Why do you call them "bottle shops?"

I think you meant you went to get a soda and thought someone was cooking out.

 

nope, bottle shops aren't allowed to sell cans

 

I call mine that because Beer is our #1 Priority. Not liquor or wine

 

They sell by the bottle

 

And dont ask where PEAbody Mass is... It is PEEBUDDEE all one word

 

That's right: licensed for the sale of alcohol to be consumed off the premises. Shortened to off licence.

British pubs usually have a licence for both on and off sales.

 

I llike to call them container stores since not every beer comes in a bottle. Then if my wife asks where I am going I tell her I am going here:

http://www.containerstore.com/welcome.htm

 

Unless it's fancy we call it a "party store". I think that's a SE Michigan thing.

 

Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts - the states that require your beer to be "packaged" before you take it outside. All bottles must be wrapped - its a leftover Blue laws thing. You can't scandalize the neighbors by waving your unwrapped booze around.

 

This is actually a good thing. Try walking home from the packy with a case of beer past a bunch of homeless people.

 

i'll say 'beer store' or 'bottle shop' to differentiate between a go-to, regular craft stop and a 'liquor store', which to me is more along the lines of the corner liquor store where shaky homeless folk queue up at 9AM.

 

Stores ask me all the time if I want a bag, I walk out with a six pack or bottle a lot with no bag.

 

In MA, yes. In Maine, no. "Package stores" do not exist in Maine, and "liquor stores" hardly do. Buy at any grocery store and most drug stores, convenience stores, gas stations, and a fairly small number of true bottle shops.

 

Because very often a 'bottle shop' or 'beer store' sells beer only, or beer and wine, but not liquor. So it would be plainly wrong to call it a liquor store.

 

Here in NY, it is illegal to sell beer in the same store as liquor or wine. Beer can be sold in bottle shops, supermarkets or convenience stores, but not liquor stores. Chain liquor stores are also illegal. By law, a license to sell liquor or wine for off-premises purchase must be held by a single person who lives within a few miles from the store, and he/she cannot hold another liquor license in the state. Liquor stores may be open on Sundays after 12noon, but if they choose to be open on a Sunday, they must be closed another day during the week. Liquor cannot be sold at all on xmas. Beer cannot be sold between 0300-0800 on Sundays unless the specific county changes the hours. No alcohol can be served in NY between the hours of 0400-0800 on any day of the week.

 

Because, for example, Belmont Station is not a liquor store.

http://www.belmont-station.com/index.php?id=bottles

 

I call it the beer selling place.

 

For me, a bottle shop is a generic/"new school" term for a shop that is dedicated to selling craft beer (no other alcohol sales take place in said establishment, with the rare exception of a distilled beer).

I happen to work at a shop such as that and on BA/online info sites, I refer to it as a bottle shop because we are not a bar and sell beer to go...

 

All I know is that the first time I saw someone refer to one as a "packy" on here I was really, really, really god damn confused. They MIGHT have spelled it "****" too so you can imagine..