Sav-a-Minit

The only real reason to come here is the malt liquor/crappy lager selection. They’ve got a few items that I haven’t seen elsewhere like Big Kat, Dead Presidents, and Pit Bull Ice. They also carry a number of Genesee products, which is sort of an oddity for Southern California. Otherwise, this is just a run down liquor/convenience store. They did have a small selection of micros, but a lot of them were more expensive than at better shops and I’d imagine the hoppy beers were grossly out of date.

Visited a few times so far in September 2013.

I just moved to the area and was checking out some of the place listings here and laughed when I saw this. Why would this even be added to the site? I decided to stop in on the way to the grocery store and was pleasantly surprised by the malt liquor collection. 5 beers that I haven’t tried yet, 2 of which weren’t even in the database here yet (BigKat Ice and Dead President$). They also have some of the obscure malt liquors like Stack, Pit Bull, and Natty Daddy. As for good beer, they have some AleSmith, Ballast Point, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, and Firestone, so some good stuff for sure. The problem with those good beers however is that they don’t move. The AleSmith IPA was 4 months old. They also have plenty of wine, liquor, and snacks, in addition to some groceries and lotto tickets. Realistically I’ll only be back for more malt liquors, or if I have a craving for Union Jack and everything else (that is closer to my house) is closed.

For any beer lovers living within walking distance, Sav-a-Minit is the only place to pick up a decent selection of high-quality brews. Lots of good bottles from Stone, Bear Republic, and Port Brewing. The beverage ordering guy is very friendly and accommodating. Frankly, I was surprised that such good beer would be stocked at such a strange mini mart, often populated by destitute or drugged-out down-and-outers. But trust me: the beer is quality and affordably priced.