Beer Guide 2013: Best Beer Grocers

5 grocery stores with great beer.

By WW Staff
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SOUTHEAST: FRED MEYER

3805 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 872-3333, fredmeyer.com.

Stretching nearly a city block, the Southeast Hawthorne Fred Meyer store is known for having possibly the best beer selection of any American grocery store which also cuts house keys, employs an in-house chocolatier and sells camcorders.

DOWNTOWN: WHOLE FOODS

210 NW Couch Street, 525-4343, wholefoodsmarket.com.

On a hot summer day, the Jamison Square fountain is the busiest place in the Pearl. Instead, you'll find us here, chillin' in the massive walk-in beer cave, pretending to be spending 15 minutes deciding between Full Sail ESB and BridgePort IPA.


SOUTHWEST: ZUPANS

7221 SW Macadam Ave, 244-5666, zupans.com.

Probably owing to its relative affluence, our fair Southwest quadrant is wine country. While the Zupans market on Macadam does more to trumpet its fine selection of wines and cheeses, they've also got plenty of suds. When a hot one-off is sold out elsewhere, look here.

NORTH/NE: NEW SEASONS

6400 North Interstate Avenue and 5320 Northeast 33rd Avenue. newseasonsmarket.com.

The beer selection at New Seasons stores tends to be both solid and consistent. Cider and humdrum organic offerings get a lot of shelf space in keeping with the store's mission, but a steady stream of seasonals keeps your interest.


NORTHWEST: FOOD FRONT

2375 NW Thurman Street, 222-5658, foodfront.coop.

Servicing rich people who climb down from the hills to buy expensive things on lazy Saturdays, this OWLI (Outer Westside Light Industrial) neighborhood grocery has only three coolers of beer, but there's no filler. Self-distributed local favorites like Logsdon make a point of driving their brew here.

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