Favorite Beer Store?

Out of state, my favorite shop I have visited so far is the Belmont Party Supply in Dayton, OH. Not only did they have an UNREAL selection throughout the store, their staffing was very friendly and was able to point me into the direction of what I was looking for. Their "1 Per Customer" line-up was also out of this world! I will be coming back to this store whenever I pass through Ohio in the future!

In state, I go to three stores regularly. The Wine & Cheese Place in Clayton, Lukas Liquor in Ellisville, and Randall's Wine & Spirits. All three of these are stocked with everything you can find that gets distributed to the MO Market but sometimes you have to search and find those harder to get beers. This is part of the fun too!

 

A store that I know will be honest with me is #1 in my book. There are a couple of stores in town that I won't give my money to no matter how big the selection is. I am loyal to a couple of stores because I know that I will be treated fairly without having to kiss someone's ass to get the "rare" brews.

 

Decent unique selection+ quick turnover+staff who will go out of their way to indulge me = That's my magic formula.

 

My favorite place is actually my local Hy-Vee. They have a good selection (getting better all the time), the lowest prices in town, the staff are very friendly (and have come to know me) and are more or less knowledgeable depending on who you talk to.

 

My criteria for good beer spots:
Good Selection
Fair pricing
Helpful staff

That said, here are my top 3 beerstores
1.Deciccos in Ardsley,NY - ton of selection of beers from around the US&the world, BMC is hidden in a back cooler, real helpful staff, fair pricing. Small gripe is that they dont do mix&match as far as singles go. Top notch place
2. Finger lakes Beverage co. In Ithaca,ny - good selection here as well, seen beers here that Ive never seen anywhere else in the country. Fair pricing, ability to break up 4/6 packs. Staff is meh, but I usually know what it is I want when I go shopping for beer.
3. Beverage Barn in Garden City,ny - mix&match of 6 packs, good sales on beer (had cases of HP/Paulaner O'fest for $25!), only gripe is that some of their bottles are out of date, staff is a joke as well.

Oh yeah, and fuck Beers of the World in Rochester. Overpriced bastids!

 

Here in Atlanta it's a toss-up between Ale Yeah! and Hop City.

 

^This guy knows what it's about.

 

Def gotta be Cave a Bulles in Paris. Dope staff, awesome glassware, and vintage Cantillon cellared by the owner... awesome.

 

This is a difficult question to answer. I usually make my rounds mid week to all of the local stores. I have a beer guy/girl at each one and I really appreciate them for what they have done for me.

If I had to choose my top three, I would have to say; The Keg ≥ Louisville Beer Store > Sergios. The Keg wins because of volume, price, selection (they have great prices on bourbon too!) and the girls there are super friendly. They know their beer too! Todd puts together some of the best events and is a real "promoter" of craft beer. LBS is a great store in its own right. I can always find something rare or unusual there and the guys are always happy to talk beer. They also have a small tap selection and you can open the bottles on site to enjoy. They have a huge selection, but its a little more limited than Keg. Keg wins out because they are able to get a lot of Indiana distribution and always end up having FFF when other stores in Louisville do not. Of course, FFF was not the only factor in this being my top choice. I just used that as an example. Finally, Sergios has to be mentioned just bcause of the sheer volume of inventory. I used to really dislike going there until I began to talk to the guys behind the counter and found out just what kind of things came into the store. Now its my go to for many things I cant get elsewhere.

Honorable mentions: Evergreen Liquors and Liquor Barn

 

I like places that a wide variety of styles from many different breweries, so I’m willing to cut them some slack on freshness; I’m sure it’s easier turning over cases of Bud Light than six packs of an oatmeal stout made on the other side of the country. I require stores to have a wide selection of four packs and six packs because I think large single bottles tend to offer poor value. That said, I do love buying single 12-ounce bottles, but there aren’t many places around here that sell them.

At this point, I have a good handle on what my personal preferences are, so I put less emphasis on staff input. If I see something new that looks interesting to me, I’ll either buy it if I’m confident I’ll like it or go home and look it up on this website if I’m less confident.