Tuesday, 5 December 2017

Why did no one ever tell me about Wine Rack?

Not since the whole Chiron incident have I felt so much that people are deliberately keeping me in the dark. After having popped to the shops in West Byfleet (walking distance from my mum's house) I went to a cash machine near a shop called Wine Rack. With a name like that it obviously held no interest for me. And saying "wine and spirit specialist" on the sign did nothing to help.


But as I walked past it I noticed it had some beers in the window so thought it worthy of investigation. Once I'd got inside I was delighted to see it was an Aladdin's cave of beers:


They had the new Trappist beer from America, as well as classic Belgian ones like Orval and Westmalle. The American offerings also include beers from Crooked Stave, and there's a fine German selection too. Not to mention the British beers. I can't believe there's such a great range of beers for sale so close to my mum's. Or that no one told me about it. The shop's name doesn't help but surely someone could have told me? Oh well, at least I know now.
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3 comments:

  1. Bobby Mango6 December 2017 at 09:02

    Go back 9 or 10 years and the one in Guildford stocked nothing more exciting than Doom Bar, GK IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Hog's Back T.E.A and London Pride which, whatever their merits or otherwise, was not the most interesting range of beers, especially as each could be picked up cheaper in Sainsbury's five minutes walk away.

    I rarely went in. Then about 3 years back, I popped in for a bottle of single malt and noticed the likes of Brewdog, Beavertown, Flying Dog and more surprisingly, Left Hand on the shelves, which was a nice change up.

    Now they're going full-on craft with the likes of To Ol, Gigantic, Northern Monk, Wylam, Evil Twin, Odyssey, Electric Bear, Weird Beard, Arbor and Buxton, to name but a few seen there recently - and not just the low-hanging fruit either, but some of the more unusual offerings from those breweries.

    Was chatting to the manager a couple of weeks ago and she said that they're looking to bring new lines in every few weeks. I hope it continues. It certainly saves time travelling to one of those hipster shops in London for different beer...

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  2. Ed6 December 2017 at 09:48

    Amazing isn't it? And speaking of Guildford, is the Inn at Home worth a visit? I haven't got there yet.

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    1. Bobby Mango6 December 2017 at 11:44

      Yeah, Inn at Home is well worth a visit. They have a good selection of local beers, a huge choice of UK brews and a decent amount of German and Belgian stuff, plus other beers from around the world. The only problem is sorting the wheat from the chaff - with upwards of 500 - or more, who's counting? - bottles in stock, it can take a while to browse. Prices are arguably a little on the high side, but comparable to Wine Rack, and broadly in line with places like Cobbett's or The Grumpy Goat.

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