The Beer Depot

7/26/2008 5:26:24 PM, saturday, july 26, 2008
Well, having survived on my local liquor and grocery stores and Whole Foods, this was pretty impressive to me. I picked up four beers including a six-pack of Expy Stout, which was frankly what I was least excited about out of the four, hehe. Sure I didn’t notice anything exceedingly rare, and I could have gotten the Expy Stout at least $2 cheaper at the Whole Foods in Ann Arbor, and the aisles are impressively narrow, but I was quite impressed. Have to wonder what I’ll find next time I’m there.

7/25/2008 11:17:51 PM, friday, july 25, 2008
Stopped in on a trip back from MI... the place was somewhat of a dump... crumby looking building in a fairly nice area. Also, as a lot of earlier people have mentioned, it is full of non-beer stuff. That said, there were plenty of lovely finds, but on a time and money budget, I got out in a hurry with only a couple of Dark Horse finds. There were some oddities like Stone 11th Anniversary still on the shelf (when was the last time you saw one of these in a store?) At the same time, most of the stuff that I looked for thinking I would find some wonderfully aged lambics or stouts was new... go figure. The clerk had a somewhat limited knowledge of beer, but was cheerful and helpful enough. Also, prices were on the high side... You might find some good stuff, you might not... either way, the price will be a little high, but I’ll stop in next time I’m in town.

7/9/2008 8:43:33 PM, wednesday, july 09, 2008
A nicely laid-out but packed beer store. For a place called Beer Depot it’s surprising to see that about 2/3 of the space is occupied by non-beer products. The American beer selection is minimal although I did score a Leelanau Good Harbor Golden that I couldn’t locate in other stores. The import beer selection is quite impressing though. A lot of stuff I haven’t seen in other Michigan stores. On the downside prices were about 10% to 15% higher than other Michigan stores I have visited. No beer lovers on the floor when I was there, just clerks that were as passionate about the store as a retail chain employee. Overall this is a convenient little store because it is located in the heart of Ann Arbor walking distance from the best Bar Arbor beer places like Arbor Brewing and Grizzly Peak but it doesn’t measure up to the best Michigan beer stores like Siciliano’s Market.

6/10/2008 6:21:16 PM, tuesday, june 10, 2008
Smaller selection than bello vino, with slightly higher prices - run down old building, but in the heart of downtown, which is a plus - I probably would not have come here were it not right down the block from Arbor Brewing.

1/4/2008 7:33:44 AM, friday, january 04, 2008
More singles than the Main Street Party Store, and a slightly better selection, with bottles of 07 KRE on the shelves as well, on the night it was released at the brewery. This would be my 1 beer spot if I was driving through AA. It’s a cramped store with skinny aisles and all that, and sometimes the beer seemed to be scattered, but it’s still a very solid selection.

1/11/2007 11:21:32 PM, thursday, january 11, 2007
I thought that this place would be below average when i walked in, then i found oerbier and dulle teve reservas on the shelf. A little farther down i found some singles of founders imp stout and some other locals which i couldnt find anywhere else. Good place to find some oddities you just need to look hard.

12/20/2006 8:09:02 PM, wednesday, december 20, 2006
Cool little place, had a bunch of rare oddities sitting around collecting dust. This seems like the kind of place that would get picked apart, and be left with some bare shelves if I lived closer. That said it was really cramped in there, and the prices were a bit high. I don’t understand how Hopslam is more expensive in Michigan than Ohio. A good place to go beer hunting at though, found some 2003 Dulle Teve reservas, and nice little finds like that.

5/7/2006 5:39:45 PM, sunday, may 07, 2006 [ Updated sunday, may 07, 2006 ]
They had a decent selection. Picked up some Rasp. Eisbocks in addition to some other Mid-west goodies. I was actually hoping for a larger mid-west singles selection (which was only a few shelves worth).

4/16/2006 11:24:06 PM, sunday, april 16, 2006 [ Updated wednesday, may 31, 2006 ]
The Beer Depot has changed a lot from the mid-seventies when I remember riding through with my father to pick up a case whatever godawful Canadian beer (he bought the good stuff) he drank back then.

But’s still got the drive through sign (though no drive through), and beer selection is very impressive, even to someone who now lives 10 minutes from Bottleworks. I was pleased to be able to pick up a couple of bottles of Kuhnhenn’s Raspbery Eisbock and three other top-fifty beers that I haven’t been able to get in Seattle.

The service was great; the guy working there was happy to talk beer and even called around to help me find a few other things I was looking for.

2/27/2006 2:59:47 PM, monday, february 27, 2006
Good place to shop, and one of the best I’ve seen. Avery, Kuhenen, DFH, Great DIvide, ROchefort, the list goes on and on and on. SOme retired beer were also found. Cramped area made shopping difficult at times, especially when browsing the bottom two shelves. Within 5 min walk from Arbour Brewing, which was great. SOme stuff was pticey, but I did manage to score a bomber of Avery the Beast fir 10 dollars. SCORE! I’ll be returning.