So I tagged this one as Providence, but it’s really in Attleboro, MA. Yankee Spirits, at 628 Washington St. (Route 1), is an awesome beer store (and probably wine and liquor considering the volume of everything they have). As can be told by my numerous posts about the beer tastings at Nikki’s Liquors in North Providence, I go there a lot and it’s my usual beer store, and will continue to be because the people there are just fantastic. But this is about Yankee Spirits.
The store is massive, like a large supermarket. Aisle after aisle of booze, wine, and beer (though the beer is basically kept on one end as the booze and wine (especially the wine) take up everything else). The craft beer selection is fabulous. I don’t know much about how many beers are distributed in MA, but I am pretty sure it’s more than RI gets. That being said, I doubt Yankee Spirits carries everything available in the state (they have a business to run and anything that sits there costs them money). They had everything Stone has made available in the past year (including the large 3 liter bottle of Double Bastard). They have Alesmith, Fullers (from London), all the Allagash beers, Tuckerman’s (which is why I went in the first place), Port Brewing/Lost Abbey, and a whole slew of other beers from around the country and the world. Unfortunately, there is no rhyme or reason to the way the beers are kept on the shelves other than separating the imports from the American beers. The imports are organized by country (mostly Belgians of course), but the American beers don’t seem to be organized at all. They should organize them by state, area of the country, or alphabet to make them easier to find. It took me 3 trips up and down the aisle to find Tuckerman’s (granted, they only make 3 beers, but still…). All that is warm 6 packs, 4 packs, and singles (though the singles are the larger bottles - bombers, 750’s, 500’s, etc.) and kept on the last shelf unit at one end of the store. In between that and the coolers are pallets of beer (mostly macros, but some cases of craft beer as well). Finally, the coolers are mostly bigger sellers - macros and higher demand micros in cases, 12 packs, and 6 packs and a few singles (Berkshire Brewing mainly because I’ve heard they demand their beer be kept in the cooler).
It was a worthwhile trip across the border, discovering a whole new world of beer for me. I picked up my 4 pack of Tuckerman’s 6288 Stout, the only Tuckerman beer I have yet to try, and a bottle of Stone’s 11th Anniversary Ale, which I was surprised to see because there was such a huge demand for it back when it was released in September (it wasn’t available in RI because it was released right before Stone came to RI). I’ll be going back to get my fill of beer I can’t get at Nikki’s, but Nikki’s will always be my personal beer mecca simply for the fact that the people there are just so great (and Yankee Spirits doesn’t feel like it’s got quite the same personal touch that Nikki’s has).
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