Purchasing Alcohol! (Pittsburgh, York, Bridgeville: neighborhoods, buy, live)

[Moby Hick]

Beer distributors only sell cases and kegs. Yes, that's the one, but I don't know about the selection at that one.

[BrianTH]

Random note--a lot of beer distributors carry a selection of 5L mini-kegs, which is not an unreasonable amount of beer (a little over 14 12-ounce portions).

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Beer distributors only sell cases and kegs. Yes, that's the one, but I don't know about the selection at that one.

Pistella's at least carries some "variety cases" with four sixes from different microbreweries. So at least you don't need to commit to buying 24 of the exact same beer if you don't want to.

[Moby Hick]

After you drink six, they probably taste pretty similar.

[Tirade]

The Craig Street distributor mentioned in this thread is complete and utter ****. Horrible customer service, a worse selection, and a filthy establishment. Dealing with their employees is awful.

The nearest good beer distributor to Shadyside is the Save-Mor near the Waterfront.

The absolute best one in the county is Duffy's Beer is West Mifflin, but it's not close to Shadyside. Their prices are low enough and their selection amazing enough that I'm willing to make the trek out and stock up, though.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by Tirade

The Craig Street distributor mentioned in this thread is complete and utter ****. Horrible customer service, a worse selection, and a filthy establishment. Dealing with their employees is awful.

The nearest good beer distributor to Shadyside is the Save-Mor near the Waterfront.

The absolute best one in the county is Duffy's Beer is West Mifflin, but it's not close to Shadyside. Their prices are low enough and their selection amazing enough that I'm willing to make the trek out and stock up, though.

I've also heard good things about Beer Nutz in O'Hara from people I know who live in that area.

Beer Nutz Beer Distributor - O'Hara 1335 Freeport Road Pittsburgh PA (412) 963-6889

[Moby Hick]

I go to Save-Mor myself, but I guess I think of that as far from Shadyside, especially when they close at 9:00 and he was asking at 8:00.

[cheezit34141988]

I truck my beer in from Michigan.

[squarian]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Six packs are also available now in a few grocery stores, in separate cafe areas. I'm not sure there is one really near Shadyside yet, although as I recall the Giant Eagle Market District is trying to set up a cafe area which would sell beer....There are also specialty bars called "bottle shops"...We go to D's in Regent Square (our neighborhood, not too far from Shadyside), which is a little pricey but not too bad with the six-pack discount

The Giant Eagle in Edgewood Town Center has its cafe open and running now, and is certainly competitive with D's and other bottle shops. Six-pack and single prices are pretty close to what you'd find in adjacent non-prohibition states. For example, at the high end, single pint (i.e. 20 oz. imperial measure) bottles of Samuel Smith on sale for $3.99, vs. D's price of $5.95 for dusty 12oz (US standard measure) bottles, almost certainly past their sell-by. And at the medium-low end, six-pack of Labatt's on sale for $6.49, vs. $9.00 at D's, or large bottles of Heineken for $2.99 vs. $6.00 at D's.

My prognostication: the days of the beer distributor and bottle shop in PA are numbered. And good riddance.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by squarian

And at the medium-low end, six-pack of Labatt's on sale for $6.49, vs. $9.00 at D's...

Labatt's is $15 a case at Save Mor. The beer distributor business model isn't threatened by Giant Eagle as far as I can see.