Long Island Beer Stores?

Yea. It wasn't horrible, but definitely way past its prime. Not something I'd recommend.

 

If there was a plethora of fantastic bottle shops at every turn in LI, you could avoid this place because they sometimes keep stuff on the shelf too long. But completely writing off the only place within 20 miles that actually has a solid selection seems fairly ridiculous. Pick up a bottle, look at the date, if its old or is covered in dust, put it back.

 

Unfortunately it is more than sometimes. That place has burned me one too many times with old beer. Last time I was there they had new Sculpin(new label) and old Sculpin (old label). I think the old Sculpin is almost 18 months old!!

The selection is a double-edged sword as they don't have enough customers to turn over all that beer before it gets old.

 

Hence the reason I mentioned the possibility of old bottles in my last two posts. But if someone asked me where to go in Nassau for a good selection I will mention that place 10 out of 10 times with a warning to check bottle dates. My options are a run down store in Wantaugh, a decent place in Bellmore, drive 25 minutes to Huntington or go to Seaford where I can check bottle dates and select from Mikkeler, Fantome, AleSmith and a ton else that no store close to here has. And lets be honest anyway, I will take an 18 month old Sculpin, or older bottles of Racer 5, Flower Power or Stone IPA over a corner store who's boldest option is fresh Negra Modelo any day of the week.

 

I bought 12 bombers of Stone Smoked Porter for 18 dollars there! Each was within the stamped date. Note xactly a beer-lovers beer store though. Some goodies, but also some serious lacking of staples.

 

Monarch in Long Beach is really good. Same owner as West Hempstead beverage. If you want to talk about the whole island except Manhattan then Eagle Provisions and Bierkraft: both in Park Slope, may be the best bottle shops on the island (even though people who live in Brooklyn and Queens don't consider it).

 

It might be rundown, but you can kill two birds with one stone and buy some heroin there with your beer.

http://www.longislandpress.com/2011/10/06/cops-bust-heroin-storefront-near-2-wantagh-schools/

In all seriousness, the owner is a good guy and was screwed by the secret actions of some employees. Apparently he was cleared of wrongdoing.

 

Hahaha...yes I heard about this when it happened. To be honest, when I moved out to LI 3 years ago, the Wantagh store was one of the first I found and I was pretty impressed. As you said, the owner was a good guy and I spent about 20 minutes bs'ing with him and sampling stuff off the growler station. Unfortunately that situation must have taken its toll as the store has been on a steady decline ever since. I stopped in there about a month ago and the shelves were virtually empty. Its a shame, the place definitely was headed in the right direction before the whole heroin thing.

 

Is this the Wantagh distro you are talking about?

http://longisland.craigslist.org/bfs/2831243125.html

 

I agree, Mike is a great guy, but his stock has diminished, and he doesn't get much in the way of new releases, but it was my go to place for a while until his employees screwed him. I tend to go to A&R local (but like others said, check the bottle dates) or Big Z in Huntington.

 

Thats it! Mike said he lost over 50% of his business and needs to cut his losses. He's a great guy, but once this happened so close to the school, the town really turned on him.

 

Their method of categorization is infuriating - as is the turnover rate, which finds most of their selection out of date. Apart from that, it's a very large unorganized selection.

 

Mike is a great guy, it's sad to see what happened to him/his business because of some stupid kid.

 

they just changed that in the last couple months...same in West Hempstead
I liked the old way where they categorized by style...by brewer's state is mind-boggling

 

I disagree (but maybe in the minority)... I LOVE how West Hempstead changed it up... I like finding beers by brewery/state rather that style...

 

I prefer by brand. It's easier to scan and find new products.

 

that is how i see it... all breweries on shelves by state with grouped by individual brewery...i like to look for brands and then all their beers at once

 

Man I miss my Bierkraft! I lived in Bay Ridge for 2 years and used to hit that place up every Friday on the train ride home from work in the city. They are a little pricey but their selection was solid and their growler station was kick ass. Plus, when you are feeling really sophisticado you can pick up crazy types of cheese and chocolates for pairing.

 

You will def run into old bottle at both Monarch and West Hemp.

Eagle is a great shop, but a bit pricey and co-worker lives nearby and picks stuff up from there for me.

 

It's a decent store. I'd frequent that place if I lived in near it. I just happened to stumble across it in my travels for work.