Why do all "Make your own six pack" Selections Suck?

Mix 6 is fun but absolutely date/freshness roulette.
So my approach, now, is just dates first (check 'em) and lean towards the darker styles of beer that don't fade so quickly (stouts, porters, high abv, nothing fresh hop obviously).
VIGILANCE.

 

This approach has worked well for me even in stores that didn't look promising.

 

This applies around here as well. Some stores have better choices than others but usually it's fairly easy to get a decent 6 pack by checking dates, etc.

 

Me too - definitely in the fortunate category. I have one store I no longer frequent that uses the mix-a-six as a dumping ground for junk - hideaously over-age beer, etc. One store that puts leftovers in the mix section on a discount, so you need to pick and choose. But the two main stores I use break out at least a six pack of almost every beer in stock, clearly mark the prices, and keep the selection up to date. They also offer a discount off the sticker prices of a mixed six.Turnover might just be the key here - both of these shops are in the city where there is VERY high traffic flow of at least interested (if not knowledgeable), beer drinkers, so beers tend to sell through quickly.

 

in Ft. Collins the 3 biggest liquor shopping places have a mix-a-six section and it's not bad at all. Mostly just Odell, New Belgium, Sierra, Lagunitas, etc.

 

Grocery Stores like Giant and Acme in Pennsylvania have really begun to embrace craft beer, specifically the "mix a 6". Lot of local beers involved like Troegs and Victory, I guess not all "mix a 6's" suck

 

Scored some BP Sculpin for 9.99 in the 'make your own 6-pack' section...sometimes you get lucky!

 

I've seen this before, when it's a fixed price to make your own 6-pack. At my store, if we have it in six packs, it's available as a single. Our make your own six packs are not a flat rate, it depends on the individual price of the beer

 

In my area (RI/Southern MA) I'm fortunate there are plenty of stores that let you buy singles of anything. Can't remember the last time I bought a 6 pack. That seems to be how craft beer is trending - there is such a huge overall selection now people want to try as many different beers as possible.

 

I don't mind if the pick a six bottles are priced individually, I just want a decent selection.

 

Hy Vee has one of the best make your own sixes I have seen in Missouri. Well organized by style, typically four rows high. Beers used to be for a flat price ($9.99 I think) when the selection was not refrigerated, but they have moved to individually priced as of the last year. Your freshness may vary, so choose wisely. On an interesting note, we have three here, and their overall selection is totally different, with the best being on the affluent side of town...I don't live on the affluent side of town.

 

I live in the USA's most backwards beer/liquor state besides Utah--- Pennsylvania. My local Wegmans supermarket has a great build your own six rack. Inventory is high quality beers and is constantly turned over/changed and it's only $12 per six. I can only buy two sixes per day (it IS Pa., after all), but I'm still very happy with it.

 

The pick 6 selection at our store is often mentioned by customers as being one of the best in the area. Could it be better? Absolutely. Nothing's perfect.

Straight forward bottle prices. Anything we want to break open, we can. I use it as an opportunity to try a single beer so I don't spend my whole check trying new releases.

If something isn't moving quickly enough, once it's gone I don't put it back in rotation. Our selection is also divided into local brews, out of state brews, and seasonals. Seems to do well for us.

 

$10 for a sixer of Zombie Dust in this day and age of craft beer is a great deal.

 

It blows me away that more places don't operate like this. Damn near every bottle shop and grocery store in Portland allows you to simply pull single bottles/cans of whatever you want, and you just pay the price per bottle/can. Some charge a slightly higher price for singles to offset the extra labor involved in facing and rotating everything to keep the shelves looking good, but it's a small price to pay to have literally everything available as a single.

 

What kinda security apparatus does PA have where it can track if Joe Schmo purchases precisely 2 sixers a day?

 

All PA residents are probably implanted with a detonator chip at birth. Love Storm King enough to buy 3 sixers of it in a day? Boom

 

Around here, the beers are usually (but not always) close to or beyond their lifespan when placed in the make your own sixer shelf. I'm still seeing beers from 2016 in some places. I feel bad for those folks who don't check dates and experience beers at less-than-optimal condition.

 

You get what you pay for. The local Kroger has $10 mix a six with some "decent" selections. I can go to Plum Market and mix a much better selection and have spent $25 on a fantastic six! Both have their time and place!

 

The Pa. law for the "restaurant" licensees is that they can:

* 2 sixpack of 16 oz. bottles.

So, "per transaction", not "per day". Every retailer with that license that I've visited in the past 5 decades or so has always allowed people to simply take their partial purchase to their vehicle, and return to buy the rest. And if one is unaware of the rule, they typically explain it to a customer.

People shopping for beer in quantity in PA typically go to retail "distributors" - which usually offer customers hand-trucks (not shopping carts) with which to shop. Well, the ones that aren't "drive-thru's", anyway.