Good beer in unexpected places

I was just in the Amtrak station in Philly, called 30th St. Station. They had a bar with a great craft line-up. The opposite of an airport bar.

 

You can buy Heady Topper at a mobil station in Shelburne, VT...

 

Found not one but TWO Sam Adams Utopias (each of the last two vintages) in a tiny local liquor store. They were like, "Who would buy that?!" Well...a lot of people! Haha.

 

Found these at the Detroit Zoo today. They've done this for at least a year now, carrying local craft. I think last year they only had one variety. From left to right : Crazy Train IPA, Bell's Amber, Bell's Double Cream, and Crooked Tree IPA. Anyone else found decent beer where they didn't even think it was an option?

 

I was chatting with a local liquor store employee not long ago and he was telling me about this tiny mom and pop liquor store in town that had two cases of Surly Darkness kinda shoved away in a corner this past fall. They had no idea what it was and couldn't fathom people spending $22 for one bottle of beer. Once word got out, they sold it all in a couple hours.

 

So here I am in Aruba, on my honeymoon vacation, and we get a nice dinner recommendation to go to this spot sort of off the beaten path, but close to downtown. They're known for great food, but also Aruba's best beer list. I'm thinking maybe they have a couple nice imports or just a slightly expanded American list compared to the usual Bud, Miller, etc. that populates most beer lists down here. But, no. They have a stellar beer list. Flying Dog, Dogfish Head, Firestone Walker, and nearly every top Belgian and German import. Oh, and nearly 2 cases of Westy 12. In Aruba! So my night consisted of Westy 12 followed by 2015 Helldorado. First time having both. It was a blast.

So, what's the greatest beer you've seen/had in the most unexpected place? I mean places that should see little to no distribution of these beers. For me, it's Westy 12 in Aruba.

Cheers!

 

A&T in Spain on the shelf last year and Fou Foune 15 in Brugge this year before it had even been released at Cantillon.

 

A few years ago I drank my way through Amsterdam. Lot's of great breweries and bars, but the one I remember most clearly is BeerTemple because I was so damn shocked when I walked in. 30+ taps, about 1/3 of which were American. Southern Tier, 3 Floyds, Rogue, Stone, etc.
I wasn't in Amsterdam to drink beer I can get in my neighborhood, but I thought it was pretty damn cool that something like that exists there. Then the biggest WTF moment came when I saw their bottles of Russian River sours.

 

While not as impressive as the above stories, I was blown away by Moose Juice barleywine at St Elias brewing co in Soldotna, Ak. Never expected that quality of beer in a small Alaska town.

 

I remember being there myself and telling the bartender that he had American beers that I can't get where I am in America. He said he hears that all the time.

EDIT: p.s. I hope you made it to In De Wildeman. Loved that place

 

Heady Topper at the Burlington airport. Was 6am and they can't sell before 8am...fml

Although it was $8 a can. I would have loved to just have that experiance at an airport.

 

Went to Worthy Burger, in Royalton Vermont, on Monday and the they had Double Dose and Bomb! on draft...best day ever!

 

We randomly get bottles of Cantillon and 3 Fonteinen here in Hawai'i. Also see it on tap.

 

Wait, you can get 3 Floyd in Europe but I can't get it in Buffalo ?

 

De Wildeman was actually my first stop of the trip. I had nice fresh Jopen something or other and a Belgian beer I had never heard of. World class establishment.

 

This makes me sick. In the mid-to-late 2000s, both of those sat on the shelves and literally collected dust. It was a good time to be a sour lover. Haven't seen either one distributed here in at least three years.

 

Yeah, that's exactly what I thought when I saw it on the board. Apparently they at least occasionally carry Dark Lord. It's like $100 per bottle, but still.
I went to their website earlier. They are hosting a Pizza Port tap take over with about a dozen beers that may be common in CA, but I have never heard of.

 

Cascade and Upright sits on the shelves here too

 

I'm in Oahu now been to two different craft beer bars both had multiple bottles Cantillon available but at $45 each i had to pass. And i was surprised at the tap lists and bottle selections at a couple of places i stopped by here on Oahu

 

I went to a hole in the wall bar, one of those neon-Miller-sign, 4-shop-strip-mall-located joints, for karaoke night, and had resigned myself to the fact that I'd have to sing without any liquid courage. However, not only did they have good beer, they had 4 taps of a tiny local brewer (MadCap Brew Co.) available!