Searching for Crafty Beer

Not exactly what I mean by "big beer"

There are a lot of important questions to ask yourself once you’ve decided to become obsessed about beer. The most obvious is “What kind of delicious craft beer do I want to drink?” But equally as important is “Where can I find this wonderful stuff?”

Beer plebes don’t know how easy they have it, as they can find their mass-produced, corn-based yellow beer in 6, 12 and 24 can or bottle packages in every grocery store, gas station or beer store across America. Then again, ease of acquisition is probably one of the factors that cause a person to drink inferior beer. But craft beer is a little trickier.

The craft beer section is becoming more common

Grocery stores are getting better about stocking crafty beers than they were a few years back. Some are better than others, but for the most part, your local grocery store sells regional craft beer in addition to the big three. Failing that, they will probably sell Sam Adams, which is always a fine choice. Same applies to Super Wal-Marts and Super Targets. If you’re lucky (or live in a populous area), you’ll probably have access to a grocery store that goes out of its way to stock the shelves with deliciousness. In my neck of the woods, we have a grocery store called Wegmans that understands the demand and has a very impressive selection of great beer from across the US and other parts of the world as well.

But try as they might, the grocery stores aren’t quite there yet. The real gold mine is in smaller specialty beer and wine stores. These can be national chains like Total Wine or local mom and pop jobs, but by in large, these kinds of operations exist wherever you are and they are the absolute best place to go. They are usually owned and managed (and in many cases staffed) by people who are knowledgeable and passionate about beer. They go above and beyond in order to stock their inventory with anything and everything they can get their hands on.

The revolution will not be televised

The best and most universally accurate advice I can give is to find beer nerds and follow them to wherever they get their brew. The wonderful thing about them is that they’re always willing to share their experience, especially with newcomers. Plus, they travel in packs making them easy to spot and stalk.

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!