Trader Joe’s - Knoxville

This is a great addition to Knoxville. But anyone from elsewhere will ask: Where’s the rest of the beer? And the wine? Due to outdated, arcane and monopolistic distribution laws (that can only be changed by State Legislators who are beholden to the status-quo, wholesale distribution lobby), this Trader Joe’s can only sell 6.2% abv or lower beer. Still it has a few beers you can’t get elsewhere in town, plus all the other good foodstuffs you find at any Trader Joe’s. As Suttree mentioned, the Mission Street IPA sixer is nicely priced at nearly what BMC goes for around here and is the best deal on a quality beer you’ll find in the state. Not worthy of a beer stop if you are just passing through, unless you are very near and really thirsty.

Check Suttree’s rate below mine. I can only add that due to Tennessee’s laws this place is only a shadow of the ones in states with sensible alcohol laws. I will still have to go out of state for Trader Joe’s Special Annual Release made for them by Unibroue.

To be honest, I have no idea how to assign a number value to a place like this. It’s a Market, so how do you rate ambiance? The selections is decent, but there are a lot Trader Joe’s unique beers here, as well. Value? Well, Name Tag Lager was 67 cents a can, so there’s that. Bottom line is that I’m glad that they are in Knoxville and I will drink a lot of Mission St IPA in the future.