... Where do you guys go for your suds? I just moved here towards the start of the year and I've been going to Total Wine. Bottom line is, I'm getting pretty damn sick of TW. They offer a pretty great variety at reasonable prices, but that's where the praise ends. Where they utterly fail is keeping fresh beer in stock, and its been demonstrated repeatedly to me several ways that they don't give a damn about it. I even brought it up to a few of their staff members and all I get is a *shrug, meh*, they simply don't care. They consistently put REALLY old beer on endcaps, stackouts, and displays to try and pawn it off on some poor, ignorant fool, which they no doubt get away with constantly. I dislike their business practice in the beer area; truly and sadly, they must only be interested in their bottom line. Case in point, when I first entered the store (Jan 2014) I noticed a single Oskar Blue Dales Pale Ale in the refrigerated section canned Aug 2013. I proceeded to let the clerk working the beer section know... He said he'd deal with it. Fast forward to June 2014, the poor Dales Pale Ale was still right where I found it: sad, alone, and almost a year old. They only recently eliminated it, or god forbid some sad sack bought it. Poor management. Anyway, enough ragging on Total Wine I guess. I just really needed to get that out of my system. I'm looking for a place that actually cares about selling fresh, quality brews, and hopefully has a decent selection. The closer to the valley, the better!
Get in your car, drive 20 minutes East and visit Enoteca in Post Falls. Huckleberry's seemed to have a fresh selection, though.
I second the Enoteca recommendation. Check for freshness there too though. JB's on Alberta has an awesome selection but again with the freshness... Yokes on Argonne and Huckleberries are pretty good too. I think we are getting a Growler Guys soon up north which will be nice. They usually have an awesome tap selection.
Nice, thanks for the suggestions. I've heard of Enoteca but have been unwilling (lazy) to deive to Post Falls. I really need to go check it out. I love right off Pines, so I'll check out Yokes. Unfortunately I never go to the North side, but might if the place was good enough. I'm so damn frustrated with TW it's sickening... They'll have some bottles I want to try, but I cant because they expired 3 months ago x.X
If you're feeling a little more adventurous, keep driving to Pilgrim's Market, Coeur D'Alene. Good selection, and generally fresh product, all kept refrigerated.
Enoteca is only about 15 minutes from you. It is also close to Selkirk Abby, which you definitely need to go to if you haven't yet. Great beer.
I haven't... Good lookin out though, I'll check it out. The only local brewery I've been to is No-Li, and I haven't found anything they do terribly impressive. They're not bad, bit definitely not outstanding for the price point.
Go to Selkirk Abby and Ramblin Road for good beer. Also, if you are right off Pines (Eagle Ridge by chance?) you are within walking distance to 12 String Brewing. They always have something good on tap and do lots of barrel aged beers.
Yeah my brother keeps telling me about a brewery nearby (on Montgomery I think?), which must be 12 String, I'll be sure to check that out. I really need to pull my head out when it comes to the local breweries! Thanks for the tips! PS - I'm in Cherry Ridge. Not sure where Eagle Ridge is but I have a feeling its the big white apts further up the hill.
That's definitely 12-String yr. brother is referencing. They have some ups and down in terms of consistency in my opinion but they are worth frequenting. You also need to check out Iron Goat - they almost never put a foot wrong and they try various styles. Re: bottle shops - you might also try Bottles in Millwood. I haven't been there in a while (I live lower South Hill near Browne's) but they usually have a decent selection, plus there's also some kind of (mostly) wine & beer place just north of the train tracks on Argonne (something "Vines").
One shop nobody has mentioned is Nu Homebrew and Bottles on E. Sprague. It's primarily a homebrew shop, but Peter stocks some good beer & cider too. He also has a pretty awesome monthly beer club. If you do go to Post Falls/Cd'A, definitely hit up a Pilgrim's. They have a lot that's not in WA distro for good prices. Enoteca is better for imports and rarities than just your typical shelf beers. Bottles in Millwood is good people. 10% discounts on 6 or more of anything, even mix/match. They do tend to have some old beer but they won't ignore you if you bring it to their attention. JB's will let their shit sit forever and charges 1-2 bucks more than other places for most stuff. However, they have a lot of unusual selection you don't see at any other shop. Huckleberries is pretty good but there is honestly a lot of 'meh' selection there these days. They do get in most of the desirable limited releases that make distro here. Yoke's on Argonne and in Mead are the two best Yoke's. They are on par with any other bottle shop really. Jim's Home Brew still has eastern block plastic bottle lagers and some kind of weird eclectic selection I can't make any sense of. It's good for the occasional dusty hunt. Total Wine is still the only place around with any semblance of Lambic selection. Only place I've seen Cuvee Rene and Tilquin at all.
Thanks for the suggestions, you guys rock. Just shot over to Enoteca tonight and wasn't terribly impressed, but they did have a lot of obscure singles I haven't seen before. I suppose I was more in a everyday shelf beer mode than a treasure hunt. However, I picked up a reasonably fresh 4-pack of Victory Dirtwolf - never had it and haven't seen it anywhere else so I'm pretty stoked about that and can't wait to try it. It was nice to see Enoteca keeps most if not all of their IPAs refrigerated too! Anyway, it looks like I have some serious adventuring to undertake around here.
I'm thrilled about that but even more so about the rumor that there might also be one coming into the South Hill (AKA closer to me).
Enoteca is good for stuff that doesn't normally show up in Spokane, either because it's too esoteric for the other bottleshops or because it doesn't get distributed to Washington, plus the owner, Russell, is into occaisionally getting stuff that is just crazy rare (I think I once saw some things that seemed to look like Westvleteren bottles but I can neither confirm or deny). Stuff that is more regular to find is better (i.e. cheaper) purchased in Spokane.
