Referencing BA while buying beer

I'm sure I've purchased a beer or two in the past 5 years or so that I didn't vet on BA first, but not more than that.

But I also talk to the beverage store employees, to the point that the employees of my local know me by name - and my wife. "Oh, you're ovaltine's wife." Yep.

 

When I am at my local bottle shop I always look for Sam who runs it. Fun guy to talk to, knows his beer and always has good recommendations. When I'm not on my home field I will look for stuff I can't get at my local shop, rarely does that mean I look at my phone.

 

I check to get a ballpark idea in some cases...but really only if it is a fairly pricey bomber/500ml or is a six pack. If I can buy a single can/bottle of 12oz I can take that risk. I'm checking to see if it is utter crap mostly.

As for store employees, aside from Craft Beer Cellar or similar, I don't find that they know much about craft beer. I've spent a little time talking to several local shop people, making suggestions, letting them know about releases of beers that may be of interest to them. They are much better now, but 2-3 years ago? Pretty clueless really. Even now, I've probably had half the beers in their shops, and they may have had 5% of them.

 

I am happy to chat with the store employees when they seem interested in actually assisting me. But many times you can be standing next to the employee stocking shelves two feet away and they won't even look in your direction. I will sometimes approach them if I am looking for something new or specific but if not and they don't ask, I will look to BA for information. Not every employee that works in a store that happens to sell craft beer is knowledgeable or gives a hoot about craft beer. When in doubt, I pull out my phone and take a look for myself.

For an example, there is a liquor/wine/beer store less than 5 minutes from my home that I buy beer from. They used to have a really interested, motivated young beer guy that was always happy to chat and advise of new items. I tried many of his recommendations and was never disappointed. He has since left, and although I still shop there, it is less frequent because the employees really don't have a clue and/or appear annoyed when I happen to ask about a specific beer. So if I see something new there, I pull out my phone and do a little reading. As I said, it all depends.

 

Depends on where I am buying the beer. The staff at most of the half decent bottle shops around me are typically not that well informed, especially if I am looking for beers that are way less than common. If I visit a good bottle shop where the staff are actually beer people or well educated on the products, then I feel comfortable talking about the beer with the staff and taking recommendations. Just depends on the circumstances.

 

I like to do both. When I hit Beverage Warehouse in Winooski, I always talk with the staff. I rely on them a great deal and they really know their stuff.

Shout out to Scott lol

 

If it's going to be an expensive purchase then I'll check.

 

I actually check untapped more because of the ease of using it on my phone. Ratings are pretty close anyway

 

I used to look them up while shopping, when I first got started. Haven't done that in a long time, though. In my defense, most of the beer store employees aren't too knowledgable on craft beer in this immediate area. There's one store, with one guy in particular, who knows their/his stuff. I could credit him with schooling me on a lot of the different styles when I was a newb. Now a days, I'm usually at least a little familar with just about everything I come across locally, so there's that. And, of course, the occassional blind-impulse purchase is good for the soul.

 

My view on this is like everything else. Some people hate onions. While others like it. Some people hate mushrooms while others don't mind.

If you see a beer that feel interested in because you like the certain hops..
Try it. You might like it, regardless of what others think.