Something I Learned Yesterday

Wise men come in all shapes and sizes...
Some prefer Sioux City Sarsaparilla.

A wiser fella than myself once said, “you learn something new every day.” Truer words were never uttered.

Yesterday, while on the prowl for a delicious brew to sacrifice to my insatiable thirst for craftiness, I made a discovery (and what I mean by that is that my lovely wife alerted me to a reality that I wasn’t previously privy to). My local craft beer purveyor (Wegmans grocery store) has been hiding the “good” beers. Apparently, somebody who works at the grocery store was smart enough to segregate the $10 per bottle beers from the rest of the pack. Not only were they separated, they were squirreled away inside a locked glass case, away from the craft beers and in the middle of the wine section. I remember thinking that this was a very bizarre place to find premium craft beers, but then again, it might be a genius master stroke. This way, you won’t be able to accidentally fall into these really rare and highly coveted brews… you would have to be actively looking for them – otherwise why would you be looking in the restricted section? Although, now that I know it’s there, I’ll be sure to check it every time I go in there. Take that Wegmans.

A sketch of the secret beer holding area at the
Wegmans... I swear it looked like this.

How does this apply to you? Well, on the micro level for those of us who live in the greater Prince William County or Fairfax County regions of Northern Virginia, USA, now you know, if you didn’t already, that this blasted secret case exists. But on the macro level, and to the greater point, knowing that grocery stores are becoming savvy enough (or devious enough) to separate hard-to-find beers from the heard and keep them in a more out-of-the-way spot where the average craft beer shopper wouldn’t think to look is important. The odds of finding the rarities when you go searching for premium brews increase exponentially when you are armed with this knowledge. Now go forth and conquer!

The White Whale

Blogger's note: For those in the Prince William County and Fairfax County, Virginia, USA area who are curious as to what exactly was in the glass case of solitude yesterday at the Woodbridge Wegmans, it was none other than the white whale herself: DOGFISH HEAD CRAFT BREWERY’S 120 MINUTE INDIA PALE ALE. And now, there will be a run on the Wegmans… you’re welcome beer world!

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!!!