Roanoke’s Wine Gourmet Adding 33% More Beer? Yes, Please.

Thirty three percent more beer, in any situation, always sounds like a pretty nice upgrade. Imagine sitting down at your favorite watering hole, for example, and finding out the happy hour special now will get you 33% more Dale’s Pale, or 33% more Founders Centennial. Or perhaps a trip to a favorite brewery reveals that you’ll have to exchange that growler for a brand spanking new one, because the growlers now include more than a third more, let’s say, Blue Mountain Full Nelson, or Devils Backbone Vienna Lager. I imagine that for most craft beer fans, 33% more beer is always an agreeable situation to find oneself in, right?

Now, while we may not be exactly talking about the amount of beer being poured into your pint glass or growler at the moment, we are talking about selection – arguably, the next most mulled over topic in the mind of any self respecting craft beer fan. No beer in hand? Time to go searching for one, and in Roanoke, the selection at what is perhaps the most diverse craft and import beer store in town, Wine Gourmet, is indeed growing. Yes, according to store owner Brian Powell, who has recently taken over beer buyer duties and is spearheading the changes, the beer assortment and the shelf space dedicated to it will be enlarging by some 33%. It’s all part of a renewed attention to the beer selection at the store, already a great stop if you’re looking for an ale or lager to satisfy a thirst, or to expand the palate.

In addition, Wine Gourmet is also giving Virginia based craft beer a larger and more prominent space, making it the first section a shopper will encounter when entering the store. A recent stop found plenty of bottles and cans from Blue Mountain, Devils Backbone, Port City, St. George, and other Virginia breweries lining the shelves. Wine Gourmet will of course continue to stock brews from many of the most popular breweries in the country, such as Lagunitas, Bell’s, New Belgium, and Stone, but is also a great spot to pick up examples from some of the lesser known but excellent craft breweries out there, as well as new ones which are constantly emerging upon the scene. For example, a recent personal buy from the store was a bottle of “Hop to Wit” a Witbier from White Birch Brewing in New Hampshire, a new brewery to the Roanoke market.

With the added selection, perhaps the best weapon any store such as this can give a craft beer fan becomes even more formidable – the ability to buy single beers. Unsure of that new IPA, or wonder what’s the big deal about barleywines? Want to taste several styles of beer over the weekend? Buying by the bottle means answering all those questions and more without forking over the money for a whole six or four pack. Want to do a complete pumpkin ale tasting (as I did a few days ago)? Pick up single bottles of the best pumpkin beers out there, invite friends over, and line them up for a fun comparison tasting.

No matter what the reason to visit Wine Gourmet, if you’re looking for craft or import beer, just remember, the math is easy to do: thirty three percent more beer is always a tasty predicament to find yourself in. Cheers!

Check out Wine Gourmet’s recently revamped website here, or call the store at 540-400-8466.