Whole
foods: Bringing beer into focus
I hope that no-one takes that the
wrong way......its merely a mater of fact. Whole foods is expensive.
Their food, groceries, and home supplies all cost more than their
competitors (Trader Joes, Costco, Publix, Wallmart, etc). Can't fault
me for saying that, and its pretty obvious that no-one goes to Whole
Foods to save money.....besides me I suppose (I obviously like to
bargain hunt). However, if your a beer fans, you should give them a
shot, because against all conventional wisdom, whole foods often
undercuts their competitors by quite a bit on beer prices.
No lie. I first thought that was a
fluke when I found the two leading Ballast point stouts marked down
so much, but when I started working on this list, I was surprised to
continue seeing the trend for lower priced beer. I cant find every
point where they have a better price than competitors, but I will
point out when I notice that they beat the rest on certain items.
However, their surprisingly
lower-prices is not why I find this place to be fantastic for beer.
Its also not because of their occasional stocks of rare white whale
level beers, and its certainly not the free samples (but Ill admit,
those help a lot)............no its because you can drink in the
store! And not just at the bar, you can drink the RETAIL single
bottles (after you pay for them that is). That's just crazy to me.
You can pick up a bottle, open it, and drink it. Anywhere in the
store.
Finally, the concept of buying a single
bottle makes sense to me!
Its just amazing. Its pretty much makes
them the cheapest pesudo bar in town, and can make for a great stroll
around the store, a good chill-spot at the cafe, or a good place to
take friends out to have a few nice cold ones. And common, who
doesn't want a beer when they are shopping for organic goodness? With
free samples? That's just a match made in heaven.
And to add to that, the place is
expanding the beer selection. The expansion will allow for more
single beer purchases, a greater variety of beers, and a larger
percentage of the refrigerated shelf space. Currently they are
planned to take effect by next week (as of today, 1\5\14).
As a final point of interest, I personalty know that at least 2 of the staff are experienced homebrewers, and are more than happy to talk home-brew with you if they have the time and if you bring it up! This is a serious plus for me.
If you haven't already gone and enjoyed
what their offering, your missing out. I highly recommended it.
The Brew List:
Bombers\singles
Avery brewery
Ballast point
Samuel Smith
Eel river brewing
Stone
Old Guardian, 7.99
style: American
barleywine, 12%
rating: ratebeer
(96\100), beer advocate (89\100)
personal rating: n\a
Sierra Nevada
Legacy brewing
4\6
packs
Brasserie d'Achouffe
La Chouffe, 11.99\4
style: Belgian strong
ale, 8%
rating: ratebeer
(98\100), beer advocate (94\100)
personal rating: n\a
Houblon Chouffee
style: Belgian IPA,
11.99\4
rating: ratebeer
(99\100), beer advocate (94\100)
personal rating: n\a
Wells and Young
Coronado brewing co.
Holy Mackerel
Panic attack, 9.99\4
style: Belgian strong
ale, 10%
rating: ratebeer
(61\100), beer advocate (77\100)
personal rating: n\a
Lagunitas
Brown sugga, 10.99\6
style: American strong
ale, 9.99%
rating: ratebeer
(97\100), beer advocate (90\100)
personal rating: 95\100
Ipa,
Founders
dirty bastard, 11.49\6
style: Scotch ale, 8.5%
rating: ratebeer
(98\100), beer advocate (91\100)
personal rating: 93\100.
One of the best scotch ales on the market.
Centenial, 11.49\6
World brews
Narragansett brewery
Joseph James brewery
Fat head
Holly Jolly, 12.99\6
style: herb\spice beer,
7.4%
rating: ratebeer
(76\100), beer advocate (85\100)
personal rating: n\a
Hinderland
pale ale, 10.99\6
style: English pale ale,
5.3%
rating: ratebeer
(63\100), beer advocate (76\100)
personal rating: n\a
Victory
Red Brick
Hoplanta, 9.99\6
style: American ipa, 6.7%
rating: ratebeer
(64\100), beer advocate (84\100)
personal rating: n\a
La Rossa
left hand brewery
Siera Nevada brewery
Narwhal, 9.99\4
style: Russian Imperial
stout, 10.2%
rating: ratebeer
(99\100), beer advocate (92\100)
personal rating: 98\100.
I flat out love this beer. Its easily one of the best stouts on
the market, easily the best in the store right now (unless a
surprise bomber comes around)
Southern Tier
2xmas, 9.99\6
style: herb\spice beer,
8%
rating: ratebeer
(93\100), beer advocate (84\100)
personal rating: 97\100.
I thought that it was a perfect spiced beer, at the time anyway.
Are-review might be necessary, but yea. I liked it a lot.
2xIpa, 10.99\6
style: Double ipa, 8.2%
rating: ratebeer
(97\100), beer advocate (91\100)
personal rating: 98\100.
Its my go-to big ipa. Enough said. I love this stuff.
6 point
crisp, 9.99\4 pints
style: German pilsener,
5.4%
rating: ratebeer
(59\100), beer advocate (88\100)
personal rating: n\a
Bengali tiger, 9.99\4 pints
style: American ipa, 6.4%
rating: ratebeer
(94\100), beer advocate (88\100)
personal rating: 90\100.
This beer is my prime choice for a nice, crisp, hoppy American
IPA. Its large container also adds a lot to what makes this beer
great. Highly recommended beer for starting your night, before you
really break out the big guns. I also recommend it as a picknick
or sport event beer. Not exactly sessionable, but highly portable
and large can size make it useful for such events. Highly
recommended.
Sweet action, 9.99\4 pints
Fullers
London porter, 11.99\6
style: English porter,
5.4%
rating: ratebeer
(100\100), beer advocate (94\100)
personal rating: I had
this one at the store. A great, highly malt forward brew, and a
hard one to resist when I'm shopping at whole foods. A good go-to
porter, and a proven classic. 95\100
Lexington brewery
Julius Echter
Bulk, 12
packs
Oscar Blues
Magic hat
Boston Brewery
Winter lagger, 14.99
style: spiced bock, 5.6%
rating: ratebeer
(64\100), beer advocate (82\100)
personal rating: I found
this beer to be highly refreshing, crisp, and lively winter
offering. Perfect in quality for price, this bulk order is a must
try for anyone interested in seeing Sam Adams when they get things
right. 84\100
New Belgium
Sunshine wheat, 17.99
style: American pale
wheat ale, 4.8%
rating: ratebeer
(48\100), beer advocate (79\100)
personal rating: n\a
Siera Nevada
Torpedo extra, 15.99
style: American ipa, 7.2%
rating: ratebeer
(98\100), beer advocate (93\100)
personal rating: n\a
Pale ale, 15.99
style:
American pale ale, 5.6%
rating:
ratebeer (96\100), beer advocate (91\100)
personal rating:
n\a
Celebration, 15.99
style:
American IPA, 6.8%
rating:
ratebeer (98\100), beer advocate (93\100)
personal rating:
I found this to be a great hop forward brew, but not nearly as
hoppy as the torpedo. A good choice for less hop-forward friends
looking to get a buzz going and enjoy a decent brew at a great
price. 90\100
Innis\gunn