Looking for recommendations on Bottle Shops that deliver

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by harryhood1, Oct 22, 2014.

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  1. harryhood1

    harryhood1 Initiate (0) Dec 5, 2009 Pennsylvania

    I've heard good things about West Lakeview in Chicago, but I was wondering if you could share good experiences (selection, cost, shipping) with other bottle shops in the mid-west or east coast. I'm mostly interested in finding Sours, Wilds, Belgians. Thanks!
     
  2. TonyLema1

    TonyLema1 Initiate (0) Nov 19, 2008 South Carolina

    I concur with the reviews on West Lakeview, also Archer Liquors, Holiday Wine Cellar, Luekens Liquor and South Lyndale Liquors...also Beverages4Less
     
  3. Danny1217

    Danny1217 Initiate (0) Jul 15, 2011 Florida

    What's always concerned me about ordering from liquor stores that deliver is freshness. I see that West Lakeview has Daisy Cutter and Citra Ninja in stock. How would I have any idea that those are fresh though?
     
  4. gatheredwaters

    gatheredwaters Pooh-Bah (1,773) May 1, 2014 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Call em' up. They are real nice folks over there.
     
  5. StLeasy

    StLeasy Initiate (0) Sep 8, 2013 Illinois

  6. nc41

    nc41 Initiate (0) Sep 25, 2008 North Carolina
    Trader

    Pa is not a ship to state, but I love France 44, beverages 4 less is pricy but the freshejst Alpine you can get Pliny when it's available. Lukens sold me 6 month old Jai Alai I'll never order again, Archer has pre boxed stuff, got some fresh Zombie, it rotates, like it too.
     
    302BeerGuy likes this.
  7. 67couple

    67couple Zealot (651) Jan 31, 2006 South Carolina
    Trader

    Greenville beer exchange ships.
     
  8. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    As noted already, some do not ship alcohol to PA. Probably because they think it's not legal to do so under PA law. If you find one that will ship to PA they think it's because you would be the guilty person not them if any law is being broken. Also, just an FYI, as soon as you accept delivery you are in fact in violation of a PA law governing possession of untaxed alcohol and you have created a "paper trail" that proves it. Will someone catch you and fine you? No idea.
     
  9. RavenForBeer

    RavenForBeer Initiate (0) Mar 4, 2014 Georgia

    Haven't tried ordering from a store yet, but I see this in my future! Keep the great information flowing.
     
  10. SaCkErZ9

    SaCkErZ9 Pooh-Bah (2,923) Feb 27, 2005 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Charleston Beer Exchange (basically the same place) does also.
     
    RavenForBeer likes this.
  11. Jnashed

    Jnashed Initiate (0) Feb 14, 2014 Virginia

  12. HeartofMiami

    HeartofMiami Pooh-Bah (2,233) Sep 20, 2014 Florida
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Halftimebeverage.com is based in NY
     
  13. Can_has_beer

    Can_has_beer Initiate (0) May 14, 2013 Texas

  14. Morey

    Morey Pooh-Bah (1,822) Dec 30, 2007 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Can you buy good beer where you live? If so, I recommend starting there and familiarizing yourself with different beer styles so that you can determine what types of beer that you that you prefer. Plenty of great beer in California man.
     
  15. nkelley77

    nkelley77 Initiate (0) Nov 20, 2013 Massachusetts

    Just go to a liquor store and start there
     
  16. chcfan

    chcfan Initiate (0) Oct 29, 2008 California

    This seems like a troll, but if serious the Pliny limit at the brewery has been ranging from 4-6 recently, so no and "good" is in eye of the beholder. Also searching here and RB for ratings is not too much of a challenge even for the laziest of lazy, but I've been unimpressed by a number of highly rated beers and really like a number of low rated beers, so your mileage may vary.
     
  17. LeRose

    LeRose Grand Pooh-Bah (3,509) Nov 24, 2011 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    You know, not that I am a BA elder statesman or anything, but I generally try to give the benefit of the doubt to new folks. We all were newbies once. Maybe they are just filled with exuberance at joining BA and post without thinking things through or making a little effort to learn the ropes a bit. Everybody has to start somewhere, some lurk and learn, some go with the reckless abandon method. It's all good.

    But mom and dad muling Pliny specifically for trade and then floating the "pre-sell"? Seems a bit much on the surface of things. Smells like troll but if you are legit, @beerreallyrocks , my apologies.

    Just in case, what others have started saying. So many good beers on store shelves these days - dive in the pool and start the journey there. Find styles and flavors you like, but don't be afraid to branch out. Learn about styles - there's a great guide right on this here web site. I can't imagine it being all that difficult finding great brews in SoCal...aren't there a bunch of top shelf breweries in the San Diego area? Ballast Point, Green Flash, Coronado, Alesmith without really thinking...and that other place..the guy with the long hair/beard that smashes beer with rocks and pisses everybody off...rocks...that's it...Stone...

    Even if looking to make legit trades, you probably don't need a hoard of Pliny for bait, just some to drink. Besides, it's a DIPA and everybody knows those are far too old by the time they leave the bottle filler :wink:.
     
    RobinLee, tylerstravis and drtth like this.
  18. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Welcome to the site!

    You've got it, you need to put in some time. First you learn the ins and outs of the site, such as the Terms of Service and Beer 101, that questions about trading are best asked in the Trading forum where the experts on the topic hang out. Then you learn such things as how to use the database to find good beers near you to buy and try and such things as how to search for prior threads on a topic you are interested in learning more about.

    This place is a great resource for everything you ask about if you put in some time.

    Enjoy!
     
    SweetChicken likes this.
  19. Drift

    Drift Initiate (0) Mar 26, 2014 California
    Trader

    I sold my rare for near that :grinning:
     
  20. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Sort of. Lets say you want to try out some top shelf saisons. You click the link for "Beers" and then click the link for Beer styles, then find the link for Saisons/Farmhouse Ales. After you click on that you'll get a list of Saisons in order from most frequently rated to least frequently rated. Those that are most often rated are likely to have wide spread distribution and be available near you. There is also a link that you can click to get them ordered from most highly rated on down. That list will tell you what the BAs who've had a particular saison rated it and give you a sense of what some of the higher scores look like for Saisons (there are rating biases so a score for a Saison of say 4.5 does not mean the same thing as a high score of 4.5 for an Imperial Stout).

    Look again at the widely available Saisons, pick some and start reading the reviews, some reviewers can be quite helpful in enabling you to predict what the flavors will be, others will be less helpful. Go back to the widely distributed Saisons and make up your shopping list. Be prepared to visit a few places near you to learn which beers they have in stock and you'll probably find a few of those you are looking for.

    Repeat for as many other styles as you have patience for or until you learn enough other things about the places you shop that you can trust the recommendations they are able to make as well.

    Most important, have fun!
     
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