How do you like shop beer selections?

I would prefer organization by style, but most places organize by brand and region.

 

Me like beer! Beer taste good!!

 

I prefer by brewery because I usually have a list of beers from particular brewers I'm seeking out.

 

By brewery, in alphabetical order. For me, it's the easiest way to find what I'm interested in.

And I think it makes browsing more interesting (e.g., "Oh, I didn't know <fill in brewery> made a <fill in style of beer>.")

 

Not like Total Wine's should be an option in the poll.

 

By color of label

 

Basically exactly what I wanted to say. I like when a brewery has all their stuff grouped together with the breweries in ABC order. If the actual beers from said breweries aren't in ABC order, that's no big deal.

 

See, I think organizing them by style is more likely to produce the scenario you describe in your second phrase. When things are organized by style I have the tendency to overlook Brewery X because I don't know much about brewery X. However, if it's done by style and I am looking for, let's say, a Kolsch, I may go to the Kolsch section and see that Brewery X makes a Kolsch and be like, "Oh, Brewery X, I have never heard of them, I will give this a try!"

Six to one, half a dozen to another I suppose.

Cheers!

 

Total Wine is organized by EVERYTHING. Separate sections for different countries. However, if the imported beers are in single bottles, they are in a separate section near the domestic beers. Most things are organized by brewery, but sometimes they have multiple sections for the same brewery. Some time similar styles are bunched together, sometimes not. Some new releases and local beers are placed at the front of the store all the way on the opposite side of the rest of the beer.

I'm going to answer not like Total Wine as well.

 

I prefer by region and then by brewery.

Going by style gets too tricky the more creative brewers become.

 

By brewery, then by name of beer.

 

Brewery is probably easier for me ... that is how most do it already, so I'm used to it.

It might be cool to see a store organized completely by style. I voted for brewery, but style would be interesting (though jbertsch makes a great point: Breweries mis-name things or use weird names all the time. Where do you put a beer named "amber red ale" that turns out to be a Vienna lager or some such?)

 

I voted "by brewery." In my little Wyoming town, we simply don't have the volume of distribution to worry about it much either way. Besides a few seasonals and the very rare occasion of getting a new beer or brewery, I can walk into any store in town and know where on the shelf any given beer that I want will be.

When I go out of town, or especially to a bigger city (thinking of Denver), I'm overwhelmed by all the different beers/breweries that I've never tried. So in that way, I still like to have it organized by brewery. I can scan the shelves looking for brewers that I'm familiar with or want to try, and then I can see what the store offers in terms of specific beers. If those stores were organized by style, I'd be all over the place. "I like IPAs...I'll look in IPAs. Omg, look at all the IPAs I want to try. But I like stouts too...etc."

 

My thoughts exactly.

A store by me used to do it by style and it didn't work out as well as you would think. If I was perusing the shelves and saw something by a particular brewery, I would then wonder what else they carried- and then it wasn't all in one place. It could get frustrating at times, almost like breaking your train of thought having to wander over to other areas and then back again.

 

I agree... region then brewery.
Region lets me do a bee line for the area of origin without much searching. (also easier to tell if a certain brewer isn't stocked)
Then brewery, so I can see quickly what brews are available from them.

 

I kind of like a bit of everything. Most of the time I want style, but Im a fairly regional guy. I love walking into a store here in NC and seeing all of the NC beer in its own little section. And when Im back home in OH (where I dont know nearly enough about breweries), I definitely like to see it. That way I can make an effort to buy local. Total Wine used to be ALL by the brewery and I loved it, but now theyve switched to style alphabetically by brewery name. When I want an Olde Hickory, Great Lakes, Hoppin Frog, or other specific brewery, it takes for freaking ever.