(www.509beerstore.com)
In this beer blog, we are going to talk about liquor stores in my area of Michigan. I just moved back in October so please, give me feed back if I missed a store. As you know, I am a huge beer fan and a craft beer fan. I will be the first to say I was spoiled in Chicagoland area with great beer stores. It was between Binny’s, Cardinal Stores, and some of the chain stores there. When I moved back, I knew Michigan craft beer market was huge on Michigan beers, which should be the case. There are so many beers, and breweries in every market around the country. I know Michigan is in that same situation. Where do I go to buy some great beers? I had no idea. I did Google search after Google search. I came up with a list. I even did something I hate doing walking in and out of stores. I do have a list and I am going to be up front and honest. Here we go!
Beer Baron (Livonia, MI)
Beer Baron is a little bit north of Wine Palace by 7 mile on Middlebelt. When I went, they were working on the store. The staff there was nice and let me walk around. He let me take my time and asked if I needed help. This was the opposite of Wine Palace. They have a great beer selection and some pretty good prices. I was pretty impressed. This is a beer store and it is pretty clear to that fact. The two things I did not like about this store. One, the store is in chaos. There is beer everywhere. Two, when I went, the staff did not know anything about beer. Their parking lot is a lot easier than Wine Palace. I recommend this beer store.
Wine & Barrel (Livonia, MI)
I did not want to drive up to Beer Baron and I am staying away from Wine Palace. I just went to Wine & Barrel that is right down the street from my place. There is some nice parking at the side of the building and they are not that busy like the last two stores. The first thing, I did not like is the guy does not take pop cans. You are a liquor store that sells rum and you do not sell pop. I guess not rum and coke for someone in the area. I am just saying. I was not happy by that. Now, I have to go two places to get my errands done for returns. Who will go there and buy their liquor just to go somewhere else to get their pop? I was not too impressed by their beer selection. I did not like the fact you could not buy single beers (12oz). They had beer store selected ones available. It was like it came from their breakage area. I thought their prices where too high like Wine Palace. I get it that these stores need to make some money. There is a level where it will keep people out of your store. This store has a huge area for beer brewing supplies. I thought that was really cool when I was walking through but after looking at that the beer selection. I started to have a different attitude towards the store. Their beer area is all over the place. I mean you have craft beer with imports beers and the other way around. This is so not profitable for the store. Their beer customers that are looking at crafts beers are not seeing all their crafts or import beer customers in one area. They have to walk around the store and I know I might have missed something. It can be the same for their mass-produced beer customers. I just feel they make more money off their beer supplies. There is nothing wrong at being just a brewing supply store. I will pass on this store.
Mid-Joy Liquor Store (Livonia, MI)
The first weekend I was back in Michigan. I wanted to go beer shopping so I thought I would go back to my old liquor store when I first lived in the area. They have a pretty nice selection. I was enjoying it until I started noticing that everything I was picking up was out of date. I was pretty disappointed pretty quickly. This store went hard into the craft beer without the consumers to support it. I never went back into this store. I might again but I think I just might stay away.
Keg & Wine Party Store (Redford, MI)
I found this store looking for a Cider from Woodchuck Hard Cider on their website. The parking lot could be better but that is not point of this review. The store inside is pretty nice and clean. Everyone is nice and helpful. They have a great selection on beers and spirits. I was pretty impressed. I will have to say it is better than Wine Palace. The only thing I do not like about this store. I can not buy single bottles and/or cans of beer (12oz). You have to buy the six or four pack. I will be back to this store and I recommend this store.
Holiday Market (Canton, MI)
Whenever I would come in town, this was the store I would go to in the beginning. They had whole warm shelf aisle in this grocery store for craft beer. I was amazed at the selection. I always picked up beers that I could not get in Chicago. I started to realize pretty quickly that they were not selling through most their beers. This store at that time had a ton of out of code beers. This is a great store but buyer beware.
Super Fines (Canton, MI)
This store is at the top of my list. They have just about everything in this liquor store. If they do not have it, they will get the beer or whatever you are looking for at that time. If it is sold in the state, they will get it. You can do mix six packs in every price range. You can buy single beers too. They have a pretty big spirit selection. This is a great beer store and I highly recommend it.
Closing, I know I have not covered everything liquor stores in the Southeast Michigan. I am looking at just craft liquor beer stores. I am not going to just the neighbor store. I went to ones that claim they are a craft beer store or I know they have a pretty big selection. I know there are more out there. I will keep searching. I loved Super Fines in Canton, Beer Barton in Livonia, and Key & Wine Party Store in Redford. I will never go back into Wine Barrel and Mid-Joy Liquor Store in Livonia. If there are any other stores, please, let me know. I would love to hear your thoughts on these stores. I will be writing a new review here shortly. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
Cheers!
Bill DJ Weiser
Email: djweiser13@comcast.net
Twitter: @djweiser
DJ Weiser 