What's with New England anyway? In Nebraska, booze was almost everywhere since it could be sold in grocery stores and gas stations; but let's face it, the selection to be found at your local K-Mart isn't going to win the love of beer coinsures. Truth is, that by allowing booze to be sold everywhere means that no one is a specialist. So here comes the true weirdness of New England. Neither hidden, nor ubiquitous the very laws and customs of New England work together to produce a beer specialist who proudly touts his liquors for all to see, often right off the main roadways and in massive quantity.

Well, so what? Nebraska had drive through liquor shops, but fact is they don't compare. The booze specialist must compete and evolve; he (or she) must offer a wider and more exotic collection than ever before imaginable. Well, I can imagine quite a bit, but I had not even considered the likes of Yankee Spirits. Just across the border into Massachusetts, this 'grocery store sized' discount liquor shop must no doubt have its origins in the same forces that forged small electronic and music stores into giants like Best Buy and Circuit City.

First off, you get a grocery cart. Have you ever seen people wheeling around grocery carts of booze? Well I have now. On my second trip there, I also noted that a promotional beer had been set up where you could try a new beer. I'd have stuck around longer, but the beer in question was not to my taste--however, the man behind the counter offered me several swigs, arguing that I'd enjoy it if I just kept drinking!

Regarding the layout, at least half the store was wine, and I can't say I know wine from a big bottle of fermented grape juice, so I'll leave someone else to discuss what is in fact more wine than I have ever seen in my life. The other half of the store though was quite familiar though in massive proportions.

Beer composed one fourth of the store and ranged from your most well known beers (though little room was wasted on your everyday bud) to various imported beers. I was eager to try beers such as the Optimator and Hacker-Pschorr, both of which have their origins some 600 years ago. There were other weird things to be had--'The Midas Touch' is a beer recreated from molecular studies of a cask of beer from some 2700 years ago. The selection is so deep it really encourages taking both considerable time in making a purchase, and also free experimentation. Optimator for instance is probably one of the best beers I've had (along with Newport Storm's special annual brew), but I haven't got time to waste on beers I've already had. I saw one beer referred to as an 'abbey beer' which dates back 1000 years. Next time I'm back, you can be sure I'll be trying some of this or whatever else looks unusual.

Next to the beer is the hard liquor, and although I wouldn't normally need to make mention of this section as these are often quite generic, Yankee Spirits even shines in this department. While I was at first impressed by their prices (a jug of Jim Beam's went for about $17 while everyone else around was selling it for $23), I was in fact more taken by the existence of store-brand liquors. I'd actually been pining for a rum and coke but wasn't about to dump $20 on a jug of Captain Morgan, but Yankee Spirits jug 'o rum ran for only $7! Score!

I've no clue how to wrap this up. New England is GREAT for beers. So many imports and local brewers. The problem is your neighborhood shop hasn't really got that much to offer (though the one three blocks from where I live does carry Sam Smith and some other goodies)--in fact, there is a parallel problem with sea food. I live on the friggin' sea, but finding a good sea food place is sometimes hard. Yankee Spirits does a lot to solve the first problem as it is only a 10 minute drive across the border to find the biggest selection of booze I've ever seen.

Thanks for the review Chris! If there's a beer or liquor store you would like to review drop me a line at gleep9@hotmail.com. If you're ready to check out head on back to either the Beer or Main page.