So that brings us back to Myrtle Beach and the vacation quest for new and different craft beers. I had already heard from some of my fellow HopPress writers and from other craft beer drinkers that Myrtle Beach was a “craft beer desert”; virtually devoid of any significant amounts of craft beer. I will have to tell you that from my initial explorations here, that might be true for those that aren’t willing to work a little bit to expose what offerings that there are. I thought that it might be interesting for some of you to outline the process that my wife and I went through to find the craft beer oases in this craft beer desert.

I have worked with computers for a living for about 30 years and I firmly believe that coupled with the Internet, Google truly does know “everything”; that’s a good thing in this case. A quick search for breweries on the Ratebeer site and on Google found only one local commercial brewery (New South Brewing Company) and a few brewpubs spread out along the 60 mile “Grand Strand” that makes up the greater Myrtle Beach area.

Two of the brewpubs, T-Bonz (New South makes their beer) and Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery (who makes their own beer) were easy enough to find as they were located in major restaurants and heavily advertised locally. We visited both of these establishments (both owned by the T-Bonz Restaurant Group) and had very good meals at both of them. Both of them also offered one of my favorite things when trying out a new beer “joint”… a sampler rack of beers… a cheap and effective way to sample a larger number of new beers without getting too smashed in the process. Over the course of a couple of visits I was able to sample all six beers that each brewpub was currently offering… 12 new beers, a really nice boost to my beer collection.

I had learned previously that South Carolina beer laws do not allow tasting rooms at breweries, so we did not bother to seek out the actual brewery itself. Our only option to taste their beers, other than at T-Bonz, was to find bars serving their beer or stores selling their beers. As it turns out, neither of those was an easy process. Since we needed groceries anyway, we surveyed two of the largest grocery stores in the immediate area (a SuperWalMart and a Food Lion) hoping to find a variety of regional beers. We did find just a couple; hidden in amongst the stacks and stacks of a large variety of AB-InBev products, which dominate this beer marketplace, but found no New South or any other South Carolina beers in the selections at either place.

Our quest then turned to local beer stores. Again, using Google and Ratebeer, we were able to locate one place in particular (Green’s) that seemed like it would carry what we were seeking. We visited this store and found a good variety of craft beers, many of them from brewers that do not sell in Vermont. I am like a “kid in a candy shop” when it comes to good beer stores and spent way too much money gathering up some “prizes” to take home with me. While there were plenty of good beers here, they did not carry any of New South’s beers or any other beers from South Carolina… puzzling, at best.

There are quite a number of beer stores located up and down the main thoroughfare, but visiting each one of them would be time consuming and, really, driving around in a car is not what I came to Myrtle Beach for. My wife had the great idea of calling New South to see if they could tell us where we might find their beer. The gentleman that she spoke with was very nice and quite helpful. He first explained that they only began putting their beer into cans last November, so quantities, even in the local area, were pretty limited. That helped to explain our difficulty in finding their beer in stores. He then went on to tell us about a local bar and another grocery that he was sure would carry their products.

The bar that he referenced, Bully’s, just happened to be in the same Barefoot Landing complex as the T-Bonz restaurant/brewpub, so that made for an efficient trip for both dinner and a chance to sample some different beers. Bully’s, as it turns out, had about 30 taps going with a very wide variety of beers from all over, both domestic and foreign, and including a couple of Vermont beers, which I was very happy to see. They did, in fact, have one New South beer on tap; their White Ale, which was pretty good. Our original mission to find a New South beer was now accomplished. Bully’s also had a couple of New Belgium beers (not available in VT) on tap and I had a chance to try their excellent Ranger IPA.

The grocery store (Lowes Foods) turned out to be a bit more of a trip, but well worth it. They carried a much bigger variety of craft beers than we had seen at the other groceries (and less of the AB-InBev stuff). They also offered a “singles” selection as well as a small selection of 22oz and 750ml bottled beers. We were able to find a large number of North and South Carolina beers. Again, I spent too much, but I just can’t pass up those “prizes”.

From beginning to end the process above took us about 7 days. A beer quest is not the primary focus of our vacation here in Myrtle Beach, but it does add, for me, an additional amount of pleasure and excitement. We are here for just a few more days before heading north again. There are still a couple more places that we could check out, but quite honestly, I have spent plenty of my vacation on this fun project and it is really time to focus more on the beach and the sunshine. Our trip home could be another matter though, as we plan to make several stops along the way. Those stops, of course, will present opportunities for more beer adventures. Gosh, I hope I have room in the car for all the beer!

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.