Consumers Beverages (Buffalo)

[sstackho]

I made my second visit to a Consumers Beverages store in Buffalo this weekend (on Cayuga near the airport), and the experience was very similar to my first visit at a different store.

A good selection of craft beer, but with most of it being well past their best-before dates (if one could be found). I'm usually looking for hoppy beers when I'm in the States, but the best-before date on most of their IPAs was from about five months ago.

So is this the norm at this chain? Is Premier Gourmet any better? Village Beer Merchant isn't as quick and convenient to get to from the airport, unfortunately.

But on the plus side, I did enjoy the scolding from the border guard for declaring that I had "two cases" of beer and not "eight six-packs". They checked my trunk.

[Timmy]

Honestly I always have a hard time finding the best before dates. It's gotten to the point where I don't even check anymore(which is stupid).

I really like Consumers and it's where the bulk of my beer money goes, but I think that Premier probably puts more care into their stock. This is just based on talking with the one fellow while I was shopping at Premier. They just seem to have more of an interest in beer. At Consumers it's hit or miss when you talk to the people working the store. The one on Niagara Falls Blvd has one or two beer guys.

On a related note if you are shopping the outlet mall and want beer I just discovered that the Wegmans near there has a giant beer selection. I had always just gone to Tops if I was getting something easier to get(Sierra Nevada, or Sam Adams etc). Wegmans makes the tops look like a pile of crap. Big selection and a decent size walk in cooler.

[sprague11]

I found most of the Consumers stuff is close to or past the Best Before date, though I've gotten lucky at the one on Transit road north of the Pizza Plant. There are a couple of beer guys there (usually on weekends) that will usually tell you how long something has been sitting there.

The big Wegmans on the same street has a fairly decent selection of bottles. The gift packs they had last Christmas were pretty good value.

I rarely had issues with Freshness at Premier

As an aside, I just tell the border guards the bottle count.

[Ukie]

From what I have seen in Detroit at a Kroeger store there is usually a beer guy that comes in and pulls the old beer and restocks the shelf, much like our company bread guys at Metro or Sobeys. I guess this is not the case at strictly beer, wine and liquor stores in the States.

I know you are allowed 24 bottles after 48 hours in the States but what do they nick you for at the border if you are down for the day and have say 48 bottles?

[bufordsbest]

i've recently started stopping by consumer beverages and stocking up on good american craft that we don't get here.

i've made one visit to the location on genesee and found the selection pretty good but my last 2 visits i've made to the location on cayuga (around the corner from the airport) and have found their selection a lot better.

also of note, when i looked around the genesee store all the craft beer i could find was stored on the floor while the cayuga store had a bunch on the floor and then also a bunch refrigerated.

in regards to freshness, i've never noticed an issue in flavor but i've also never checked dates on what i bought. the dfh indian brown i bought did have a bottled date of 04/30 which would go along with your observations and i did see a 6'r of Great lakes IPA that was laced in dust.

i'll check some of the other stuff i bought when i get home and let you know.

on a side, did you get pulled over for having 2 cases? the most i've brought back is 3 sixes and a couple of bombers and never had an issue.

[sstackho]

Honestly I always have a hard time finding the best before dates. It's gotten to the point where I don't even check anymore(which is stupid).

Some have them, some don't. Some have the date and make it obvious, some don't. Sometimes it matters, sometimes it don't.

I only started noticing the dates after buying a sixer of Ruination from the Transit Road Consumers and it didn't taste anything like I had remembered. Ends up that the best before date was six months prior.

I know you are allowed 24 bottles after 48 hours in the States but what do they nick you for at the border if you are down for the day and have say 48 bottles?

Not quite sure, as the missus donated her allotment to the cause. I believe it's something around $15/case if they ding you.

in regards to freshness, i've never noticed an issue in flavor but i've also never checked dates on what i bought. the dfh indian brown i bought did have a bottled date of 04/30 which would go along with your observations and i did see a 6'r of Great lakes IPA that was laced in dust.

I'd be fine with a bottling date that recent. It's when it's that far past its best-before date when the hops can fade.

[lister]

I've never been to any Consumers when down that way. I always visit Premier, Village Beer Merchant and Beers of the World in Rochester (plus the requisite visit to Dinosaur BBQ.)

If you're stuck at Walden Galleria go kill time at Jack Astor's. Unlike the chain up here, that one has decent micros on tap. Nothing stupidly hoppy for you hopfiends (ST Hop Sun was the hoppiest at the time.) The bartender Anthony was a pleasant fellow to chat with. He was hoping to eliminate a couple of the light beer taps and replace them with better stuff, at least one IPA.

[Belgian]

Some IPAs are released only on specific months of the year, so good to buy what's fresh regardless where you get it. It's worth driving down for fresh Nugget Nectar or something like that, there's nothing like that anywhere in Ontario. There's often a HUGE display of boxes when new IPAs come out as well so that's a good indicator.

Consumers is great for newly-released stuff but they are no longer much cheaper than Premier (going to PG just saves time if they have what I need.)

The Wegmans in Amherst has a good selection and even a cool room. Stone bombers have been as cheap as four dollars there (IPA, Smoked Porter) and I also like Sierra Nevada Harvest for 3 bucks a bomber. Sometimes the basics are better than buying all this extreme stuff like bourbon aged stouts.

[Ukie]

Sometimes the basics are better than buying all this extreme stuff like bourbon aged stouts.

And easier to find and fresher and cheaper. I know the last time I was in Michigan the SNPA was 12 for $11.99 or $12.99 at CVS or Rite Aid. Those drug stores blow thru that stuff so fast no way does dust settle on those bottles. Unfortunately I found other stuff at Kroegers I wanted that used up my limit.

[bufordsbest]

the dfh indian brown i bought did have a bottled date of 04/30 which would go along with your observations and i did see a 6'r of Great lakes IPA that was laced in dust.

i'll check some of the other stuff i bought when i get home and let you know.

sn torpedo bottled on June 24th, stone ipa bomber best before 9/12/10 and great lakes pale ale best before 9/10/10 so no complaints here.