How do you source beers?

It says your from Illinois, Chicago area? Plenty of great breweries locally and throughout the state, don't pay for shipping...

 

You'll come to soon realize. You are kind of spoiled for choice in the middle of the country, and most of the time. You can basically ignore a lot of the other stuff, and really not miss much. This is a total lie, actually. But. You'd have to go full geek to find out how.
I'll just leave it at. Illinois has Scratch brewing.

 

It's interesting how many of us used to drive 100 miles or more to chase hyped beers, but nowadays we advise against it. Yeah, we learned that it's not usually worth it. Support your local/statewide breweries at your local stores and you'll find great beers.

 

Besides going to local breweries almost all my beer is purchased at Duffy's beer that is minutes from my home. Duffy's is a very large beer distributor warehouse size. It has a huge craft selection. 4 packs, 6 packs, 12 and 15 packs. A monster selection of singles 12 0z bottles, cans 12 oz, 16 and stovepipe. Home brewing supplies. Beer related items like snacks, cheeses glassware, beer game stuff and just about everything you can think of. I spend way too much money and time there.

 

I use any means available. Some breweries will ship directly to me from other states. Some beers I get on Halftime and CraftShack. Also, just started trading on here.

 

I think this is more a reflection of the market changes than anything. It wasnt that terribly long ago that a beer like bcbs was very unique. Now it's literally a grocery store beer and every town has a brewery that makes their take on the still, with some significant percent of those being as good or better.

More recently you could say the same thing about proper NEIPA (as a michigander I'm sure you remember whe M43 was rising as a local option to compete with stuff from toppling Goliath or the east coast producers) or heavily flavored and extended boil/barrel stouts. And now the same trajectory has happened with those styles. Almost all of us can get a passable to excellent example of them locally.

There were fewer than 2,000 breweries in this country in 2010. There are over 9,000 now. The number has nearly doubled since 2015. It wasnt that long ago that most people would have to travel to get a special local beer. But anymore, a person has to chart, plan, and budget, just to avoid getting so flooded with "special" local beers that they remember to buy and drink the ones they actually enjoy!

 

I never really liked Corks n Kegs when I lived there, kinda snobby. Much preferred Once Upon a Vine.

 

Next time I'm in Richmond I'll have to look into it. Thanks!

 

This was 15 years ago, so things may have changed.

 

This thread is crazy. Being a booze hound is enough, no need to become addicted to the chase as well.

 

There's a trading forum on here dawg.

Also, if you had a Phase Three or Standard membership, you could get whatever you desired around the country.

 

Try using the Places feature on this website. Check out high rated places located in towns/cities that are outside your immediate circle but still close enough to complete an lazy afternoon drive on your day off.

While you're at it, take a friend along as well as some good music.

 

FOBAB is an excellent recommendation. I volunteer each year (and get the other session comped).

For retail, in addition to The Beer Temple I recommend Beer on the Wall with locations in Park Ridge and Arlington Heights. They sell singles of all beers, so a great resource to explore various stouts and breweries to hone in one what you like. Woodman's has great pricing, and always love popping into the Kenosha store for Wisconsin offerings. Beyond direct from breweries, these three stores are my favorites.

I enjoy 3 Sheeps and Central Waters BA Stouts best from Wisconsin. Revolution is my favorite program in Illinois, but also love offerings from smaller breweries like Wild Onion (Drago), Haymarket (Clare's Thirsty Ale), Spiteful (various) and from downstate Dosvidanya by DESTIHL. Three Floyds also has solid BA offerings at a great price.

I never heard of Liquor Barn, but they have a store in Niles, so I'll check them out.

 

There are no programmed export capabilities from this site, but I usually have good luck by highlighting, copying and pasting into a doc or spreadsheet. (I haven't done a list like yours.) Usually there are some quirks that are fixable, but if your data is a long list it can be tedious work.

 

Beyond checking out the social media of and visiting the plenty of great breweries around you whenever there’s something that peaks your interest, one great way to try a lot of new out-of-market beers is to dip your toes into BIFs (Beer-It-Forward) within the trading section of the site. Shipping beer is pricey, but it can help scratch that fomo itch (until you learn better!).

 

When I used to trade more often, I definitely had the benefit of a good relationship with a great bottle shop. So, when something that was A) popular, B) small batches, and C) had some hype/interest in the forums, he'd give me a heads up & even offer to save a few for me sometimes. This definitely helped me have some nice offerings to trade.