I will be visiting Bloomington shortly and was wondering what I could expect to see from a distribution standpoint in the city - Three Floyds, Half Acre, etc. Any other breweries I should be looking for while in town? Any intel appreciated. Cheers!
Bloomington, IL? Bloomington, IN?, Bloomington, MN? Likely Illinois but it seems every state in the Great Lakes has a Bloomington oddly enough so cannot be quite certain.
Assuming you are talking about BloNo ... Hit up Binny's and Friar Tucks - these will be 1a and 1b in terms of selection. Hyvee across the parking lot from Binnys also has a good selection with lots of cold options.
Upland is a cool space and has good beer.* *at least it was the last time I was here about 5 or 6 years ago
Upland is the flagship on 11th Street. Heartwork is the newest on College Avenue, brewer has a background from Bearded Iris. Metal Works on 6th new owner, new brewer, but haven't tried. The Tap on 5th and College has a wide variety in house brews as well as above average taps. Big Red on College is the best liquor store in town, good selection.
Bloomington is quite beautiful. You will be right next to Brown County state park (20ish mins depending) which is a cool visit if you're into that kind of thing. If you have a lady with you... Nashville, IN is a cool spot. They have lots of little shops along a strip in town... my wife enjoys it and it's a popular spot. They have a winery there but the wine is pretty sweet overall. I am not in Bloomington, but these are breweries that are available in IN that you should find at Crown. Toppling Goliath, Old Nation, Half Acre, Hoosier Brewing, 18th Street, Upland, Metazoa, Black Dog, Sun King, Dare Devil, Taxman Black dog makes good beer... not sure if it makes it down there. Metazoa makes a decent hazy. Old Nation used to be a thing.. M43. Half Acre beer is all great IMO... not sure if available by you. Hoosier is known for the over fruited berliners similar to what 450N makes. sometimes I see 450N on shelves too if that's your thing. Also, 450 N is about an hour east if you are adventurous. It's in the middle of no where about 15 mins from where I grew up I actually think their hazy beer is pretty good... but I'm not into the fruit bombs. 18th Street also was once popular... their beer is OK. As far as Upland, I don't buy the 750 MLs anymore and they are known for their super sour beer, but... I think they've made them more approachable and they are nice in hot weather in small quantities which makes a taproom visit ideal. Sun King is probably the biggest brewery I've list above... my wife likes their cream ale. Not a lot to brag about... avg beer IMO. I like Dare Devil pils and Taxman makes good belgians. Brewery options are limited but agree that Upland is best bet and they have pretty good food. If you like deep dish pizza - hit up Mother Bears... it's awesome. Hope this helps.
It kind of looks like not many BAs have experience with Bloomington, IN, and your question about breweries represented at the Big Red may have to be answered by searching the inventory on their website. My store uses the same software and I hate it, so good luck. https://bigredliquors.com/
JJ supplied some good info and that store's website is atrocious - left me thinking they carried Bells and only Bells.
