One of the things that I miss is walking into a liquor store (yeah, I'm in NJ- that's what we call 'em) and unexpectedly finding something new. In a way, the internet is to blame because now, I usually go hunting for a new beer for several weeks (since I know it's now distributed here) before I find it, so it's not a "WOW" moment, but more of a "well...finally..." one.
So, yesterday, I went to Joe Canal's outside of Princeton to get a couple of cases. A friend and I had bought out their supply of fresh Jever a month or so ago and the last several trips they only had a couple of sixes on the shelf (NEVER buy a six of Jever exposed to light!) and one very old case- all of it was older than the stuff we'd bought previously- Jever recently changed their packaging and the new stuff had a vertical red stripe on the six-pack wrapper- this was old stock. I looked in the usual spot- nothing. Checked to see if they had any cases of Red Seal Ale- nothing. No fresh HopDevil, either. I decided to go down to Glendale Liquors to check for it (tho' their Jever was even older last time). I threw in a case Prima Pils (Nov. expiration- not too bad) and Dogfish Head 60 Minute Ale (well, I did drive all the way over here...).
I decided I'd check out their "warm beer" single sections- you know, where they put the Belgians and UK pints. Wow, two interesting finds- Peirre Celis Signature Selection Grotten Bernadus AND Anchor Small Beer- didn't know either had hit NJ. Grabbed a couple of each and decided to leave. (Aside- I liked the Anchor Small Beer better than I thought I would from reviews- it'd make a nice true session beer- but, like all Anchor products, it's a bit price-y- $3.49 for 22 oz. bottle.)
Then, for some reason, I went back into the cooler. Did another quick spin around the "import/specialty" half of the cooler (threw in a cases of Acme IPA) and, then, *something* called to me from the other half- you know the type of section- huge stacks and pallets of BudMillerCoorsBudLightMillerLiteCoorsLite, smaller stacks of Heineken, Molson, etc. No reason to ever venture over there before...crawled over some Rolling Rock packaged in plastic suitcases and came upon the no-alcohol section...and there, next to the imported alcohol-less beers, was JEVER in cardboard cases, sealed off from the light, no more heavy, clucky, light-admitting plastic cases (that are good for nothing but bottles but I still can't throw them out...)!!!!
Even picked up a few Saison Dupont's and Porteris out of their clearance shopping baskets for $4 and 99 cents, respectively.
My first few trips to Canal's were anti-climatic. The place is often a mess (many times one can't get a shopping cart down the aisles or into the cooler- one can't often even WALK down the cooler aisles with all the beer on the floor- and I'd prefer handcarts to shopping carts anyway). And, in the beginning, I'd say, "Ah, the prices aren't as good as Glendale and tho' there's a lot of beer, the selection isn't too great." Lately, the selection improves everytime I visit and prices are quite good on some things- like $26 a case for the Einbecker Bocks, which sells in my local store for $11 a six pack. Canal's may still be a dollar or more than Glendale on some beers, but the selection is MUCH better than Glendale (which never carried a lot, just the right stuff-Jever, Victory, Anchor, Pilsner Urquel,Fuller's).