I assume you’ve tried Tasty Beverage Co. in The Depot?
I’m east side so I’ve been to Pelagic and Roshambo so far. Depot is a bit of a bike but will hopefully be worth it.
The only thing I like about red oak is their cool brewery taproom. I can’t stand their beer. I get it’s supposed to be traditional German, but c’mon maybe even 1 beer that has hops or something? I hate malty beers, and I can’t find anything I like there. I usually suck down some dark but still malty one and try to think of something else. Lol
1 Like
Yeah I’m just the opposite lol. Give me malt all day, hops are just ok.
Their main amber is malt personified, though, so I can see why you’d hate it.
4 Likes
Ah Red Oak is fantastic. The best day drinking beer there is, especially the Helles. It’s beer that tastes like beer.
6 Likes
J Betskis just opened back up off E Whittaker, they do German and Polish food, and have a takeaway beer cooler. I’d imagine there are some good selections in that: J Betski’s
Worth a shot!
5 Likes
Belgian beer tastes like beer. Porters and stouts taste like beer. Wheat beers and hefeweizens taste like beer. IPAs and pale ales taste like beer. Lagers and pilsners taste like beer too. Sours and fruit ales and these sweet hazy milkshake things that are trendy at places like Barrel Culture don’t really seem like beer to me, but people apparently enjoy them. What I like about craft beer is the variety of styles… Something for everybody. Except at Red Oak. 
Ok I’ll stop now.
You’d need a car, but Wegmans (grocery store) has a LEGIT beer and wine section. Like… make your head spin, legit. So many options, I can only assume they have some German stuff.
6 Likes
I’ve biked to Wegman’s (and Trader Joe’s) more than I’ve driven - just need to take crabtree creek to the greenway access at Industrial. Take the scenic route on the greenway the whole way or shortcut with the neighborhoods on either side of Raleigh Blvd. to get to the greenway.
2 Likes
Also, check out Peace Street Market at the top end of Glenwood South. Insane selection, especially of hard-to-find Northeastern breweries, but I’m pretty sure they have some quality German stuff too.
One of the owner’s family members was my Uber driver once - great guy, and explained they had family at a big NYC beer distributor and got a special deal to get unique stuff shipped down here.
7 Likes
Always wondered about that. Cool spot for sure.
1 Like
Their display beer piles near the register are the cheapest beer prices in the city and its not even close.
Granted they are less desirable or older in age, but they regularly have 4 packs of 22oz Bull Durham beer for $1.99 that I drink as “Garage Beers”
4 Likes
Thanks for the suggestions. Wegmans is my main grocery store, and they do have a nice bunch of German bottles, but not enough to include more niche finds like Andrechs, which unfortunately I’ve developed an affinity to. I’ve only seen it in places that really seriously focus on imports, like Saxapahaw General Store.
I’ve never thought of going to Peace Street Market, thanks for the rec!
And yeah, as much as I love Red Oak, I’m sure for many folks it’s the malt equivalent of breweries like Burial for me (as a person not that into hops)… lots of people love it, I have to respect it, but there’s just not a lot for me there, even the styles that I theoretically enjoy!
1 Like
Peace St. market has had in the past some German beers - I know I’ve bought Jever there before.
I had a really great German beer from Annelore’s bakery in Cary, but it was not chilled and they only had 3 styles of beer from one German brewery… Weisse, Dunkel, and something else.
I recently was in Peace st. market and they didn’t have the German selection I remembered in the 6 pack section… they definitely have tons of 500-750ml bottles of Belgian beers, and maybe other European varieties mixed in.
They still have a pretty good German selection. It’s kind of spread out throughout the coolers now. Still my #1 spot to go to when getting beer. Pretty good selection of other European largers and Pilsners as well. Carlsberg, Peroni, Estrella, etc.
1 Like
Heck I’d say give your local Lowes Food a whirl. The ones over here in Apex and Holly Springs are always stacked out with a good local/NC selection that you usually don’t see at a place like Harris Teeter
2 Likes
Some Lowe’s have “Bear Dens” with a bar, their own brews, and a fantastic selection. I love the one we go to at the beach.
Yep the two I mentioned I have some of the bigger ‘Beer Dens’ in the area that I’ve seen. I know the Lowes Food on Cary Parkway near Crossroads has a rather smaller one, only like three stools at the bar basically. I think the ‘best’ grocery store beer drinking experience I’ve seen has to be the Harris Teeter in Brier Creek. I walked in there once to grab something and they had a full-on bar with TVs.
3 Likes
Total Wine has a surprisingly large beer selection (despite their name). I just did a quick search and it looks like they have Andrechs in stock at the North Hills location.
6 Likes
I have been to Andrechs on a trip to Munich. It was a fantastic day - ride the ubahn out to the end of the line, walk up about 2 miles to the monastery through mostly woods, tour the church than sit down in the terraced beer garden for lunch and beer looking out at the Alps. One of my best days ever. I was put in charge of getting lunch, and instead of half a pig knuckle for my buddy, I got him a whole one. Needless to say everyone around us got a huge kick out of the massive amount of food I brought him, lol. Ahh, nothing like a few beers before ordering lunch in a foreign tongue.
Moral of the story - if you get to Munich, this should be on your to-do list. And only order half a knuckle.
7 Likes