Russian River Bottle Availability (Brew Pub)

Go Tuesday. Waits on Sundays are terrible.

 

Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa is close to RR and has good prices on styro shippers.

 

Cartons & Crates in Napa I hear is good.

 

You can go to a UPS or Fedex and they will provide the box and (obviously) ship for you. I know they charge a lot for their packaging, but it may be worth avoiding the extra hassle of hunting a shipper down.

 

If there's a wait right when they open on a Tuesday then the terrorists have won.

 

@emr25,

Bottle Barn is a bit out of the way,IMO. BeerCraft in Rohnert Park has twelve shippers in stock and they are decently priced. Right off the 101, easy off easy on. Plus a huge bottle selection and a great tap list.

 

Although beercraft is a "must hit" spot, they don't open until noon where as bottle barn opens at nine am. If your plan is to be at rr for the 11am opening then bottle barn is the only option for your shipper unless you wanted to hit beercraft after rr. Plus, the bottle selection at bottlebarn is still pretty sweet.

Also, can't quote cause I'm on my phone but do NOT take your bottles into a fed ex or ups and ask them to ship it. It's illegal and all they will do is refer you to a wine shipper which is massively expensive. Beercraft can ship for you if you live in a state they ship to but there is an upcharge. Paying to check the box will almost certainly be cheaper than postage and your bottles will be right there when you get off the plane instead of a week behind...

Sounds like you already decided on Tuesday which really is a better idea. Sunday is happy hour prices all day so it does tend to be one of the most congested days...

 

Do less PTE and grab as many of the highly rated sours as you can. I was at RR for first time in July, had Supplication for first time when I got home, regretted not buying more of it.

Shipping them home is fine, but put some in your suitcase also to maximize your haul.

 

I was there a couple of weeks ago. I bought a 12-bottle shipper, and used it to ship 24 in two separate suitcases (half and half, with each surrounded by clothing, etc).
Half pliny, quarter supplication, quarter consecration.
I brought back 8-10 other bottles as well. no problems and under 50 lbs each.

 

It's not actually illegal to ship with FedEx or UPS. It is illegal to ship via USPS - so definitely don't do that. It's against the terms and conditions for FedEx and UPS, so you won't want to tell them, but you're also not breaking the law.

 

Interesting distinction and thank you for clarifying. I had always thought this was tied into some post prohibition laws about crossing state lines, tiered distribution, taxes, etc that made it illegal. I operated under the assumption that shipping within your state was legal but still against policy, and crossing state lines was illegal. Guess I should do my homework!

I mean, I have had angry fed ex employees call and tell me that they are going to report me to the authorities for some ungodly fine but I always take that with a grain of salt.

 

Shipping beer across state lines without a proper license is illegal, no matter the carrier. Federal law. Further, The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau says that shipments of booze across domestic borders is prohibited if they’re in violation of the receiving state's laws.

To finish, it's always illegal for people like us(shipping person to person) to ship across state lines, not necessarily in-state. Though still against carrier policy unless you pay the extra fee for the 21+ signature. It's legal for licensed retailers to ship across state lines if the receiving state's laws allow it.

 

As of yesterday they are sold out of Blind Pig.

 

Did the still have the "great beer great wine" bottles? Need to pick one up before its gone...

 

I've never used them since I'm local, but I've seen "Ship your wine here!" signs on Fedex/UPS stores in the Bay Area/wine country. How are they advertising that if they won't knowingly ship alcohol? Honest question here. Will they just do it in-state cause that don't make no sense.

 

Perhaps they have a license to do so.

 

I have heard many times that Wine has such a strong lobby that it does not suffer the same restrictions as beer. Might have something to do with it.