is his staff. They have a nice selection there also and enough of the good stuff.

I am not commenting on them specifically, but many stores put their stuff behind the counter to stop the truck chasers who show up just to buy the rare stuff every 6 months. They don't frequent the stores regularly and if they don't get the rare stuff don't even buy anything in the store while they are there. I don't blame store owners who do this.

 

Dude - West Hempstead beverage is pretty close by you and it's an awesome place! They get lots of limited release stuff. They post on their Facebook when things come in. You can also call and ask - they'll let you know if they have an ETA on any releases as well.