Beer Availability by Region

same with chi vs the rest of illinois, and rockford gets stuff that chi doesn't get. It should be divided into states then markets within a state, by county, then by distro. Because say in the chi market even beers that are available in cook county aren't available in lake county at all. And if you are at some far corner of lake county it is going to take you an hour or more to get to cook county. Knowing I can find Kuhnhenns in MI isn't going to help me find it.

 

Portland, Oregon
My current locale and overall one of the best cities I've ever been in for beer. Pretty great selection (probably not as good as PA or Chicago, but I have been able to buy 3F at the local neighborhood liquor store) although skewed towards west coast beers. Even more than the selection though, the thing that makes Portland great is that it is the perfect size/density. I've never seen a release where the bottles sold out in 1 hour (and you have to skip work just to buy one). Deschutes, Hair of the Dog, and Cascade are all within a 1-mile radius of each other (I walked to the Deschutes Black Butte XXIV release), and I'm not even mentioning all the awesome bars that you would pass by along the way. It's a very relaxed city that gets great distribution and has quality local breweries.

Michigan
I grew up here. Distribution-wise, MI is not very impressive. However, MI has Founders and Bells (neither of which distributes to Oregon ). If I had to choose only one brewery for the rest of my life, those two would be high up on the list. So while overall selection isn't great, I would never complain about the beer there. Man, I haven't had an FBS in 4 or 5 years now ... just talking about this is making me thirsty.

 

Minnesota has one of the best selections of anywhere in the country. If it weren't for the independent liquor stores none of this would be possible.

 

I am jealous two great states of beer. Your a lucky man.

 

I live in South Austin and most gas stations on my block have an excellent beer selection. The gas station near my house has Chimay, Unibroue (La Fin & Troi Pistoles), Lagunitas, Dogfish Head 60 min, SNPA, SN Torpedo, Saint Arnolds, Boulevard, and a ton of locals (Independence, Real Ale, Hops & Grain). And that's a limited selection! There are a couple gas stations around town that literally have as wide as a selection as the major liquor stores and sometimes better including Sunrise Mini-Mart and, right around the corner from me, Barton Hills Food Mart which carry all the new limited releases (Saint Arnold DR 12, Jester King Weasel, Positive Contact, etc...) and smaller breweries (Adelbert's, Rogness, ABW) and about 200+ other selections. BHFM has a particularly good Colorado/Northwest selection, IMHO. Deschutes out the wazoo including 12-packs.

Grocery stores are kind of a crap shoot... our local HEB, for instance has about 25/75 Craft vs. BMC including one case that's strictly bombers with stuff like Saint Arnold Endevor, La Fin, Chimay, Westmalle, DFH limiteds. On the other hand if you go to an HEB "flagship" store like 41st/Red River with a certified sommillier and expanded wine department you'll find a greatly expanded selection. Those stores are more like 50/50.

Please note that once you leave the Austin Metroplex, for the most part, your choices become Red, Blue, Silver, and Shiner Bock until you get to another big city like San Antonio/Dallas/Houston. It's a hard knock life out there.

When I was in Orlando, Florida for college and Miami before that, you were lucky to find anything good anywhere other than a liquor store, although I've heard that's been changing.

 

NY, the prices are too high.

 

Wisconsin has quite a few small breweries in the state but since most of them don't distribute outside of the state a lot of breweries from other states choose not to have their beers distributed in WI. I was rather sad when Stone discontinued distributing their beer in WI.