I must say that the Fresno
According to the cashier at Old Doc's, Fresno is "a no-man's land in terms of craft beer distribution." It sucks, however BevMo is somewhat of an oasis. Pretty good selection of English and California craft brews. Better than the BevMo I visited in Gilroy, but not quite as good as the BevMo in San Luis Obispo.
I must say that the Fresno location has a pretty good selection of Rogue ales. I've seen Chocolate Stout, Shakespeare Stout, Old Crustacean, IIPA, Oatmeal Stout, Kell's Irish Style Lager, and others. The Fresno BevMo is improving their selection as well. Just went in yesterday (12/17/08) and noticed a rather large offering from Avery, Lagunitas (just got in Imperial Red), Coastal Fog, and Deschutes (they had Hop Trip, which I've never seen before). While the selection is still smaller than the SLO BevMo, the quality of the selection is definitely improving.
In terms of quality, I definitely saw several dusty six packs and bombers sitting out. One of which was 2007 Alaskan Smoked Porter (check the date on this review). It's the only place I've seen the stuff, but the lighting and lack of refrigeration make me wonder. I bought a six pack of Nimbus Pale Ale from here and the head erupted when I poured it (read our review if you wish). Hopefully this was just a result of the car ride back to SLO, but the six pack was incredibly dusty when i bought it. EDIT: I've learned that Nimbus has had problems with infected yeast. It seems to fit my description of 'exploding head'.
BevMo is a must stop if you're in Fresno. Sorry, but it doesn't get any better. I look for new stops around Fresno every time I go back. (Tried out Full Circle Brewing Company this past trip, which was definitely interesting...)
this place isn't great, but it's all we have here save for a couple of pubs and microbreweries scattered through town and the rest of our county/valley.
i guess in terms of quality everything is just fine. i've never bought any bogus products here.
service is okay in terms of them being nice while you're checking out but the staff knows absolutely nothing about beer for the most part, a couple of them will look at your selections and tell you they liked something you've tried but that's about it.
selection is average even by bevmo standards from what i understand. there's not very much of a rotation of products, the staples are always there but it seems they just reorder the stuff no one really buys after it finally sells after months of sitting there.
as with all good beer, you're going to pay for it. i rate this a 3 on the price because i can go across the street to world market and get some of the same products for a significaly cheaper price (chimay grand reserve is 12 at bevmo, 9 at world market)
As with every BevMo I have been to, the quality is good. The beer is not usually past its prime. They dont cary too many beers that sit on the shelf for too long, so quality is not usually an issue.
Also as with every BevMo I have ever been to, the service is decent. The employees are courtious, and have some knowledge in beer. I have never been to a BevMo and been overly inpressed with the staffs beer knowledge. I mention certain beers from San Diego, from pretty popular Southern California breweries, and the staff looks at me like I am speaking a different language.
The selection at this BevMo might be the worst one I have ever seen. There was one short row with imports on both sides. The usual German and Belgian selection. Nothing outstanding. The local craft section is only one side plus a short row of coolers. Everything I saw that I was interested in was out, but that may not be the norm, I dont know since it was my first time to this store.
Overall: Moving to Lemoore from San Diego sucks. The beer selection at bars, and stores is awfull. I hoped that this BevMo would be a place to buy the stuff I like. I can say that it has one of the best selections I have found so far, but I am upset with how little beer is available here.
What does it mean to have a Conscious Kitchen? It's a little different for every person, but at its heart, it means knowing where your food comes from, what it is, and how good it is (or isn't) for you and for the environment. It also encompasses the energy it takes to cook, what you're cooking on and storing food in, and even how you clean up and handle waste.
We all know we need to be eating better foods – local, organic, local and organic, humanely raised meat, wild and well-caught fish, packaged foods containing five pronounceable ingredients or less – but they're not always so easy to find. Or it's not always so easy to motivate to find them. Think of this like you think of New Year's resolutions. Choose your own personal goal – make it attainable for better success – and then together we'll methodically get you there. Keep in mind that any conscious steps are better than no conscious steps – 10 percent is better than no percent.
1. We are water. Literally. So we need to be drinking a fair amount of it daily. I say in The Conscious Kitchen what many in the environmental movement – including writers on this website – say: drink tap water in reusable bottles. Unless there is something very wrong with your municipal water or you know your well water is contaminated, there is no reason to drink bottled water. Bottled water is a farce. It usually is the very municipal water you think you're avoiding by buying tap. So you're spending several dollars on something that is free – and less regulated than municipal water, I might add. A total rip off. And then there are all of the eco-implications and repercussions of the actual bottles. Think of the energy used to make those bottles, fill them with water, and then transport them all around. Sure, most places recycle the plastic most water bottles come in (PET #1) but many of those bottles wind up in the trash or in the gutter, not in the recycling bin. And they take 1,000 years to break down in a landfill. Spending money on something that is free and then drinking out of virgin plastic for maybe an hour that will then sit in a landfill for 1,000 years doesn't sound like good common conscious sense to me. So I don't do it.
