Beer Availability

NYC - good access to imports, and pretty solid distro from breweries outside the region. We were left wanting a bit in terms of local breweries, but thankfully that's changed recently with a lot of solid options popping up

 

Living in metro Atlanta I would say the access is much less than say New York. There are however a few really stocked stores with great options but overall lacking for the craft beer lover.

 

DC - pretty decent access to lots of stuff, though it pales in comparison to the variety when I go visit my folks in MA. Really unfortunate, especially since the beer scene here is really taking off.

 

I'll add: lots of great bar options. This town drains your savings.

 

Milwaukee is picking up it's craft beer game, but it still lags behind Madison & MSP, and far, far behind Chicago.

Wisconsin in general is great, with access to New Glarus (of course), Toppling Goliath, FFF, Surly (soon), a few CA breweries (Alesmith, GF, but no Stone or BP yet). Pretty good supply of Bell's & Founder's, but a few key MI breweries are left out.

SoCal was the gold standard- if I rate SD a 10 for beer access, then Milwaukee is probably a 3 or 4, Madison a solid 6, and Wisconsin as a whole is a nice 5 headed towards a 6 (and maybe even 7 if we can get a few more breweries to distro here).

 

West Virginia is about as bad as it gets in terms of selection. That's why every time I travel, it is based around finding a good beer store.

 

1 - 10, I rate where I'm at an 8 or 9.

 

Providence area is solid. Light years better than what it was, that's for sure. Good beer bars in the city and a short drive outside of it's limits. Bottle shops have access to some great beers from across the country and specifically those in New England. It's tough to say how we do in regards to imports. I'm satisfied because we get plenty of Weinstephaner and Aecht Schlenkerla, but I'm sure there's many we're missing out on.

Where we struggle is with good brews made right here in RI. We've got some up-and-commers, but right now we are dreadfully behind our brothers and sisters in the rest of the New England states.

 

Rural Minnesota - I GOTS TA HUSTLE AND GRIND! TRADE SEEK AND FIND, BRO!

 

we've got a pretty phenomenal selection in Phoenix. Had a few big additions to distro this year, including Founders and Victory. It seems like everytime I visit the local shop I find at least one new brand that's available.

 

South Florida seems to get better and better every year.

 

The entirety of North Carolina has erupted with a fervor for great beer from everywhere. There have been some very forward thinking distributors that were "in" very early, so that has been a very positive factor. Also, the diversity of the population, the agricultural heritage, and the seeming openness to new things and change all add up to a great atmosphere for creating. That Sierra Nevada, Oscar Blues, New Belgium, and hopefully Stone in Greensboro, are all setting up shop here speaks volumes.

 

I've conducted only 2 trades so far, received one surprise gift package, and I plan to send that gifter a thank you soon, and conduct one or two other trades. It's fun but expensive.

 

I've been to some of the "big box" beer stores before and it seems like while they have plenty of imports, they are often quite old.