Their selection is only moderate, but a few each of California craft brews (most of the Stone line, most of the Alesmith line, several from northern California), and a nice selection of English mainstream imports (Fullers, Sam'l Smith, etc.), decent but not rare Belgians (Bornem, Piraat, Corsendonk), and fine Germans. So I've been to this place a few times, and have never been disappointed. There are also signs for "Stone in Kegs" and other better brews. You've seen this place before, a stand-alone building probably 50 years old sandwiched between a much newer AM/PM gas station and an even newer Del Taco (or is it Taco Bell, I can never tell the difference), old glass storefront covered with banners for Budweiser this and Miller Light that, and all the other mega liquors. And inside, at first blush, that feeling follows through. I hadn't seen that beer anywhere else in SoCal when Victory beers flooded the area last fall.įrom the outside, this place looks like one of thousands of little mom and pop liquor stores that dot the landscape of this great land. My biggest surprise find there last time I visited was Victory's Prima Pils. It's still a decent moderate-sized selection with good beer from the major beer sources, but I fear that it may fade away if it doesn't command sufficient sales. The big difference is that the size of the good beer selection has been reduced somewhat (75% of what it used to be?). The help is still pretty good, but not as memorable as before. We’re going to the Cave.Most of my original review holds, but ownership has changed hands and they have reorganized the store somewhat. It’s like, ‘Honey get that jacket I bought you for Christmas. “It’s almost as if they’re taking a field trip. “I’ve seen a lot of couples lately,” Perez said. There is so much space in the beer caves it will take a couple of months to fully stock them, but already they have become something of a local attraction, according to Gerrards staff. In the past Gerrards has sold Sam Adams’ Utopias for $200 a bottle customers had to ask for it, Reingrover said. The priciest bottle on the shelf is Cascade Brewing’s Manhattan NW in a 750 milliliter bottle for $49.99. ![]() The store has a beer club aimed at true aficonados to keep them informed special brews and their release dates. It created a logo for the beer caves suitable for T-shirts and also sells mugs and glasses at the larger cave’s entrance. “Some people are sick of all the trends and they just want an old-school lager. They want a hoppy IPA, or they want a lager. “It’s almost like they need a tour guide…” Perez said. Foreign beers and stalwarts such as Budweiser are in the original cave.Įye-popping labels, some by well-known artists such as Flying Dog Brewery’s Ralph Steadman, and whimsical names such as Lobotomy Bock from Indian Wells Brewing Co. But it takes a little customer service to navigate the caves. Gerrard, helped pioneer the concept of self-serve grocery stores 100 years ago, according to the store’s website. “Redlands is having quite the renaissance in art, in good food, and good beer is a large part of that,” she said. The beer cave is part of a new vibe in Redlands, said specialist Maureen Perez, who handles an Instragram account devoted to the caves. ![]() Where we had three sizes of Tide, we’d cut it back to two.” “It wasn’t really cutting back on selection. ![]() To build the second cave, Reingrover said to take space away from dry groceries, which he called “merchandising a little smarter.” They’ll pick up the steaks and some of the other things.” “Customers are coming in, and they’re taking pictures of the beer cave and they’re posting it on Facebook, and it’s drawing their freinds in,” he added “We’re getting all kinds of new people in. “Our customer count is up almost 20 percent.” “It’s attracting a 21- to 35-year-old group,” Reingrover said. It is the kind of place where people can find out-of-the-ordinary items such as imported British foods, organic peanut butter, locally grown oranges, free-range turkey and house-made vegetarian patties.īut craft beer is changing Gerrards’ demographic, and Gerrards is changing with the times. Gerrards has been a fixture in Redlands for decades.
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