Where do you buy your beer?

No beer at grocery or convenience stores in Rhode Island. There’s a handful of liquor stores with consistently good selections in my area (High Spirits, Nikki’s, and B and C liquors) or just over the line in Massachusetts (Yankee spirits). I pop into one probably once a week to see what piques my interest. I also drive up to treehouse a few times per year to grab 24-36 cans.

 

for to go purchases I rotate between my local bottle shop, Total Wine, and the grocery store. I have found, at least around here, that the grocery stores have a pretty basic selection and you have to make sure to check canning/bottling dates, not long ago I went to purchase a Pale Ale and found that it was nearly 2 years past it's date

 

Here in the PA boonies our grocery stores and Walmart do not sell alkeyhol - I have to go to my local "Beer Distributor" to buy. Fortunately, the manager is somewhat of a beer nerd as well, so he tries to get a good selection of brews. Unfortunately, his store is part of a larger group and they get the freshest beer - what they can't sell eventually ends up downstream (i.e. here). So, while I buy about 40% of my beer from my local distributor, about 60% is picked up on my travels - when visiting relatives in New Braunfels, TX, I shop at Specs #100 on DeZavala road - they have a decent but dwindling selection of beer in singles and sixes at reasonable prices and Specs in Schertz (Beer selection has dropped greatly in the last couple of years). Once every trip or two I hit up Total Wine at the Forum, looking for imports I can't find elsewhere - it's amazing how many normally dated containers are sans dates! When in eastern PA, I cross the border to State Line Liquor in MD and pick up a few mixed cases. I also hit Shangy's in Emmaus (PA), usually my only source of Schlenkerla. In MI, it's a stop at The Lager Mill in Frankenmuth (If I happen to be in the area) or what's their names in Saginaw (Brain fart) or Riverside outside Grand Rapids.

 

Interesting short history of GA beer laws here. Up until 2016, in GA you pretty much couldn't buy any beer directly from a brewery (you had to buy a ticket for a "tour" which allowed you to leave with a very limited quantity of beer), you had to buy through package and grocery stores. The laws loosened up in 2017 and we have had an explosion of new breweries over the last 5 - 6 years. I have slowly shifted from buying at Total Wine and three or four package stores near me to buying about half my beer direct from breweries and half from package stores. Now it really depends on what I'm wanting. I still buy a good number of imports; obviously I buy those from retailers. There are a few breweries that I like that I can only buy direct at the brewery. Then there are some that I like that it's just more convenient to go by the retailer rather than drive 30 or more minutes to the brewery. That's the long way of saying - it depends.

 

Most of my beer bucks are spent at:

Several good local bottle shops;
Large grocery stores with massive beer selections - mostly all in coolers;
Local breweries themselves - of which we have a great abundance here in NE OH

Guess we have it pretty good here compared to some other states (looking at you PA)

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but The Lager Mill closed a few years ago. And I'm not sure of the status of Riverside in GR. Check them out before trying to go there again. GR (Kentwood) has a Total Wine now, plus all of the other often-mentioned stores are still good choices.

 

Total Wine and Craft Beer Cellar are my go tos. Local breweries, Specs and Lonestar beverages occasionally.

Craft Beer Cellar is the best but it's the furthest drive so I don't get to go as much as I'd like to. Taps, fresher beer, nice selection of Texas beers, out of state craft beers and imports.

 

Last summer I visited Riverside in GR - they'd just opened their new location two doors down from their old - and they were just stocking. Sorry to hear about the demise of the Lager Mill - their prices were a little steep but the selection wasn't bad - the little museum upstairs wasn't too bad either. The place in Saginaw was Oppermann's Cork-N-Ale.

 

I can't be the only person with an answer of "mostly on draft, at bars/taprooms"...right?

 

Hmm, you drink more beer (i.e., beer volume) on premise vs. at home?

If so, well cheers to you!

P.S. I have read articles that claim that even in the UK with their once robust pub culture nowadays more beer is consumed in the home vs. at the pub (and bars/restaurants).

 

In Central Iowa, the grocery store is the best bet. One of our Locals has very large wine and spirits (beer) stores attached to the main store.

The smaller 'liquor stores' are usually full of shelf turds, in my experience. Just don't get the foot traffic, I'd guess.

Then there's obviously at the brewery itself. I don't get out much, so it's always a win when a brewery starts local distro!

 

My wife likes to shop at Trader Joe's so occasionally I shop their beer section. Here in Chicago, they have a pretty decent one. After that, it's liquor stores or local breweries. I have been very disappointed in my local grocery store. Their beer section has really gone downhill.