Where to buy rare beer in NYC?

Hello guys!

I’ll be heading to NYC in April and I’m looking for a place to buy rare beer. I had previously been at New Beer Distributors and Whole Foods (Bowery and others), as well as Good Beer and did not find a great amount of rare beer, although I got to admit both stores have great variety.

What would be the shop to go to?

PS: If anyone is interested in trading for Brazilian beers, let me know!

Well typically speaking you’re not going to find "rare beer" in stores. I guess I’d need to know what you consider rare beer that would perhaps be available in New York. Good Beer frequently gets rare stuff in where they have 1 bottle limits on them. Most recently, Westbrook 4th Anniversary was there along with Logsdon Far West Vlaming, which is certainly a rarer sight in NYC even though Logsdon is now distributed here.

The stores you mentioned are pretty much the best in the city. If you don’t find what you’re looking for there, you likely won’t find it at all. Best of luck and if you feel like meeting up for beers during your time here, let us know in the New York metro forum.

Thanks a bunch! I’m also planning to take a look at Top Hops and City Swiggers. Are they any good?

Rarities are probably picked through quite intensively in NYC.

Are you only in NYC?

Admittedly, I haven’t been to Top Hops in a long time and I’ve never been to City Swiggers, so I can’t really speak for those. Top Hops has been the destination for things like the Westy 12 brick release from a while back and Goose Island Bourbon County beers (e.g. Vanilla Rye this year, along with coffee and barleywine) around the time of "Black Friday." I think Top Hops is popular among a number of folks in the city, but I think that’s more for tastings/events they end up doing there than for bottles to take away.

Your best bet is to check beer menus just before you go as anything "rare" would tend to sell out quickly. Many NYC shops update their inventory regularly on there.. Dive bar has a good section and tends to be less expensive than most. Recently bought a small batch cider there for $24 that was selling for $40 in other parts of the city. Also, there are a lot of shops in Brooklyn that have eclectic selections.

Wouldn’t recommend Top Hops for regular beer buying, their selection is smaller than NBD or Whole Foods and is terribly organized. It’s really only good for special releases.

Lots of NY beers don’t make it to your neck of the woods, so they would technically be rare beers for you. Have fun exploring.

Guys, thanks s bunch with all the help. Yup, Im going just to NYC for a 1-week visit. Since my sister lives there, Ive managed to get some pretty awesome beers from time to time, including this years BC. Im glad to know that NBD is the right place to go to.

Im almost sure that Ill be making a stupid question here, but is there any chance I can find a Utopia bottle somewhere? Please let me know if you are interested in making a beer trade as well!

Cheers!

You might find Utopias. It’s expensive though.

If you’re ready to pop about $200 for a 750mL bottle of Utopias, then you can probably get it. I’d call ahead to one of the stores you mentioned and ask if they have it for sale, and if not, if they can get it for you. If you call a couple weeks ahead of your trip, I would think there would be a good chance that one of those shops could get it for you.