Wow! This place is awesome, a store specifically oriented to people who love craft beers. This…read moreplace is a great addition to main street!
I was really happy to learn about the recent change in DE state law that allows liquor stores to fill up growlers. Not only does this allow people to enjoy tap-quality beer at home, but it is a win for sustainability, helping reduce the unnecessary use of bottles and cans. I was excited to see a new business spring up so quickly in Newark, built around the new opportunity created by this law.
The store interior itself is beautiful and well-utilized. It's a pretty narrow store, but they are making great use of it. There are a few select liquors up front, but most of the store is a big case of refrigerated craft beers, and then the wall of taps in the back, with a tasting counter. There are also a few larger bottled beers along the opposite wall from the refrigerated case.
The selection of craft beers is very good, and the prices are excellent. My favorite aspect of the bottled beer selection is the fact that everything is available in single bottles, and the single bottles are priced very competitively (way lower than anything in PA and competitive with the famous State Line Liquors in MD, which was my previous go-to place for single bottles of craft beer). But it's not just that this place has a good selection--it's that the choice of what to carry, both on bottles and tap, shows considerable skill.
I'm not quite a beer connoisseur, but I'm definitely a beer enthusiast, and I've sampled (and rated/reviewed) over 500 beers on RateBeer (You can find my profile here: http://www.ratebeer.com/user/18960/ ) And, with trying all these beers, I've found that there are a lot of micro-brewed beers in the U.S. which I'm not a huge fan of...they're too sweet, too heavy, or just not very balanced. The selection here is excellent--I saw many of my favorite beers in the refrigerator case, and going to the tap wall, I also found the beers stocked here are of above-average quality.
And the taps! Oh my God yes!!! Seriously, this is so awesome. They let you sample everything, too. The people working here are pretty knowledgeable too. Sooo many beers on tap, and all available to be filled up in Growlers. The prices are very reasonable, pretty widely-ranged in price, but . To compare price, figure a 64 ounce growlers is just over 5 12-ounce bottles worth, or a little less than a typical six-pack. But the beer is on tap, so it's much fresher and tastes much better than from a bottle.
My only suggestion for improvement is that I think that lower-alcohol content (4-5%) beers are under-represented here. I'm not talking light beers, I mean micro-brews, like beers with a strong hop presence like Pilsners, or darker beers like stouts that still have a complex aroma. The taps have a lot of IPA's, including some excellent ones, but they tend a little towards the heavier and stronger side. I'd say around 70% of the taps here tend to be 6% ABV and up, well over half 7% and up. I am someone who likes to drink more beer, and beer of a lower alcohol content because I stay more hydrated that way and end up feeling better as I drink. I also find stronger beers often tend to be heavier (also often sweeter) and bog me down, limiting the amount I can drink...so I'd love to see more high-quality micro-brews on tap here, in the 4-5% ABV range, ones that are crisp, bitter, aromatically complex, but not too sweet or heavy.
This is a minor suggestion. They do have some beers like this on tap, just only a few!
I highly recommend going to this store. If you are a beer lover, I think it's really likely that you will be as excited about it as I am!