What Areas Have the Best Distribution?

Man, I looked at the map, you are located way out there. I would have to take a road trip and buy a months worth at a time in that case.

 

SEPA could easily compete with Ohio..

They changed the case law this year we can buy whatever now. SEPA is pretty prime, we have crazy distro and great local options. The only limit is how much you are willing to spend.

 

I'm shocked to see some mentioning NYC in this thread.

Based on where I've lived, Denver crushes NYC, L.A./Orange County, and Austin (in terms of U.S. distribution).

Colorado's distribution is ridiculous, and even excluding in-state breweries, I'd contend it's still better distribution-wise than NYC.

 

Good. The case-only law is the dumbest thing. It's a damn shame PA still has it--though they still have an incredible beer selection regardless.

 

The case law is gone we can buy singles 4/6 packs, 12 packs, 16 packs, 18 packs, 24 pack full cases or 30 pack cases sorry if I was unclear.

 

I think our distribution in Texas is pretty good. More beer here than I can drink.

 

NH distro is not great. Mainly do to the hoop jumping required for approval. MA has far too much distro and needs a giant purge. Well over half the beers rot on the shelves. It's a double edged sword.

 

Can you buy singles and bombers?

 

Ohio distribution blows Michigan as well.

 

I'm from Pa and the laws are changing. Back in the day the only place to buy beer was from a distributor and by the case, or a bar, no more than two six packs. If you wanted wine or booze you went to the State Store. Laws are loosening now you can buy smaller quantities they're finally coming into the real world. They were losing a ton of revenue to border stater, in my case I just went 5 minutes into NJ to buy my beer.

 

Is that good or bad for Michigan?

 

Allagash just started in OH. Very limited at the moment, but here. Would also love to see Central Waters, Pipeworks, and Westbrook. Also hopeful that Voodoo canned hops start showing up at some point. Ever since the ABV cap was removed, it's tough to complain about our distro here.

Have family in Queens, and I always find all kinds of awesome things sitting on shelves when we visit. The thing with NY distro, is with the intense demand it can be difficult to acquire things even if they hit distro. All about finding the right pocket and building relationships there.

 

OK, let me add a few words for clarification

"Ohio distribution blows Michigan's distribution away as well."

 

The one thing Ohio's distro lacks is a solid and consistent source of NEIPA's. Hoof is really the only ones that are somewhat hitting the mark quality wise, but the supply is very limited. We are swimming in high quality local west coast and mid-west IPA's tho.

 

LA's isn't as great as one might assume. Sometimes I see folks out-of-state drinking San Diego or NorCal brews before they've landed here. I can't complain about the variety, but there's a lot of competition for the rarer stuff.

 

I live year round on the shore. (Long Beach Island) and the distro here is ok but mostly shore type stuff. Not much variety. The only good store around here I refuse to enter because the way they do business. If I drive 30 min north I find a lot more NJ stuff. If I drive 30 min south in Joe canals there's a ton of variety and imports I can't get here. Nothing west, that's the pine barrens.

 

SEPA has a pretty good selection of craft beer as has been already mentioned by @FatBoyGotSwagger.

One example is we get Russian River beer here.

The downside is that prices are often higher than they would be in neighboring states which is a situation that is unclear to me.

One aspect that I am not a fan of is that German import selection has steadily become less and less over the past decade. I suppose that folks just don't want to buy these beers? What limited selection of German imported beer that we have is often old (e.g., > 6 months old) and I refuse to buy old beer. A death spiral I guess?

Cheers!

 

Agreed on both counts NH/MA. VT distro is just ok, thankfully I'm happy drinking VT beer

 

Also, shout out to VT Beer Shepherd. Independent Craft Distributor that's bringing in some kick ass stuff.

http://vtbeershepherd.com/

 

It certainly isn't Connecticut. This place has got to be among the worst in the country in terms of distribution.