It always pays to look

Absolutely! I found that to be true with gas stations especially. Just the other day, I found out a gas station by my house had an extensive craft beer selection. SCORE! Their stuff was even cheaper than average. DOUBLE SCORE!

 

I agree it always pays to look.

I often stumble across good beers and/or great prices just by checking out the beer section of any store that sells good beer.

 

yup, and what these smaller, under-the-radar retailer operators are quickly realizing is that good craft beer is a major profit center for them too! A 6-pack of good craft beer will fetch $10-15, and if they can sell a few cases a week across multiple brands, they are cruising right along

one phenomenon that we see though.....almost all bar owners/beer buyers love beer, and they are familiar with the products....

but many gas station/deli owners do not even drink beer...they only carry it because they're customers want it...totally changes their perspective!

small bottle shop owners, independent stores, and small grocers usually love beer though....its in their nature!

 

nice things about stores that seem like they wouldnt carry good stuff, is that usually if they do have it, it wont go nearly as fast. Sometimes you find some of the best stuff in unassuming places when you least expect it.

 

I love my local bottle shop... You would never imagine from the outside what lies within! I was blown away.

It has become a place to get ANY hard-to-get release in Ohio easily... KBS for example, got my 4-pack without even trying. SMS, Three Floyds stuff, Jackie-O's, etc... I hope it stays under the radar for sure!

 

I was visiting Hill Farmstead last spring and my girlfriend and I decided to get more growlers than we had initially planned, so we had to make a trip down the street to grab some extra cash from an ATM. And in that particular area, a trip down the road to the nearest ATM means a 20 minute drive.

So we drive through the countryside for 20 minutes to find an ATM. No idea where we were, but it was in the smallest little New England "town" you could imagine. Honestly, less like a town and more like a street corner.

I think the place was a gas station but it had a nice looking country store attached. Went inside to use the ATM and saw they had a nice little beer selection with a good selection of standards. Looked at some sweaters, grabbed a bar of local handmade soap, and happened to walk past the beer shelves on the way out. Then I noticed in the top right corner...



Surprise Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus!

I assume beer travelers frequently go to this little store to use the ATM so they try to take advantage of that and somehow stock Cantillon (and Drei Fonteinen too, one shelf down).

Easily my best found-something-where-you-least-expect-it beer story.

 

nice score @bostonwolf

 

Good example about not judging a book by its cover............Bon Vivant Market in Smithfield, Virginia is a 1940s old brick house looking somewhat rundown, etc. Inside....wOw...........amazing selection of beers that I don't usually see, tastings, etc. Got some great stuff from Ballast Point, an amazing Cocoa Psycho from Brewdog and so much more...........I love surprises

 

You never know what you'll find in those types of places. I've never had a big score, but finding rare releases long afterwards isn't unheard of. I've had friends find kbs weeks afterward. It is always worth looking.

 

Agree with checking out the beer section regardless. Disagree with paying $15ish for a 6 ball of habanero sculpin.

 

I've found a few liqour stores that are like mentioned above. Now they are my mandatory stops thru out the week. All carry very nice craft beer selection, some hard to find stuff that's been sitting awhile... I dont mind lol. Because of the rare selection they have I keep going back.

 

In SLC, UT., many of the convenient stores owned and operated by families from India usually have the best beer selection.

 

Found a honey hole for parabola among other FW surprises at one of these places.

 

I have a small grocery store that looks like a dump but has an awesome selection. I've found some rare (for upstate NY) Firestone Walker, Stone, Lagunitas, The Bruery, etc. as well as a fairly large selection of imports. Always look when I go somewhere new.

 

I thought this was a thread about soccer moms.

 

I've added a nearby 'off the beaten path' kind of store to my rotation. They still have Abyss, Xocoveza, etc. on the shelf. Nothing that other places don't get, but its nice to be surprised.

 

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

 

Here in Fort Worth, TX you can talk the convince stores prices down even more... they typically do not know what they really have. Especially if they have taken the liberty to age it for you.

 

True.It does always pay to look. I mean that is where the term shelf turd comes from. The fact at some point some noob, like me for instance, is going to leave all those firestone walkers on the shelf because they have funny names. Like parabola, sucaba and what kind of beer is anniversary 16?

I'll never get over it