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Great Beers need Great Stores: Denver; Austin & Tyler, TXFeb 20 '03 (Updated Dec 10 '05) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Looking for something other than swill in Austin and Tyler Texas or metro Denver? I have some hints...
Better late than never, I guess... Though not much for writing beer reviews, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not shy about consuming a brew or two of an evening, and (unlike a co-worker who will drink nothing but Bud Light) I do like to try out new beers. So the process of seeking out different brews to wet my whistle is a fairly regular weekend field trip, so to speak. Over the past decade, I've lived in three different cities in two different states, so I thought I'd add my experiences in those towns to the body of great beer store knowledge others have already shared (see the list buried on bruguru's profile page). Without further ado, here are my recommendations: Tyler, Texas: Fat Dog Beverage Don't laugh. The closest liquor store to Tyler is about twenty miles away. That gives a whole new meaning to the concept of hard-to-find beers, don't you think? Texas, like most states in the Bible Belt, has a semi-random pattern of wet and dry areas on the basis of local option, although Texas (unlike others) decides by "voting unit." That means that, within cities like Dallas, one side of the street may be dry and the other wet because they're in different precincts. It makes for tight clusters of liquor stores, which can get a little strange at times. Smith County, site of Tyler, chooses dry; as do all but two of the adjoining counties. You want a six-pack? Whether it be Lone Star, Shiner Bock, or Old Peculier, you're gonna have to drive either east or southwest. And if you want anything out of the absolute ordinary, it had better be to the southwest along Texas 155 toward Palestine (the town's name, by the way rhymes with "scene," not "mine"). On a little peninsula projecting out into long, lovely Lake Palestine, you'll find the village of Coffee City. Don't worry, you'll know it when you arrive - the road crosses through a wet sliver of Henderson County, and every third building is a liquor store. That's where you'll find Fat Dog Beverage - probably the best local store for buying craft beers and microbrews. Unfortunately, that's not saying much. Fat Dog differs from nearby liquor stores in that it's clean, well lit, and well-staffed. The beer selection, though sparse, is an improvement over local competition where you're lucky to find anything imported other than Corona or Heineken. The best-known small breweries - Samuel Adams, Sierra Nevada, Breckenridge - are all stocked, as are the better-known imports - Harp, Guinness, Bass, Spaten. I've even seen a bottle or two of Corsendonk and Chimay. Like shopping E-Bay, you're never quite certain what you'll find, since the selection seems to rotate. Staff are, by local standards, pretty knowledgable. Unfortunately, Fat Dog's the best of a pretty sad lot - I was always glad I own a pickup truck so that I could hit Siegel's or Goody's in Dallas over three-day weekends. Fat Dog Beverage 7536 State Hwy 155 Coffee City, Texas, 75763 phone: (214) 744-4630 Hours (mandated by state) Mon-Sat 10AM-9PM On Texas 155 about thirty feet into Henderson County, between Tyler and Palestine, TX Runners Up: a trip to Dallas, Houston, or even Shreveport. Austin, Texas: Grapevine Market A fairly new entry on the liquor scene in Austin, Grapevine Market opened about four years ago. Like most things of interest, it's on the north side of town. This full-line liquor store has large stocks of beer, wine, scotch, and "whites." You can also find most cordials, if you're in the market, as well as other atypical stuff - the Ms picked up some Linea Aqvavit there not long ago, a relative rarity in this country. The beer selection runs the gamut from the output of huge breweries (thankfully, not much) to some pretty esoteric brews. Microbrews and craft beers from around the country are available, particularly the better-known brands. Texas beers (Blanco Brewing Company's Real Ale, Texas Crude, St. Arnold's, Pecan Street, Great Grains) are well-represented, and they're also apparently fond of German and English imports. Imports from Central and South America are also well-represented - I've seen a couple of Peruvian lagers there that I hadn't seen anywhere else in town. There's also a very large selection of singles for the more timid (or price-conscious) among us. Very nearly the entire stock is refrigerated, which always seems a little odd to me. Staff are knowledgeable and friendly, and rarely too busy to answer a question. Besides the liquor store, they also have a small deli with take-out. Wine tastings take place regularly (never seen a beer tasting, though), and the proprietors also offer wine-tasting classes. Prices are average for the city, but run 5-10% higher than at Spec's in Houston (see mkstvns' review in this writeoff). 7938 Great Northern Blvd. Austin, TX Phone: (512) 323-5900 Hours (mandated by state): Mon-Sat 10AM-9PM Located just east of Mopac Expressway (Loop 1) between Anderson Lane and Steck A Strong Second: Central Market - this upscale grocery chain has what may well be the best beer selection ever in a grocery store, with two walls almost entirely stocked with craft and microbrew beers. Strong specialization in European imports, but they also have Real Beer mini-kegs (when they're available). Prices are good, and they often have imports and microbrewed beers on sale as loss leaders. Large wine selection, too - and, since they don't sell the hard stuff, they can sell until midnight Monday-Saturday and after noon on Sunday. Two locations in Austin, also in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. Runner-up: Whole Foods, two locations plus Dallas and Houston. Denver's Beer Mecca: Applejack Liquors Pull into the parking lot at Applejack most afternoons and the first thing you notice is that there's a Greyhound bus parked next to the store. Year-round, tour buses headed for the mountains pull into this crowded parking lot and disgorge a horde of thirsty tourist-types. If there are two in the parking lot, you might as well stop into the neighboring King Soopers grocery and have a cuppa joe. Built on the site of a long-gone grocery store, Applejack has been a mainstay on Denver's west side for thirty years or more. They brag (and I won't argue) that they're "America's Largest Wine and Spirits Superstore." Well, they're doing something right - on weekends they have about a dozen cash registers humming from noon 'til midnight! The store stocks a humongous selection of liquor, cordials, and wines - and they're not particularly snooty, either. The rankest plonk (stuff that tastes like homemade mulberry wine) is shelved as readily as $300 wine vintages (although the former aren't in locked cases). You can buy scotch that tastes like it was made from the output of lowland sheep, or fork over big bucks for a bottle of a thirty-year-old Springbank. The same holds true for beers: there are aisles and aisles stacked high with cases of beer dumped in cans just up the road in Golden (Coors is less then ten miles away as the crow flies); their daily sales of A-B products would require the services of a couple of teams of Clydesdales. But that doesn't mean that they don't also have a fantastic selection of microbrews and craft beers. Not only are Colorado breweries like Avery, Linden's, Odell, Breckenridge, New Belgium, Boulder Brewing, Red A*s, and Coopersmith's well represented; but brews from across the country and around the world are also at hand. Western and northwestern US breweries are a specialty (MacTarnahans, Spanish Peaks, Pyramid). Applejack is the place where you can pick up a bottle, six, or case of such thirst-quenchers as "Hazed and Infused" from the Rockies Brewing Company, "The Czar" or "Ellie's Brown" (it's Lab-tested!) from Avery Brewing, or a New Belgium "Trippel" or "Abbey Grand Cru." Go ahead, browse the shelves - singles are available, too (and bombers of several brands). Don't know if they stock "Moose Drool," though! Prices? You want prices? Let's just say that every time I walk into a liquor store in Texas and look at their prices, I remember Applejack and a tear comes to my eye... On the downside, when things are busy the place is a madhouse. Don't expect to find anyone working there who isn't hustling to restock the shelves. Do expect to strike up a conversation with one of the dozen or so other customers in the beer department, though - this is where the beerflies hang out. Applejack Liquor 3320 Youngfield Street Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 Phone: (303) 233-3331 or (800) 879-5225 Hours: Mon-Th 8AM-10PM, F-Sat 8AM-11PM NOTE: No credit cards accepted; they will, however, take out-of-state checks or that green stuff - what's it called? Oh, yeah: "cash." Located near the West 32nd Street exit from I-70 -- follow the buses Runners-up: The venerable Argonaut Liquor on Capitol Hill is always a good time - but remember that this is a store who does about 1/3 of its business in half-pints. Also have a look at Arrow Liquors on South Colorado Blvd. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.  |
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