Beer Availability

It's shamefully bad here.

 

*looks at avatar*

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuure it is...

 

I get out of town a lot, and started trading recently. I don't think any of those are actually available here. The selection in my closet however, isn't too shabby. Though, I will say, we did get a lot of BCBS, and since no one here knew what it was, I was able to amass quite a reserve this year.

 

I agree with this and the fact that we enjoy a pretty damned fine choice around here. You and I (and RichD) basically overlap geographically just on different sides of the border, and I probably spend more shopping time on your side than mine. But the "pre-aging" it isn't restricted to the big box stores. Yeah - Total Wines is bad. The Wegman's in Northborough is atrocious. However, my experience with the smaller/medium sized shops I prefer is that you can find "old stock" plenty of times if you aren't paying attention. I've called a couple places out on it, but basically it gets shrugged off. Buyer beware? That said, absolutely agree that the "scene" is great - plenty to choose from. Down side - some things will linger on the shelf. Can't have it both ways, I suppose.

You pointed out the relative lack of local breweries in RI (don't get me going about Narragansett), but there are quite a few breweries bottling/canning in MA. Yet the shelf presence can be very weak for the "locals". So it isn't just the number of breweries - seems the distribution comes into play as well? Maybe that reflects sales and inventory turns (meaning what sells gets stocked). Grey Sail and Foolproof line ups seem to be everywhere on both sides of the border. While not rock solid from top to bottom, each has at least a couple of solid offerings, so apparently "it can be done". I guess it is rare to find a full line up of anybody's beer, but you'd think some "homerism" would come into play. The one that seems to have it down is Berkshire - if a store has one Berkshire brew they seem to have them all - full line and in the cooler as Berkshire wants it. CBC seems to command quite a bit of shelf space as well. Other New England brews seem to be pretty spotty to my eye.

 

Im pretty proud and happy of the beer selection in northeast New Jersey (as most NJ natives know south and north jersey are essentially two different entities). There are a number of up and coming breweries as well as some older established breweries such as Flying Fish and Riverhorse. Not to mention the two local gems of Carton and Kane which both have very limited distribution so they are not well known outside of our area. Additionally the state is pretty high up there for beer distribution, and many of the beers unavailable in NJ are easily available in NY (westbrook and bells for two) or Philly. We have some big box stores but also a lot of smaller local stores, and you can find a lot of fresh beers in the smaller local spots. The brewpup scene is spread-out but still pretty solid; there are about a handful of very nice to outstanding craft brewpubs within half an hr of my residence. Its certainly not Denver or San Diego, but it ain't too bad either.

 

Not many NY responses, so here's the story.

We have had a recent explosion of new breweries (Transmitter, Finback, Singlecut, Other Half) and some yeoman's work from the existing ones (Sixpoint, Brooklyn, etc.). Also several breweries are now distributing in the NYC area (NEBCO, Jack's Abby, Central Waters, Port City, etc.). Furthermore, we probably get more imports than just about anywhere. It might be expensive, but you can maaaybe find occasional Loon and Westy bottles if you know where to look. Loon stuff can occasionally be had on tap. What with the abundance of fantastic bars and stores in Manhattan and Brooklyn, each trying to outdo the rest, we get plenty of nice tap options. Most decent places keep their lists on beermenus.com pretty up-to-date, so if you're willing to hop on the subway you can secure some walez. Finally, if you want to take a day trip (or an evening trip), Philly is just a short drive (90 minutes or so), and the top spots in Vermont can be hit all in the same day with time for a drink when you get home (I've done it - left at 5:00 am and returned at 10 pm).

In other words, it's not the most amazing availability in the country, but we city folks have little to complain about.

 

Philly is the best in the US in terms of distribution. You have a great sampling of east coast, Midwest, and California beer, plus all the good imports. I lived there for fiveish years and in my travels have yet to find any place that is better. You can use seekabrew to confirm. California distribution varies by region like most other states. In the Bay Area, we have better local beers than Philly, but do not get any of the good Midwest stuff and very little east coast beers. SD probably has the best distro in the state since they get most of the good in-state breweries, plus the locals.

 

They also bottled Veruca Gose late last year, before MBCP. It might have been for Founders only though, like the Iron and Barleywine that just got bottled before the BA Muy Bonita.

 

I'm originally from the Philly area, and now living in Pittsburgh the difference is night and day. Pittsburgh does get some decent distribution, and there are alot of good local microbreweries. But often the new/seasonal releases that hit every other part of the state get held for a month or more before getting released around the Burgh. Nothing like getting that new IPA with a month and a half of age on it.....

 

central Alabama around Birmingham is a great location these days. We get regional breweries like Sweetwater and Terrapin, we have locals like Good People and Straight to Ale, we have Great Divide, Avery, Stone, New Belgium, and I could go on but I won't. We have a pretty good selection all in all, and it's getting better every month.

 

I live in north Alabama. I don't have access to most of the top 250 but I still find good things to drink.

 

I live in Central PA and the distribution is not the best. If a store has a 'cafe' they can sell six packs or bombers, usually they do not carry a good selection and mark the prices up a bit. Otherwise, beer stores sell cases and the variety is not great. Having lived in New York and New Jersey, I do miss the selection, however, I do not miss the taxes.

 

In Hampton Roads (no, I will not all it "Coastal Virginia") we are blessed with several good bottle shops, bars/eateries, and breweries, but I find it difficult to find many beers from the Midwest and especially the West.

 

Back in Lubbock, TX where I'm from, its pretty bad. It's a college town and everyone drinks Coors Light and couldn't give two craps about craft beer. A couple liquor stores have a decent selection of DFH, Stone, Victory, Lagunitas, basic Sierra Nevada (Pale Ale, Torpedo, Stout, Porter, & seasonals), Rogue, Deschutes, Founders, etc. Not too bad. But the bars are AWFUL. One bar in town has DFH 60 & 90, Stone IPA, SNPA and Torpedo, Deschutes Mirror Pond and Chainbreaker. At every other bar, the best you can find is generally Shiner Bock or Blue Moon. SNPA if you're lucky.

Edit: Local breweries in West TX are laughably nonexistent. Theres a decent BBQ place/brewery in town that brews OK beer, and a terrible local brewery that shall remain nameless (tried one of their beers and it was by far the worst thing I've ever tasted, they've got a lot of work to do).

Now I'm in Orlando and my selection is a LOT better on all fronts.

 

Miller lite

 

Just moved from the Bay Area of California which was great as far as local options and pretty good for outside distro if you know where to go. I'll be in western Spain the next few years and there's not a lot going on. Basically no craft imports from the states, but I have run into some Belgians that are new to me and the craft scene in Spain is just starting to come around. The search is on!

 

Central New Jersey. It's pretty good, but it never feels good enough. We get a great selection of year round beers and even seasonals, but you are going to have to work hard to find anything beyond that. Any rare-ish beers that even show up around here are massively overpriced and snatched up in a heartbeat. If it weren't for a bottle shop in PA I frequent, I'd have no access to a lot of the cool stuff I see on this site and want to try.