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The Beer Circle » Beverages 4 Less » Beverages 4 Less – Online Store Review

Beverages 4 Less – Online Store Review

May 11th, 2012 | Add a Comment | Written by Bob Pack

Beverages 4 Less, based in Santee, California, has a large selection of western US beers and other special releases that are very hard to get elsewhere. I keep up to date on their latest arrivals via their mailing list. In 2012, they were named as one of the Top 50 Beer Retailers by Rate Beer.

And now, a brief review:

Beverages 4 Less

Selection
I always turn to them to get the hard to find beers. Before I joined The Bruery's Reserve Society, I could find the Society allocations here. There is some talk, both good and bad, on discussion boards about this practice but in my opinion if it helps find a larger audience for these releases then it can't be all bad. My latest purchase included Pliny the Elder, Firestone Walker's Wookey Jack, and Lost Abbey's Framboise de Amorosa.

Value
The prices on most of the beers are in line with other online retailers. For example, Pliny the Elder is $7.99 and I've seen it elsewhere from $6.99 on up. You do need to pay attention to the cost of the special Bruery releases. He jacks up the prices some some of them. I took a pass on Melange #3 when the store wanted $43 for what costs mid-$30s at The Bruery Provisions store. Shipping is in line with other stores. No pricing is listed on the web site. You must send email to the store requesting pricing and then call with credit card information to complete the order.

Packaging
Regular thickness cardboard box. Inside was an egg-crate storage with a separate chamber for each beer.

Ease-of-Use
The web site is very basic. There are two pages where the beers are listed and they are not listed in alphabetical order on either page. The beers listed first on the main homepage are the newest beers received at the store. They are very responsive to email pricing requests and ship promptly.

Overall
I've learned to navigate around their site to find what I need and pay attention to the costs. I have bought beer from them many times and never had a problem.

Nothing fancy for a web site or a store front but it is worth checking out.

Last updated by Bob Pack at May 11, 2012.

Written by Bob Pack

Simply put, Bob is a beer lover. He goes out of his way to try new beers whenever he can find them. The love of trying new beers had resulted in a beer label collection of over 1400. When it comes down to it, Bob is a hop head. He loves IPAs (including double and black). Stouts are a close second. His tweet reviews on @nova_beer are simple and approachable. Let him know what you think. Find Bob Pack on Google Plus

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Filed under: Beverages 4 Less · Tags: Beverages 4 Less, Firestone Walker, Lost Abbey, Online Stores, Russian River Brewing Co.

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