Stores – BrewMinds

Store Review: Everything D’Vine

Living in Monroe it’s hard to get downtown for all the excellent things going on every night, as such I feel I’ve let you all down by not doing a better job of getting to an Everything D’Vine tasting sooner. Everything D’Vine is a beer/wine store that’s been open for about 6 or 7 months now. It’s on the far west side of 4th street, so basically go all the way down to central ave and back track a half block or so and look for the red awning.

The store reminds me of Two-Face from Batman, but not in the killing people/robbing banks kind of way. It’s split in half and you walk in the wine half and it’s a nice wine store with relaxing music and these cool horizontal wine holders on the walls. About half way down the building is an opening to cut over to the beer side. Here you’re just looking at lots of bottles of beer, bare brick walls, and the music selection was more along the lines of Soundgarden than Barry Manilow (I kid, I kid).

I know little of wine so I’ll make no comments regarding their wine selection, however, their beer selection I can attest to. Sadly it’s not a huge massive selection but damn is it a good one! They just don’t have the room to have every beer from every brewery, if you want that you can go to Party Source or Jungle Jims and spend your time trying to figure out what’s great. Travis has taken care of that for you. What bottles (and cans) they have are all great – excellent quality and cover the entire range of beer styles. Though to the dismay of one customer last night there is no Yuengling, which I’m relatively sure is a good thing.

Everything D’Vine has been making moves to be more then just a wine/beer store. Those moves started with tastings almost every Friday night. The tastings are Friday nights 5:30 – 8:30 and Saturday 1 – 6, $15/person for samples of 6 wines and 6 beers + snacks. Not being a wine guy I passed on that action and went straight for the brews, and I picked a great night to go!

I’m not going to go into super detail on all those but the Missions Shipwreck Double IPA was an unexpected highlight, great IPA action with a solid malt body backing. The Enjoy By and Espresso IRS were also delicious and another surprise for me was the Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo Special Brown ale, its a Belgian strong ale that shows off everything great about Belgians. Not all tasting line ups are like this, the two Stones really made tonight stand out more than usual.

A bonus to these tastings is that Travis really knows his shit on these brews. So I said they’re making moves to be more than just a store and the first move was the tastings. They’re also doing an educational wine 101 course this week and will soon be doing “celebrity tastetenders” at the tastings. This week’s “celebrity tastender” session is Learn Beer From A Pro: Scott Lafollette of Blank Slate Brewing Co. and I’ve heard rumors that in the future at least one local blogger/tour guide may be doing one. Plus I can say for sure that as soon as my time (and my wife) allows I plan on doing one as well!

Perhaps the best thing about Everything D’Vine is that it is the single most socially active store in the tri-state area that I’ve found so far. Travis has done a great job of covering Facebook (their page), Twitter (their feed), and blog posts (their blog). Better yet not only is he keeping these things up to date with the latest beer arrivals and store happenings but he is also superb at responding to things (which some bigger, alliteratively named, stores suck horrendously at).

Bottom line is that if you haven’t been to Everything D’Vine yet I encourage you to start following them on Facebook and Twitter and go down to the store to check it out. If you’re like me and don’t get downtown often then wait for a Friday night Red’s game and do a little beer tasting then hit the ball park (and don’t forget to stop by the Machine Room in the stadium) or do a tasting and hit the Yard House or Lager House for dinner.

Wine for Beer Drinkers: Where to start?

[Ed.: Today we have a guest post from Adolpho Nunez (@CincyBeachBum on Twitter), a volunteer who responded to my call for some help on the wine front. Hopefully this will be the first of many times we’ll be hearing from him!]

As drinkers, we’ve all had different reasons for picking up a glass of wine at one time or another: maybe we want to impress a date, or its a grown up party your significant other is making you attend, or maybe that’s all the wedding was serving. For one reason or another, there will come a time when wine will be the drink of the moment. And, as with any drink, why not enjoy it?

Personally, I consider myself a beer guy, but I’m not a homebrewer. I never got caught up in the “craft” of craft beer. I’m the same way with wine. I’m simply on the hunt for a drink that lifts my spirits, complements my meal, or numbs my head. I’ll take two of the three any given Friday.

With that being said, its easy to be intimidated by knowledgeable drinkers in both the beer and wine camps (“snobs” if you want to call them that). But, here’s the thing. Most people can’t tell the difference between a 10 dollar and a 100 dollar bottle of wine, so with that in mind, I’ll be focusing on those great bottles you can take to a party that are under 20 dollars, which will make people will say “Damn, that guy knows his wine”

But, to start, here is a quick rundown of some resources to help you get started on your quest to become a more well rounded drinker, because no one is paying me to tell you what to drink (yet….) Continue reading “Wine for Beer Drinkers: Where to start?”

Westvleteren 12 release at The Party Source

From the Party Source beer newsletter. Good luck and happy hunting!

It is with great pride and joy that we are announcing the release of the highly sought after Westvleteren XII. There are very strict rules and regulations handed down by the Abbey itself on how and when you can sell as well as buy these beers. Westvleteren XII displays a score of 100 points on both ratebeer and beeradvocate. It is considered by many to be the best beer in the world, as well as the most elusive. Westvleteren was founded in 1838, and has gained national recognition for their beer, which are not brewed for normal commercial demands. The Party Source Beer Department is one of the very few lucky retailers in the US to be able to offer these beers. However, with great reward come rules. In order to be one of the fortunate, you must follow the orders handed down by the monastery. So please check all of the details below on how you can purchase this amazing six-pack that includes two Westvleteren XII glasses. Mark it on your calendar, the Westvleteren XII Gift Set will be sold online for in store pickup ONLY at 12 pm on 12/12/12.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING POLICY:

To distribute this coveted gift set to as many as possible, sales of Westvleteren XII are limited as follows: You may purchase one gift set of Westvleteren XII and one gift set only per person / household / address. Orders that violate this policy will be summarily deleted without notice.

Sales of Westvleteren XII are first come, first serve. There is no waiting list, and The Party Source cannot hold or sell gift sets in advance, take sales by phone or in the store. We also cannot deviate from these limits for anyone. Finally, we regret that we cannot combine orders of Westvleteren XII from multiple customers. Each customer can only order his or her own Westvleteren XII Gift Set.

The Party Source is pleased to announce that the Westvleteren XII Gift Set will go on sale exclusively online (for in-store pickup ONLY, sorry no shipping) on Wednesday, December 12th at 12:00 pm EST.

Road Trip! The Beer Trappe in Lexington

Every now and then it’s good to get out of the Queen City and explore the drinking culture in further flung regions of this great country. At just about a 90 minute drive away, the lovely college town of Lexington makes a great day trip. Usually if I’m going to Lexington I’m thinking bourbon, but recently Charlie and I got together with members of one of our favorite local bands, Ford Theater Reunion, to record a drinks segment for our podcast, The Charlie Tonic Hour, at The Beer Trappe in Lexington. It turned out to be an incredibly educational and fun experience. Eric, Joe, Allen and Alex are huge beer nerds and I learned all about gypsy brewers, natural fermentation, and beer that can taste like cheese. Of course it also turned into an hour and half long episode of great beer conversation interlaced with random thoughts on our first drinking experiences, why not trying is sexy, and a beanbag chair covered in kittens. So it was kind of a mixed bag. Listen at your own risk.

rochetfort 8 — Me with the Trappist Rochefort 8, aka the one that tastes like cheese.

In fact, rather than listening to me enjoying The Beer Trappe, I recommend that you head for 811 Euclid Ave in Lexington Kentucky and experience it for yourself. Named one of the 100 best beer barsin America by Draft Magazine, The Beer Trappe has 8 rotating taps and over 400 bottles of craft beer from around the world that can be sampled in-house or purchased for enjoying at home. I was blown away by the selection of beers and would have been completely at a loss for where to start if not for our friends, but I get the impression that the staff are just as eager to help you find a good beer or ten or twenty to try. If you are in need of more guidance, on Sunday afternoons they hold Beer School, a relaxed tasting of beers within a particular style or theme that is moderated by National Beer Judge Kevin Patterson.

photo (30) — Seven bottles were killed in the making of this episode.

The Beer Trappe was highly worth the drive but the whole neighborhood would make for a really nice day out. Once you’ve sampled all you can reasonably try at the Beer Trappe, head next door for some cheap but very good Cajun food at Bourbon N’ Toulouse, do a walking tour around historic Lexington to take in some sights and then head back to Euclid for a burger and a carafe of cocktails at Charlie Brown’s. Just do yourself a favor and make sure you have a driver for this particular road trip.

Where I buy beer

A question recently came up on one of my beer reviews about where I buy beer. I’m out on the northern edge of the greater Cincinnati area so some of these places may be pretty far for our readers. Though my options out here are rather limited so I often have to travel far to buy worthy brews.

Jungle Jims
- A lot of people in the Cincinnati area are already familiar with Jungle Jims, even if only for their strange bathrooms. Luckily, those bathrooms are right next to there extensive beer selection. It’s broken down with 2 rows of imports, 1 full height and 2 half-height rows of American brews. These are all 6-packs and bombers here. There is also about 3 rows of 12-packs of various origin. The real present here is the pick a 6 selection. There are a solid 100 or so beers here, unfortunately it doesn’t change very often though. Like everything with Jungle Jim’s there is also an incredible amount of wine and liquor.
Dorothy Lane Market
- So the blog is Queen City Drinks, but I’m out in the hinterlands of Cincinnati and the Dorothy Lane Market (DLM) stores in Dayton are closer to me then the Party Source in Kentucky. DLM is similar to Trader Joes in lots of unique food, but it’s also got most things you might need to buy from Kroger. There beer selection isn’t huge but is wide ranging. They typically only have 1 facing (shelf space) for each 6-pack or bomber which is nice because it guarantees a wide selection. There isn’t any pick 6 available but there is a great selection of bombers which is frequently updated.
O’Bryan’s
- O’Bryan’s is a nice store out in Deerfield (north of Loveland, east of Mason) that has a pretty extensive beer selection of 6-packs and bombers and a small pick 6 selection. I will warn that O’Bryan’s has a tendency to be $1 or so more per item then the other places on my list. Like Jungle Jim’s they also have a decent liquor selection and lots of wine… which I know nothing about it.
Party Source
- I’m gonna guess that a lot of people already know Party Source well. Right across the river from Cincinnati and just down the road from the Levy. As with Jungle Jim’s and O’Bryan’s there is wine and liquor aplenty. As far as beer is concerned they have a tremendous selection of beer in bombers and 6-packs as well as the biggest (at least on this list) pick 6 selection.
Dutch’s
- I only recently found out about Dutch’s thanks to my sister-in-law living 2 blocks away. Dutch’s is my favorite on this list, despite being a hefty drive for me down to Hyde Park. It’s my favorite due to the combo bar + bottle shop. They’ve got a small wine & beer bar with 10 taps of all craft selections. The bottle shop is mainly broken up 6-packs and bombers but is a very diverse selection.

Anyway, that’s where I buy most of my beer. I’d love to hear where everyone else goes especially in the Monroe/West Chester area!