March 30, 2012
Makes total wine look like the taj mahal. You never get great service at these types of places but the person at the checkout counter seemed genuinely bummed when I didn’t join their craft beer club. They stack a lot of BMC high and deep but they also have a solid selection of Belgian and American regional craft though I do wish they had more local stuff. They don’t have any lind of pick 6 display so we can’t give too high a score It’s not a beer geek destination but if this is your local you could do much worse.

July 11, 2010
It’s a warehouse-style liquor store, so there is a variety of what beverages are there. Not a whole lot, but a good amount of obscure beers are sold. Extensive wine and liquor selection as well. A good stop if you’re in need of a good 12 pack.

December 25, 2009
Don’t waste your time with Joe CAnals. Some common craft brews. I do love the fact that they carried Lion’s Head, a micro from Northeast Penn. that I drank way too often at the U of Scranton. But that nostalgia aside. This is not a "beer geek" stop.

February 12, 2008
I probably shouldn’t have visitied this place after shopping at Oak Tree Buy Rite in South Plainfield. Relative to The Oak, this place is weak at best From service to selection, Canals is lacking in the speciality beer area. They throw up just enough stuff to claim they’re looking out for us, but a single visit would show otherwise. And to top it off, I had to park far from the store and deal with the traffic. If you are looking for anything more than the basics, not worth the visit.

August 7, 2007
This is your typical Canal’s liquor store. Its pretty much a warehouse set up where your supposed to help yourself. They have a good selection of common beers, and a decent selection of imports. They have an impressive amount of wine it appears, however a better person would need to discuss that. They have shopping carts which are full size, and you have a chance of finding someone who knows something about selecting an appropriate beer.

January 22, 2007 [ Updated March 7, 2008 ]
I had an location to check out in this development and stopped in for the heck of it. The ambiance is the typical medium sized discount liquor store. No one approached me to ask if I needed help, or greeted me when I came in. However, they do have a decent aisle dedicated to beer. Belgians, Domestics, and European brews. Domestics included Jolly Pumpkin, Stone, Three Floyds, Heavyweight, Dogfish Head, Victory, etc. I doubt this place gets tons of beer geek traffic, because this one the only place that still had Stone 10th when I stopped in. No rarities, but a solid selection. Worth a look if you are in the area, but it does not not touch the selection of the stores further north (Somerville SS and Oak Tree). It did not appear that they broke six packs.