Half time or deciccoS

I took a half day from work yesterday and wanted to head over the NY border for some beers not in NJ. The plan was to go to Decicco's in Armonk, then stop at either Cable or Growler and Gill on the way back but I spent way too much time at Decicco's.

I ended up sitting at the bar, had a pint of Peekskill Eastern Standard, tried some Bell's Two Hearted and then I noticed in small print that they had bottles of Cantillon for in bar consumption. A little pricey but since I never had one, I sprung for it. Had a .375 of Rose and it was delightful. I picked up a growler of Jack's Abbey and Bell's Java Stout. Then I picked up bottels of Crooked Stave, Justin Blabaer, Some Bells, Mikkellar and a few other things I had been looking for.

Ended up having no time for the other two stores but the trip was well worth it.

 

Yeah, Armonk had a Bells event last night with Laura Bell. Seemed like a cool event.

 

I am ashamed that I didn't mention Peekskill brewery. It's super and a destination itself. I can't give PB enough accolades.

Looks like Jayneo let the cat outta the bag about Cantillon at Decicco's. Brewster Decicco's had it too as of yesterday (10/24) for in the bar consumption.

 

fwiw peekskill is out of a lot of their beers right now. Probably better off saving that trip for another time OP.

 

It's been available for in bar consumption for a week+, they just got in a huge shipment og Rose de Grambinus yesterday. $23 a 375 though...

 

can i revive this discussion? I'll be in the area in a few days. Both the main Deciccio locations have great tap/growler lists. What about bottle selection?

 

I was just at DeCicco's Armonk (now probably the best location) last weekend and the bottle selection is great, in addition to having a great selection of drafts and a nice bar area.

 

I am looking at the cask republic in stamford and it kicks for any city.

 

Things have changed a bit since the thread started. I'd say that the new Half Time in Mamaroneck is as good as it gets for buying bottles. Deciccos Armonk or Brewster is the better choice if you're looking for a bar experience in the store. A word of caution about Deciccos Armonk - for better and for worse, it's an import graveyard.

 

I am working through the jargon -so graveyard- a dumping ground?and brewster not so?
mamaroneck, best bottle store in NY area (which usually is better than western NY because of distribution)? because half time site is not so impressive on bottles. And growler fills better in decicco? Because i am driving, not looking for a bar experience in a store.

 

If it's not too late, I'll try to outline the pros and cons. I'm assuming that location and convenience aren't too much of a concern (I'd rather have an extra 1.5 hrs at Brewster than be rushed in Mamaroneck). Forgive me if I mischaracterize a detail and get something wrong due to fuzzy memory.

Either Deciccos is probably better for growlers. I think each has crowlers now and counter pressure growler fills. On the other hand, Half Time is usually more likely to have local draft only options. Each Deciccos has had Hill Farmstead on occasion, but most likely won't do fills of that. Look at beermenus to see Deciccos taplist. Half Time uses beermenus and their own site but I don't know which one gets updated quicker.

Deciccos Brewster probably has the most refrigerated beer.

Deciccos is perhaps more likely to get bottles that beer geeks need to ask for (not on the shelf). Check their facebook pages for updates in this regard. I have no idea how Half Time is on this front.

All three stores have out of date bottles, but Deciccos Armonk in particular has an impressively vast import section - but with an alarming number of beers that shouldn't still be on the shelf.

If you're very interested in singles, Half Time is the way to go. You can pull any single out of any sixer. Deciccos has a singles section but with some old stock.

Half Time Mamaroneck is like a Staples for beer. It's insane. You get your shopping cart and go through isle after isle neatly arranged by country. It's truly impressive. Like a Total Wine w/o the wine. Deciccos will give you a more personal experience but mainly at the bars since it's really a supermarket.

Half Time is like a super-store with home brew supply and the occasional neon for sale. Convenient empty boxes are at the registers. The selection is incredible. It's especially good if you are interested in international beer.

Deciccos Brewster and Half Time are great stores. I'm less familiar with Armonk. Armonk has a weird layout. Bar and bombers on second floor. Sixers and cases in cooler isle on first. If you happen to be close by, Deciccos Ardsley is very nice. They just don't have the same level of wow factor of the other locations.

 

when I read reviews on various sites, Ardsley seems to be the best then brewsters. Armonk is not recommended.
Interesting comment on the "nerds need to ask" as it will depend on the server, and if server is busy, to get the best beers. Singles are an important consideration.

 

Decicco's Armonk and Ardsley are both great. The bar area in the Armonk location is fantastic.

 

All three are good. If proximity doesn't matter, I'd go to Brewster. Ardsley was recently renovated and improved, but I'd probably put Brewster as the standard-bearer for the locations.

 

Half Time has *more* local draft options, but they're generally of poorer quality. Singlecut is the only local brewery of note that they have regularly. They do occasionally get Carton but they've only had Other Half once or twice(DeCiccos regularly has OH).

DeCiccos (Brewster & Armonk, Ardsley in that order, are the best stores based on many visits to both, IMO), Half Time always updates their website first, so that's the best source for their growler list.

Half Time gets almost all the bottles people are looking for and almost always get larger quantities of them than DeCiccos. They very rarely announce that they have anything sought after on FB/Instagram/Twitter because they'd be rushed.

Another important note, DeCiccos has better prices on the same beer 95% of the time when compared to Half Time (all of this is referring to the Mamaroneck store).

On a side note: It looks like DeCiccos are building a new store in Larchmont, which is one town over from Mamaroneck. Will be interesting to see if they focus on craft beer or strictly on the grocery (as they do in Harrison).

 

I just wanted to update my posts from earlier after going to Half Time Mamaroneck a few more times. The "out of date bottles" situation there has just gotten worse and worse since their opening. They still have some real gems there, it's still quite an experience to shop there, they still let you buy singles from any six pack... but man, my opinion of the place has gone down. So much beer that shouldn't be there anymore.