Steve Koenemann

The Beverage Warehouse: Vermont’s Best Beer Selection

Located in Winooski, adjacent to Vermont’s largest city, Burlington, lies one of Vermont’s great treasures for serious craft beer drinkers. Tucked back off the road and only recently exposed to passing traffic by the demolition of an old restaurant, lies the Beverage Warehouse . This business, in an unassuming one-story building, established in 1977 by George Bergin and Jen Swiatek, has been described by some people as “the best GD (“gosh darn”) place to buy beer in Vermont”. From my considerable experience traveling around Vermont, without question, the Beverage Warehouse definitely has the best selection of beer available within this state’s borders.

In a recent interview with Jeff Baker, the Bevy’s Beer and Wine Manager, Jeff indicated that they carry more than 850 varieties of beer and other malt beverages and he proudly proclaims that this number represents every beer that can legally be distributed and sold in Vermont. This number continues to rise as their distributors find more brands willing to sell beer in Vermont. For those of you that don’t know, Vermont is a pretty small place with only about 600,000 people spread across the whole state and about an eighth of that population concentrated in the greater Burlington/Chittenden County region. That fact, coupled with an only recently changed (2008) beer law, which finally allowed beer to be sold with a higher alcohol content than 8% (now up to 16%), has previously made it pretty difficult for many major national craft beer brands to either take a chance on the higher costs of distribution and sales in this state or even sell some of their better lines of beer here due to the legal ABV restrictions. Jeff agrees with me that the passing of the 2008 beer law was a significant game changer for the beer marketplace in Vermont and that both national brands and local distributors are finally realizing that Vermonters really like craft beer and want to have access to all the best brands that the rest of the country has access to. He points to the fact that prior to the law change less than two years ago, they were only able to carry about 450 varieties of beer. The explosion of the beer market has driven up their sales too; now totaling more than 1500 cases and about 100 kegs of beer per week.

In talking with Jeff, I discovered knowledge much deeper and varied than one might expect at a beer and wine store. Jeff tells me that this is actually the second time that he has worked for Jen and George. The first time was when he was attending nearby St. Michael’s College where he received a degree in Philosophy. Back then he says that his work was mostly focused on “schlepping” kegs and other relatively unsophisticated jobs. Jeff left the BW and Vermont for a time when he moved down to Boston to attend Boston College, where he received his Masters in Philosophy. During that time he also began to build his knowledge about wine. He has received the Wine Diploma and Certificate from the Elizabeth Bishop Wine Resource Center at Boston University and, though not yet a Sommelier, is a member of the International Sommelier Guild. Through his employment at the Wine Gallery in Boston, who also carried a “boutique” line of beer, he gained his first real introduction to the world of fine craft beers. After spending some time in Florida working at ABC Fine Wines and Spirits, Jeff returned to Vermont and at the behest of George and Jen, also returned to the Beverage Warehouse. Since returning, Jeff has taken over the duties of managing the BW wine and beer selections from Jen, who did this work previously.

Jeff seems to be the perfect person for his job. He is extremely easy to work with and has an obvious love for what he does. I had absolutely no problem arranging a time to meet with him or in getting him to talk about his favorite beverage topics for more than an hour. Jeff backs up this easy manner with considerable knowledge of the beer that he sells and a deep understanding of what good beer is, which I believe can only come from actually tasting/drinking/experiencing lots of different kinds of beer. Jeff’s latest creation, which demonstrates some of this understanding, is a locked cabinet containing some of the BW’s rarest and most expensive beers. It also happens to contain some vintage beer selections of Jeff’s own doing, as he has recently started cellaring a small selection of beers in their warehouse for future sale; Stone Old Guardian is one good example of what has been set aside to be aged.

In addition his other duties, Jeff has also been instrumental in both creating and updating the Beverage Warehouse web site. This includes Jeff’s Beverage Warehouse B(eer)-Log , a blog he uses to keep his more tech savvy customers informed of the upcoming BW events (in-house beer tastings and whatnot), Jeff’s personal reviews of both beers and places he likes and, of course, the current list of beers that have either been newly added to the BW stock or have returned to availability.

My final questions to Jeff centered on his own personal tastes in beer. While he insisted that he enjoys many different types of beer, Jeff quickly let me know that beer, for him, falls into two broad categories; Belgian beers and non-Belgian beers, with the Belgians being his preference. We then had a somewhat lengthy discussion about many aspects of Belgian beers (which happen to be among my favorites too) and why they are so popular. My last question of the day and the one question that any serious craft beer drinker just HATES to answer… of all all the beers here in the Beverage Warehouse today, which would be your favorite? After a bit of “whining” about the question (I would do the same) and continued insistence on my part, Jeff finally selected De Dolle Oerbier as his “favorite” (if he could only have one). This beer is not, yet, on my Ratebeer ratings list, but after Jeff’s recommendation, I look forward to giving it a try as I am certain that it will be a good one.

I have been a Beverage warehouse customer for many years and they will definitely continue to see me from time to time as I look to add to my growing Ratebeer beer collection. For any serious craft beer drinkers traveling to the Burlington area, the Beverage Warehouse is a destination well worth considering for a look at the best beer selection available in and, perhaps, the best place to buy beer in Vermont.

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