While I don’t share Lew’s frothing hatred of taxation, I must say that I’ve reached my limit with the PLCB. What was the last straw, you ask? I have never had a good local distributor in my life. I had a flirtation with Society Hill Beverage, but even their superior selection (by PA standards) and reasonable prices aren’t enough to keep me from envying my friends in Jersey, or from relishing trips to Helen’s home state too much. (Little secret: Virginia is for beer lovers! Bet you didn’t know Dogfish Head has a string of brewpubs down there!)
No one retailer is perfect. I’ll accept that for all intents and purposes beer snobbery is the new record snobbery. You can read all about it, salivate over every boutique brew, but the the real challenge is to find it in the wild. Might not be so hard at the local taprooms, but try finding a bomber of Dogfish Head’s latest, Bitches Brew, anywhere around town. It’s pointless to try.
I’m not sure what the answer is. I’m not typically a fan of privatization. Sure, there’s malfeasance in the public sphere, but we can influence that. Look around at what’s happened in the free market in the past ten years and ask yourself if they’re doing much better. What I will grant is that folks in other states with more liberal alcohol sales laws tend to have a better overall experience. Would it kill someone to let me buy a mixed six pack, instead of having to buy a whole case of pumpkin ale?
As it stands now, plenty of Pennsylvanians become bootleggers rather than conform to local laws. It’s too tempting to sneak over the Jersey or Delaware border to pick up your favorite beer and wine in stores that are frankly much better than any state store or distributor. Why not just reform the laws and find a way to make that system work as it does in neighboring states?
I will say this: bootlegging is much easier now since the advent of E‑Z Pass. You don’t even have to wait in pesky toll lanes!
I was super excited to see, and move near, the Bella Vista Distributor but the novelty of selection wore off after awhile for the same reason you cite. I’m never in the market for a whole $80 case of any one type of beer. I’ll go in and pick up a variety pack on occasion, but that limits what I can sample from.
Hawthorne’s looked like it was going to be a godsend, but you’re paying a high premium for the “luxury” of mixing a six pack.
Now I stock up at Canal’s on 38 when running the occasional weekend errand, or working from our NJ offices.
My alternatives when that’s not available:
— Occasional growler fills at Devil’s Den. YMMV, but I find you usually get a decent break on getting one of these 64oz bottles filled. Seems that it rings up against the price per ounce of the keg versus equivalent glasses.
— Overpaying for cold six packs at POPE or Teri’s Diner
— Convincing friends/coworkers to hit up a happy hour and at least enjoy the selection of decently priced pubs around here
Agreed re Bella Vista. My happiest moments there all involve Troegs’ products, whether it’s securing a sixtel of Mad Elf for our annual Xmas party, or finding the last case of Nugget Nectar hidden behind a few cases of Kenzinger. A treat!
Apart from that, yeah, $80 just to try something I’ve read about? No thanks.
We have Kraftwork up our way and they fill growlers, too, but I can’t convince myself to make that leap. I’d sooner head out to Sly Fox or Victory in person.
I’ll have to try Canal’s again. My wife works right off of 38 (or 70. I never remember which) so we’re over there often enough. It’s just tricky making an extra stop with the baby. He gets annoyed if he has to be put into the car seat too many times!
You know…I see a lot of blue-state types prefacing their questioning of the PLCB (or VABC, or whichever of the ridiculously outdated state booze control agencies) with “I’m not usually in favor of privatization…”
Not necessary, IMO. Privatization is about privatizing functions that have traditionally been those of government. RETAIL is not one. I don’t think you need to feel bad about supporting that kind of privatization at all, regardless of your politics. You wouldn’t want to see the gummint controlling other retail, would you? Like bookstores, maybe? Didn’t think so!
Well, government is involved in retail, but it’s usually behind the scenes. We’re not the only state that has this, including VA and NC, at least for wine and spirits.
That said, I’ll grant that the arrangement here in PA is just absurd. It seems that we’d almost have to abolish the PLCB and distributors simultaneously. I mean, dumping state stores is one thing; trying to force small business operators to diversify their product offering is quite another. Most of my neighborhood stores make bank on mountains of Coors, Miller and Budweiser. That’s where I see the real issue, since it goes outside the political realm and delves into small businesses who would be reluctant to reform.
How would that unfold?