Hello all, I live in the Indianapolis area and am interested in buying a mass quantity of beer, but in singles, to try as many different styles as possible. I know that Kroger and a few local grocery-type stores have a create your own six pack, but the selection never seems to change and I have tried just about all of those. Also, many of the beers are past their "best used by date". I am hoping that somebody can give me some advice on where else to look. Thank you for helping this newcomer to the craft beer world!
I'm not familiar with the Indianapolis area, but where I live we are fortunate enough to have a few craft beer stores that sell only craft beer and have a wonderful selection. Some wine and liquor stores (Total Wine is one here) also have a decent craft beer selection. You could check out the Beer Mapping Project's map of Indianapolis and see if there's a store near you that caters to the craft beer crowd.
Not sure how close the nearest Binny's is to you (Champaign?), but when I was in Chicago I bought a load of singles from their mix-a-six display. $10 a six I think, and it included some really decent stuff. A lot of Two Brothers, GI, Tyranena, Big Sky, etc. Way better than any grocery store mix-a-six program I've ever seen. You could load up on 50 singles you haven't tried for under $100. Hard to beat that.
That would actually work as I make a trip out to the Quad Cities 2-3 times a year. I will definitely be stopping there next time. Thank you.
Well Binny's is far from Indianapolis but I suggest using the places feature on Beer Advocate. You can search stores. I have found the best places that way. People usually recommend them and supply comments.
96th street Payless off of 37 hands down. Pretty much anything they have in stock can be purchased as a single. A bit of an up charge but worth it to not have to commit to a full 6 pack.
If you're ever down by Greenwood there's Parti-Pak Liquor on Stop 11 road. It's off Madison and just before the train tracks. They've got a few decent beers and they are willing to break 6ers if you want to pay a little extra for single beers.
