Store with variety of beers

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bc2bagger

25+ Posts
I realize I may get flamed big time for posting this, but I really don't care. This is kind of a gay question but I only turned 21 about a year ago so I don't have much experience with beers other than your standard domestics and I figured that there were a lot of alcoholics on Hornfans that could help me out.
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I was talking to Orangeblood the other day about beer and how I was wanting to try a wider variety of beers. He mentioned some stores in Austin where they had many varieties of beer available in singles. The advantage of singles being that I don't have to buy a six pack of a beer I had never tried before, in case I don't like it. Does anyone know what stores sell beer like this? I know that gas stations sell singles, but I am not wanting a single of Miller Lite or Budweiser so they won't really help much.
 
I can't think of the name of it, but there is a gas station around 32nd and Lamar that has a great beer selection.
 
Whole Foods - I think you can get a pretty good variety of singles there, particularly Belgians which, in my opinion, is the best country in which to start your beer education.
 
chitwood,
The gas station you are thinking of is the Shell on Medical Parkway. For a gas station, they do indeed have a good selection of beer, but I don't believe they sell singles.

World Market, at the intersection of Mopac/183, next to the Circuit City sells beers by singles. You get a 6-pack carrier and pick what you want. It's more expensive that way, and you probably end up paying $1-2 more for a six-pack. But if you're just wanting to try different beers, that's a good way to go.

Before you start, here's a short list of beers you should cross off your list:

Grolsch - This is the WORST beer ever. It literally smelled and tasted like a run-over skunk.
St. Arnold's Lawnmower - Okay compared to macro-brews, but weak, and slightly sour.
St. Pauli Girl range of beers - I lived in Hamburg where they brew this stuff. There are so many better local brews, I can't imagine why they decided to export this crud.
 
SuperHero,
I'm actually thinking of a different place, just a little south of Reid's Cleaners. I know the shell you're talking about, and I think you're right about the singles.
 
Grape Vine Market off Mopac/Anderson Lane also has a very good selection & I'm about 50/50 that they'll let you build your own six-pack.
 
Grapevine market is the place to start and ask when they are doing tastings with beer reps. You might try Gingerman on their days when you can go in and hear an expert talk about the various beer they have on tap. Plenty to sample that way.
 
The Whip-In. It is located on the Southbound Frontage of I-35. Take the Woodland exit. It is just as you get to the hill before hitting Oltorf. Great selection and they will order anything for you if they can get it.
 
Well I had to go to REI today (had to get me some Nalgene water bottles) so I stopped by World Market and built me a six pack. Here is what I got.

Celis White- This is the only beer I have tried so far. It is not bad, just a little different. It almost tastes like there is some sort of fruit in it. Maybe oranges. On the label it said it was a Belgian style so I thought it was maybe from Belgium (Belgians were recommended earlier in the thread). Then I read the label and found out it was from Michigan, oh well.

Spaten Oktoberfest- I kind of cheated because I have had this on tap last week at the Dog and Duck. I really liked it then. I have drank the bottle that I bought, and still loved it.

Spaten Premium- not bad. I really had no idea what to expect since the bottle didn't give any hints about what kind of a beer it was.

Sierra Nevada Porter- I had heard of porters but had never tried them. Well, Porters are definitely interesting tasting. It wasn't bad, but I think drinking them will take some getting used to. At the start of the bottle it was tough to drink, but by the end it was going down nicely.

Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout- the person working there told me is was pretty good, so I decided to give it a try. Well, I tried this and have no idea what to think. It was pretty good, but I have no idea how to describe the taste.

Schneider Weisse Hefe-Weizen- I had seen (but never tried) the Shiner Hefeweizen and decided to try a real German version. I don't know much about this style other than it is unfiltered or something like that.
 
Celis White is an excellent Belgian White - it is brewed in Michigan, but was created by an authentic Belgian brewer, and used to be brewed right here in Austin. Good first choice.

The Spaten Oktoberfest was a good choice as well. I love Oktoberfests. Fall is my favorite time of beer. Keep an eye peeled for the Pumpkin Ale (not an Oktoberfest, but an excellent fall beer) to start showing up at Central Market soon.
 
I second Loopy's suggestion for the Whip-In. Great selection. Literally hundreds of beers from around the world, and they'll sell 'em to you one bottle or can at at time. Cool local owners, too.
 
I will have to check out the whip in before this saturday. With a long day of watching football on television ahead of me, I will need some drinks.
 
Shiner's Heffe will taste like *** once you have had a real Heffe. Don't bother with it. Paulaner makes a great Heffe. Here are some others to try:

Augusteiner Brau - Light
Abbot Ale
Young's Oatmeal Stout
Boddington's
Murphy's Irish Stout
Kwak
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (The Porter is good, but this is better)
Young's Double Chocolate

That should keep you busy. Enjoy!
 
Well, I went to the Whip In today and was amazed. I had no idea that you could get that variety of beers in one store. I got the following beers this time:

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (bought on the recommedation of RichUT)- Not bad, a lot like the other Pale Ales I have tried.

Shiner Summer Stock (I have had it before but wanted to get one anyway.)

Red Hook IPA (I wanted to try an IPA and hopefully this is a good one. If not, it was not very expensive)- Not sure if it is the brand or if all IPA's taste like this, but I don't really like this.

Petes Wicked Summer Brew (I like their regular Ale and wanted to try another Summer beer. So far Shiner Summer Stock was the only Summer beer I had tried)- This was pretty good. Tasted about like I expected. The bottle said it had a lemon flavor, I never could taste that.

New Belgium Abbey (I like some other New Belgium brews (the fact they are sponsoring Hornfans tailgates is cool too) and thought I should try this one. It was either this or 1554. I guess I will have to try 1554 next time)- Kind of wierd at first, but pretty good.

Bass Ale (for my roomate, he has some Guinness and wanted to make his own Black and Tans)
 
Told you so. I too was amazed the first time I went there. They recently remodled a bit esp. on the outside. Before, it looked like your typical run of the mill convenience store for milk, bread and eggs. Boy was I wrong. Great store and the staff is helpful and friendly. The guy told me he would order anything I wanted provided there was a distributor for it in town. Cannot beat that.
 
Try some Fuller's next. Can't go wrong with Fuller's ESB or better yet, Fuller's 1845. Best beer in the world.

DISCLAIMER: I'm very partial to British beers.
 
Let's here some reviews on what you've had thus far. What did you like? What did you nearly yak on?
 
Ask and you shall receive:

Celis White- This beer was good. It almost tastes like there is some sort of fruit in it. Maybe oranges.

Spaten Oktoberfest- I had tried it before on tap, and still loved it out of the bottle.

Spaten Premium- Not bad at all. I really had no idea what to expect since the bottle didn't give any hints about what kind of a beer it was.

Sierra Nevada Porter- I had heard of porters but had never tried them. Well, Porters are definitely interesting tasting. It wasn't bad, but I think drinking them will take some getting used to. At the start of the bottle it was tough to drink, but by the end it was going down nicely.

Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout- Well, I tried this and have no idea what to think. It was pretty good, but I have no idea how to describe the taste.

Schneider Weisse Hefe-Weizen- This was kind of tough to handle. The taste wasn't bad, I just didn't really like it.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale- Not bad, a lot like the other Pale Ales I have tried.

Red Hook IPA- Not sure if it is the brand or if all IPA's taste like this, but I don't really like this.

Petes Wicked Summer Brew- This was pretty good. Tasted about like I expected. The bottle said it had a lemon flavor, I never could taste that.

New Belgium Abbey- Kind of wierd at first, but pretty good.

Lowenbrau- tasted skunky as hell. Also smelled skunky. Maybe it was a bad batch.

Guinness Extra Stout- I had had Guinness Draught on tap at several places, but had never had Extra Stout. It was great.
 
Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale is the best. It will be at Central Market and Grapevine market around October.
 
One of my roomates friends brought over some Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde tonight. I took one sip and immediately realized that this was the worst thing I had ever tasted. I finished the beer because I didn't want to be rude (the guy that brought it over couldn't stop talking about how good it was), but then immediately went looking for some Robitussin to get the taste out of my mouth. I figured it would taste pretty good since a lot of the other stuff by Pete's is good, but this was disgusting.
 
Wow... Where to start. I think the locations for beer in Austin have about been covered (I don't live there but I've been to all of those places save maybe the Whip-In. Central Market is usually my choice for a good beer selection here in Houston and the Austin one is as good if not better.

As for brands and beers:
Grolsch - Totally agree. This stuff is the King of Skunky Beer
St. Arnold's Lawnmower - One of thos beers best served on tap.
St. Pauli Girl - Like Lowenbrau, just because they market it like a German beer doesn't mean it tastes like one.
Celis White- Wheats, Porters and Stouts are acquired tastes. This one is excellent. Also recommend Hoegaarden as well
Spaten Oktoberfest- I have never liked Oktoberfest beer. Always taste strange.
Spaten Premium- One of the best (non-Hefe) German beers I've ever had
Sierra Nevada Porter- I don't care for the whole Sierra Nevada or Anchor Steam lines. Must be the water.
Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout- Oatmeal Stouts are tricky. This is a decent one but stout beers are usually much better on tap.
Schneider Weisse Hefe-Weizen- One of the good German Hefes. I'll also recommend Julius Echter Hefe-weizen, Weihenstephaner Kristal and Tucher Dunkel-Weizen. For American wheats, St. Arnold's Krystal is pretty good.
Augusteiner Brau - Light - Decent but I prefer Spaten Light
Abbot Ale - Good on tap. Very so-so in the can.
Young's Oatmeal Stout - One of the only Stouts that I'll drink from a bottle
Boddington's - One of my favorite beers. The can does a decent job of preserving the taste
Murphy's Irish Stout - A must have on tap. It's not as good as Guinness but it's still damn good
Kwak - Never had it
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (The Porter is good, but this is better) Already talked about the Sierra Nevada stuff.
Young's Double Chocolate - A decent beer from Young's but it's pretty sweet for a stout
Shiner Summer Stock - The only Shiner beer I don't care for
Red Hook IPA - I like this Pale Ale. I like the whole Red Hook line
Petes Wicked Summer Brew - Another Summer brew that I don't like
New Belgium Abbey - Not a big fan of Belgian ales. I like Belgian whites but not these
Bass Ale - Decent from a bottle. But tell your roomie to leave Black and Tan's to the bartender.
Lowenbrau- St. Pauli, Lowenbrau, they both suck
Guinness Extra Stout - If your gonna drink with the big boys, you drink this.
Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale - If there is such thing as a dessert beer, this is it. It seriously tastes like pumpkin pie. Should be out soon.
Pete's Strawberry Blonde - Sorry you didn't like this. One of my favorites. Great on a hot day. The colder, the better.

Other suggestions:
Newcastle Brown Ale - Good out of the bottle. Can usually be found in a big bottle.
Red Hook ESB - Better and tastier than the IPA
Red Hook Blonde - Lighter than than the ESB. A nice change of pace
Pilsner Urquel - This is what all pilsners are trying to be.
Czhechvar - Almost as good as Pilsner Urquel
Sam Smith's Brewery Ale - The best Sam Smith's beer that I have had.
Breckenridge Avalanche Ale - A decent beer from a Colorado brewery
Rogue Oregon Golden Ale - A winner here. Smooth and tasty.
Rogue American Amber - Another good one from Rogue

If you ever see anything from The Deschutes Brewery buy it. Best all around beer line I've had.
 
Thanks for all the information. I may give the Strawberry Blonde another try. The guy that brought it over comes by all the time, and he should bring some more in the future. I will admit, I would rather have him bring Strawberry Blonde over then the Natty Light that he used to always bring over.
 
Try the Lagunitas IPA...it's much better than Red Hook.
Beers to look for in the holidays:
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale.
Opal Devine's already has this on tap.
Be careful, it's about 6.5% alcohol. Yum.
In January, look for Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine.
MASSIVE, with an ABV(alcohol by volume) of 9.8% and incredible hops, this beer is NOT for the faint at heart.
St. Arnold's Oktoberfest is out , this is a great beer for a Fall tailgate.
Try the New Belgium Blue Paddle Pilsner, it sounds like you're not afraid of a little hop in your brews.
 
Add to your list these German beers. There's a reason the Germans have a beer purity law, other stuff should not be in it, like fruit. JMHO..

Andechs - Doppelboch
Augustiner Brau (from Munich and not Salzburg) - Dunkel
Palm Brau - Doppelboch
Kostrizer Schwarz

The first three also have other brews that are great. Just the darkers brews are my favorite.

Enjoy...
 
I'd just like to say that this Pacifico I bought Monday sucks ***. I was trying to get something for my non-beer drinking friends and I'm glad they didn't try it. Smells skunky.
 
I am not a big fan of any of the Mexican beers. Bohemia is pretty good, but Pacifico, Corona, Dos XX, etc... just are not that good in my opinion.
 
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