Absolutely Jealous

[Jeff]

I had my first visit to Wisconsin this week due to a business trip. I only made it two miles into the state (I was staying in Prairie Du Chien, and was working in Monona, IA). I made a visit to a local grocery store and was absolutely astounded at the number of micros and imports available. Not only was New Glarus and Goose Island well represented but many other local breweries I had never heard of had a good selection as well. The selection this small town of 6000 has was about the same as my mid size town of 250,000. Do I live in beer exile or did I just happen to get lucky with the town I was in?

[brewmonkey]

My experiences in Wisconsin are par with yours. I thought we had some good selections here, but learned otherwise while in Wisconsin.

[steveh]

There are some good brew-pubs out that way too.

Where do you live Jeff?

S.

[Jeff]

I live in Lincoln, NE (just updated the profile so it should show up now) and work in Omaha, NE. Selection here is good, we do have one local brew pub that bottles and distributes, but the selection is mostly nationally available stuff, SN, some Rogue (if you are lucky), we get some from Colorado such as New Belgium, Breckenridge, and Flying Dog. Overall my only real complaint is that we don't get much imported from England other than Young's.

[BluesHarp]

Jeff...was it a "Dick's" Food Store you went to? I go to Prairie du Chien every fall for a small family and friend-based music fest; I want to make sure I'm not missing out on a good "paint store".

My local liquor store is in a town of less than half that size and I can get many Bell's, Three Floyds, some Avery, and almost all WI beers, as well as a good selection of imports.

We do like our beer!

[steveh]

Originally posted by Jeff
I live in Lincoln, NE (just updated the profile so it should show up now) and work in Omaha, NE. >snip<

On my Fall trip to beautiful Angora, NE, I was only able to find New Belgium Fat Tire. However, the second-best restaurant in Alliance, NE (the first-best was at a golf club and probably wouldn't have let us prairie dog hunters inside) had a surprising assortment of imports - we taught the correct pronunciations to the waitresses! ;)

Of note for your next trip (if driving), the Rock Bottom in Des Moines had some pretty good offerings.

S.

[Jeff]

Blues: Yep it was a Dick's Supermarket, happened to be across from my hotel. It was on the main highway that heads South out of town, can't remember what number it was now.

Steve: Thanks for the tip, I will be in Ankeny, IA tomorrow. I wish I could stop but I will be with my boss and I doubt he would make a special trip for my obsession. :)