I'm New to Orange County

[BadSaxx]

I'm new to Orange County, and looking for the best bottle shop in the area. I'm aware of Bev Mo, and don't think the selection is adequate. I'm looking for a place that stocks all of the hard-to-get California micros -- e.g. Pliny the Elder, Lagunitas Brown Shugga, Green Flash, Left Coast, etc.

Also, my old bottle shop hosted beer tastings every Friday night where they featured a particular brewery or a particular style each week -- it was a great way to get to know beer. Plus, those folks were very knowledgeable about all aspects of beer, and could tell you the profile for every beer they sold. Any bottle shop in Orange County like that?

Lastly, I'm a homebrewer, so I'm looking for a local homebrew shop. I've heard of Morebeer in Riverside, and The Bruery Provisions in Placentia. Any other recommendations?

I've joined your fine club, and am looking forward to my first get-together with you all. For those of you interested, here's my beer blog: http://huningtonsachsbrauerei.blogspot.com/

[lars]

First off, Welcome! Second, I'm not the one to ask about bottle shops, but check out HiTime Cellars in Costa Mesa, and Town and Country in Fullerton.

MoreBeer in Riverside and The Bruery Provisions are two GREAT homebrew shops. In addition you will find Steinfillers in Long Beach (good shop, help can be hit or miss), and O'Shea's in Laguna Niguel (mostly a keg store - emergency only).

If you have become a paid member, you will soon have access to our members only forums and find that we are planning our July meeting. Feel free to jump in and offer any suggestions you may have. Our usual meeting location is The Bruery Provisions in Placencia

[backyard brewer]

Welcome aboard!
In addition to what Lars mentioned, Total Wine and More at The Market Place in Tustin/Irvice is OK too. They're a lot like BevMo but with better selection and better prices.

Not much else to add!

[brahn]

I'll add Whole Foods in Tustin at the District to the list of bottle shops, if you get to know the beer buyer there. Last night I picked up a bottle of Cuvee de Tomme, Angel's Share and Old Rasputin XII. All but the Angel's Share were in the back though and he had to go get them for me. He also brought out a bottle of Papier he had in the back, but I told him I was already well stocked. They've always got Pliny and I got a bottle of Consecration from him a few months ago (last night he said he should have Temptation near the end of July!). They do beer tastings there occasionally and the buyer is organizing a BA tasting over at Tustin Brewing Company on July 12th.

[dhempy]

Welcome Aboard!

Dan

[gromitdj]

Hollingshead Deli in Orange has a pretty good selection. Although it's not the best selection, they sell them in singles. I've bought Pliny there in the past & one can of Old Chub to try. It gets a little expensive that way, but if your looking to sample a beer before committing to 6 of them, its a good way to go. You can check them out Here

[lexuschris]

Welcome to Orange County and brewcommune!

Enjoyed your blog! Loved the labels!

Everyone gave the bottle shop suggestions I had. BevMo has a pretty wide selection, and I liked that Tustin Wine & More shop Derrin mentioned too! Whole Foods recently found me some Stone Sublimly Self-Righteous Ale ...which I had been searching for... score!

Again, welcome aboard!
--LexusChris

[kevinham]

As a regular (weekly) customer at Hollingshead's I recommend only buying a bottled beer there if NO ONE else has it, or if you are going somewhere right after and don't want to go to another beer store. Also, don't buy any bottles in the Belgian beer fridge, everything is moldy. Love the place, but they are way overpriced.

I want to add that Total Wine in Tustin, and Hi-Times Wine Cellar in Costa Mesa are awesome.

I've also heard Lone Hill Liquor in Glendora has an incredible selection of beers no one else in SoCal has. I haven't been there yet though, it's not all that local for most of us.

[BadSaxx]

Thanks for all of the suggestions -- I'm slowly working my way through the list. Town & Country was mostly a disappointment -- my old Albertsons back home had a bigger selection -- but at least I could find Blind Pig there, as well as local brews from Bootlegger and The Bruery. The prices, however, were pretty outrageous. In my book BevMo still gets better marks.

Hi-Times in Costa Mesa was refreshing. Great selection, an obvious knowledge of what is/isn't craft brew, and cold storage for all of their beer -- I highly recommend the place. My only disappointment was their failure to carry a greater selection of So Cal micros -- still searching for a shop that carries EVERY So Cal microbrewery. I may have to drive to San Diego for a beer excursion, or have it shipped -- read about this place http://southbaydrugsandliquor.googlepages.com/ at http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... -old-suds/ -- have to give it a try.

The MoreBeer shop in Riverside was great, but the traffic there really sucked. Think I"ll stick with mail order for everything I can't get at Bruery Provisions.

I'll keep you posted on my quest for beer nirvana. When I've made the whole route, I'll probably create a new thread just for tips/reviews for those seeking the same info.

Looking forward to the August club brew. Cheers.

[maltbarley]

A bit if a hi-jack here, but Wine Exchange in Orange has 4-packs of Samiclaus for $10. There were 5 of these 4-packs left in the clearance basket.

[bwarbiany]

I've also heard Lone Hill Liquor in Glendora has an incredible selection of beers no one else in SoCal has. I haven't been there yet though, it's not all that local for most of us.

Lone Hill is quite good. The in-laws live in Glendora so I'm up there on a semi-regular basis.

You can definitely get a few special things (I'll often see stuff like Three Floyds in one of the coolers), and their selection in general is top-notch.

[floyd]

How about Vendome in yorba linda? It seems a lot better than town and country from what I saw.

[maltbarley]

Welcome Floyd!

[floyd]

Thanks! I found this place recently and it's already been a huge help. Good to know it's here =)