True, they’re been hyped pretty thoroughly over on another site, but I know some of my readers refuse to be seen over there. And anyway, I’m personally very excited about this: after all, I live a short walk away from both them and soon-to-open Wine Thief, so my beery life’s about the get much, much better. Ok, manifesto over… what’s shakin’ down at the VBM (as it will invariably be known)? I’ll tell you what: You have to get there, if it’s at all in your hood or on your way from one place to another. Or even if not. It’s true. They got it right, as far as the beer goes. The rest may be mandatory–and even superb–but I’ll limit myself to the beer.

I’ll also preface this by saying that a) they did comp me a growler (thanks!) though i bought the glassware, and b) they would probably want me to point out that their shelves were not even entirely stocked quite yet- though I think I managed to be there late enough in the day to get a pretty good picture. Well, 10-15 pictures.

Thoughtfully positioned on shelves near the back of the large front windows (beer hates light), a scant 6-7 shelves hold beer. Amazingly, their selection is both broad and deep, and really, in the amount of space they’ve devoted to it, it packs a punch: it’s a concentrated beer tour that weighs in slightly on the side of US micros but doesn’t in any way fail to provide generous selections from the most critical foreign producers. In their space, they’re just going to have to restock frequently, since only a few of each specific label can be hanging out at once. And hopefully, they will have to. The only difficulty of breadth is moving the stock- invariably, some beers will be favorites, trends will come and go, but without heavy traffic, some of the beers in the long tail may start to acquire dust. Folks: buy broadly! Certainly, it’s all as fresh as it comes this week, so there’s an idea. Organizationally, I thought they did the right thing in sorting things roughly by country, though sure, most do. England/Scotland; Germany; Belgium were clear, and the US micros were also grouped by region more or less.

Their cooler was similarly dense, though the chilled selection was balanced a bit more on the side of US micro. Still, as the photo indicates (and that’s only about 1/3 of their total cooler space), here again they’re stocking a nice range. I was particularly pleased to see some of my favorite west coast brands there, including Great Divide, Avery and Anderson Valley, and I expect some Stone and Lagunitas are also on the way. MIA? Mendocino Brewing Company–made now also in Saratoga Springs–would be nice; If they could get their hands on anything made by Tomme Arthur, I’d probably loose my shit. Closer to home, it’s always cool to be able to select a Flying Bison, and they’re also stocking Erie Brewing Company (from PA), Middle Ages from Syracuse and not shockingly, Saranac. Dogfish Head is on the way, VT is in the hizzy (Long Trail, Magic Hat) and while I could get psyched over some more love for the Michigan/Wisconsin scene, the NE was certainly pretty well showing. Did I miss the Allagash? After Ommegang (check! On shelves), they’re one of the best American producers of Belgian-style beers out there, no question about it. Not in the cooler, but the entire spectrum of Rogue’s bombers were awaiting your perusal as well. Oh yeah, I could go on all day here.

Another point worth mentioning: all the great new canned beers are also represented. I spied Sly Fox, Butternuts and New England Brewing Company all in effect. Bring ‘em down to the beach, or park (or any of those places bottles are unwelcome,) with you this summer! Maybe The VBM will add Brooklyn Lager in cans, too, on down the line?

Most exciting, they have a growler station, as the lead photo should have made clear. The reusable (please, reuse them!) growlers cost $2.98, the 64 oz pours are priced depending on the beer. You can see the 7 taps online when I was there, including a favorite among the waitstaff set, Delirium Tremens, and my choice, Sly Fox’s Helles Lager. Coming soon, possibly by the time you are reading this, are Unibroue’s Trois Pistoles, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, and Phin & Matt’s from Southern Tier. On down the line, Brian informed me that they have an order in for a quite rare beer from Japan, Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale made with… very good: red rice. Count me in on that, yo! Notice also that the tenth tap will remain reserved for draft soda: Good for the bairns, as they say.

So finally: the city, and better yet, my particular neck of it, finally has a beer store with all the beers you, I, want to drink. I couldn’t be happier. Premiere and Consumers will of course still have a place in accessing the widest variety of beers- Consumers in particualr, with their many growler locations, will continue to provide a huge variety of fresh beer to the thirsty masses. I especially hope this has positive effects for the likes for both Holly Farms on Allen St. and Frontier on Grant, two businesses that are often overlooked but pioneered stocking some beyond-the-usual offerings. Still, there is no question that for the local beer freak, the arrival of VBM is welcome indeed.

Village Beer Merchant
547 Elmwood Ave. 14222
716.881.1080

(as for Sly Fox’s Helles: light golden color, spot on; nice bit of DMS in the nose (Pilsner malt, I suppose) and very light hop aroma; taste is medium-sweet malt with a slight biscuit quality and a light touch of hop in the finish- crisp and clean, and certainly a good session beer. I would probably judge it to be a good example of the style, though, I’ve only had one classic example: Mahrs, in bottle; about three weeks ago in fact.)