How often do you purchase packaged beer at retailers?

I picked *MOSTLY, wish I could say *Not Often.

Buying directly from the brewery is the way to go for freshness as I don't brew, however the convenience of the large bottle shops and smaller retailers can't be ignored.

A big Salute in advance to the 1st member who can honestly say *Never.

 

Well stated. The brewers at 2 local breweries have told me that negative feedback from drinkers is much more useful than positive feedback.

 

Tree House sells by the can which is nice except when they only let you buy 2 cans of something like King Julius. Trillium sells by the 4 pack but will also sell singles. I imagine other breweries in my area would do that same.

 

I'm fortunate to have a half dozen small breweries within 10 miles of home and a couple 3 really good taprooms but I still buy most of my beer from the grocery store I frequent (I can't drive, so transportation is an issue).

 

Indeed. Negative feedback with a reason for the negative feedback is always very useful.

 

Over 90% from beer distributors
The next 6ish% is from out of state retailers
The next 1% is at a bar/food place
The last 1% is from a brewery. I do go to a certain place that brews and makes pizza, I’m good for 3-4 pints a month and 1-2 growlers a year from them.

Cost is so much less from the distributor I go to than any other place.

Enjoy

 

The last time I was at Troegs you could buy a single bottle.

Enjoy

 

Is 'distributor' Pennsylvania lingo for retailer? I know you guys in PA have strange laws but your use of that word in that context just seems foreign to me.

 

Beer distributor is where back in the day you could buy beer only by the case in PA. Today you can buy a single and up there as well as many other places. Distributors are still for me the cheapest place to buy beer. A grocery store might have a six pack for $11 but at a distributor I can probably get the case for $36

Enjoy

 

Breweries tend to NOT sell you singles. It's 4 or 6 pack or nothing.

So I shop at local shops that let me buy singles. I can buy adventurously, not concerned about getting stuck with 3-5 beers I don't want if it's not something I liked.

 

I’m probably 70% retailer, 30% brewery.

Five years ago, that was probably 90/10, and 10 years ago, it was probably 99.9/0.1.

Drink Local/Drink Fresh is very real.

 

Visiting local breweries isn't exactly convenient for me, and it tends to be quite expensive. Too much for me to usually justify at least. So, I'd say very seldomly do I start from buying packaged beer at stores

 

I'm working hard to make my grocery store better than our 2 local "beer shops". Right now I've got the biggest selection in town (a 60 foot aisle) and have only had craft beer since September 23rd with new beer being added weekly so I hope people continue to buy at the retail level.

 

60/40 retail to brewery direct.

 

90% of purchases are from retail outlets. 99+% by volume. I will get a growler or a 4 pack at a brewery. I will get 2 cases, and a few singles or four packs at a liquor store. I don't feel comfortable living off of $96 cases from breweries.

 

Voted mostly. Stores carry a bigger variety and are a convenient stop. I have 3 breweries close to me and none are convenient to my house. I have multiple grocery stores and one craft store that are convenient and close. I also have styles I favor and am picky about those styles. The breweries available may not even have those styles in stock. The local breweries make good beer and I've buy from them occasionally. That said, they also do not have near the variety of a store. So between convenience and variety I go to stores.

 

What city/state is your store? Maybe some other local BA members can help you start moving that beer past the cash registers and out the door.

 

So about 80% "Mostly" or "All of the time" at this point via retailer and this is a beer "geek" crowd. Prob 98% retailer for me.


I suspect that age would reflect similarly in this poll with a large percentage of the Mostly or All of the Time being > 50 years old. Other than to get a pint Mecktoberfest on release day and grabbing a sixer, I cannot remember the last time I bought beer to take home at a brewery.

As a member of that 50+ crowd I still enjoy a visit to a brewery from time to time but really don't think of going for much more than a social visit with a group and not for the purpose of getting cans/growlers. I don't see a lot of us geezers hauling it out.

Plus my favorite retail spot has a great tap list!!!!!!!

 

Possibly anecdotal - but @frozyn, @RobNewton and I know a guy called @jrnyc who frequently dodders over to Other Half on his walker. Guy must be in his 80’s but lives for the haze. Locally he’s called hazegramps