Dream Beer Store!

Someone may correct me if I'm wrong here, but I'm pretty sure in MN it is illegal to have taps (or growler fills) in a liquor/beer store. So Four Firkins was essentially offsite consumption only, except for tasting events, etc.

I personally loved that place and was sad to see it go... I always wondered if they bit off more than they could chew by trying to open a second location (and if that, specifically, caused some of the problems that forced them to close), but others here probably know more about it than I do... I'm just speculating.

 

I think Four Firkins closed mainly because Twin City liquor stores everywhere added to their craft beer selection and those stores usually had cheaper prices and were located closer to your house. When FF opened they had little competition that sold a wide variety of craft beer. FF made other business errors but I think increased competition from other stores (who also sold wine & liquor with better margins) hit FF the hardest.

 

My favorite beer store wasn't in MN. It was "The Casual Pint" in Knoxville, TN. It's literally half bar, half beer store, with growler fills. Of course, that's not legally possible in MN right now. But maybe some day.

http://thecasualpint.com/

 

Top beer stores for me would be:
Belmont Station
Beertopia
Locally-Cyclone Liquors

All three have bars attached or next door, but all could stand alone from a selection and service standpoint.

 

Best craft beer stores I have been to with examples of why I like them:
Appalachian Vintners in Asheville - great selection of local beer, good prices, wine, cheese, and a bar for draft pours or growler fills
Craft Beer Cellar in Waterbury, Vermont - lots of local beer, bar for draft pours or growler fills, homebrew supplies

Best local MN stop:
Zipps: little to no markup on mix-match and will break up basically anything for you, good selection, great sale prices, and friendly staff

 

That and most of the staff was crazy douchey even if you knew about craft beer. Can't imagine how it felt to walk in there with less experience.

 

You basically described Craft Beer Cellar. Drive to Columbia and check ours out.

 

I've seen both of these happen irl and I can't advocate for them enough. I live next to one of the best bottle shops in Madison and the owner told me he likes to tweet out the special releases around 5pm so normal working people can have a chance at them. I work near the sister store who likes to tweet out releases a few hours earlier, so I get to double dip, but I also spend a lot of money at those places anyways.