Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids Bottle Shops

I'd say Blue Front, just south of the U of M campus, has the best selection in Ann Arbor right now since The Wine Seller closed for their revamp.

 

But we want you to 'break the bank' to help our economy.

The "Store" ratings in the Places feature here are pretty accurate for both cities if you click on the column header for Rating. For my recommendations, Plum Market on Maple Street in AA, and Siciliano's Market in GR. Both are on the west side of their respective city and not especially close to any breweries, but neither city is all that big that you can't take 15-20 minutes to reach them. But depending on where you'll be, pick the one from the Places list that is mostly convenient.

 

Pretty sure sicilianos gives a discount when you buy a six pack of one beer and maybe even on a mixed six. It has been a while since i have shopped there, maybe someone else can chime in. If you are going to be SE of town, G.B Russos and rishis international beverage could be good options

 

I've never been to Tippins, so I can't speak to its quality, but note that it is actually in Saline. It's still pretty close, with a 10-15 minute drive from most places in AA, but just thought it was worth pointing out.

Also, you're out of luck on The Wine Seller for now. They closed to "transform" from a straight up package sales place to something that will have food and drink as well as to go bottles, I believe. There's a chance they might be open again by August, but I'm skeptical. And I don't think they're going to be called The Wine Seller when they reopen.

Both Plum Markets are good. And as noted before, Blue Front is good as well, as previously noted.

 

As noted before, by others, who previously noted it, earlier.

Note.

 

Any word yet when the wine seller is gonna open again? They always had a great selection when it came to the rare releases

 

If you're looking for good value on MI shelf beer, most Meijer stores carry a good amount of craft. They will have many styles on sale at any given time.

Also, most of their stuff is refrigerated.

 

Sicilianos gives a 10% mixed case discount.

I would add Horrocks Market to the list of shops to check out. As well as The Copper vine, which does 6pk pricing.

 

I'd suggest D Schuler's in Wyoming, which is essentially a part of Grand Rapids. Failing that, Horrocks is a good option. I think Rishi's on 28th St has the largest selection, but their pricing is offensive. After a visit earlier this week, where they've started stickering over old prices to RAISE their already high prices even higher to pay for their expansion/remodel, I'm done there.

In Ann Arbor, Blue Front is the way to go, but word to the wise, their beer inventory list isn't always accurate, even if it shows it was updated that day or the day prior. Some older bottles sell out and they forget to remove it from the list. I ran into that problem last time I was there, when I was looking for a certain Mikkeller beer that their website claimed was in stock (and it wasn't a new release), and it wasn't there and hadn't been in a while according to the guy working the counter.

 

I wish more places would use beermenus. Pretty convienate

 

Stopped in one night after dinner at Grand Villa. It actually had a better selection than you'd guess from the looks of the place. Prices are on the higher side, store was pretty warm, and things were a bit disorganized. I'd rather go to D Schuler or Copper Vine instead.

 

As already mentioned plum market is solid. Wine castle just down the street as well, ask whoever working the counter to see the list of what's in the back. They usually have some good stuff that they don't actually put out

 

I was in GR and AA and Kzoo last weekend also. I hit the Blue Front, Sicilianos and Drake Party. I usually hit Plum Market in AA every year and I think I'm gonna stick with that shop while in AA. Everywhere with exception to Sicilianos had pretty much only old out of date stock. Blue Front and Drake had shelves full of year and a half old beer. Is it like that all over or did I just go to the wrong shops?

 

Each of those shops has high traffic, so if you found that much old stuff, it must be beers that we in Michigan think are not worthy of purchase. Unfortunately, there are a few Michigan breweries that fall into that category.

 

Others may disagree, but of the Michigan breweries that bottle/can their beers, I've never found a beer from Schmohz that I like, and Atwater is close behind. I've been neutral on Cranker's, Keweenaw, Liberty Street, Mountain Town, Odd Side (except their Citra Pale Ale), Paw Paw and Round Barn. There is enough good other beers here that I have not gone back to most of the above breweries to try them recently, so they could have improved since back when I tried some of them. Lucky Girl, Old Nation and Roak are three breweries that have recently started bottling/canning and I don't know anything about them and have not heard anyone say anything favorable or unfavorable yet.

Have a good time on your trip here. Happy hunting.