Abe's Cold Beer

slander

New York

4.8/5  rDev +5%
quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

Talking beer with a tender of bar nearbyish who says "Hey, you know where you should go?" "Of course I do", I'm thinking, "I just don't know where you think I should go". The where it is is Abe's (See, this is why you talk to people at the bar). Says "there's this guy who runs the store, but it's really the beer lady who knows what's what". We'll see. It's on the along the way or back...

Not too big a place but doesn't need to be. Well carved out for the most part by country, with racks of mostly craft 750's and 22's goods just inside the door running halfway down that first aisle (Port & Lost Abbey and more that we hate Pennsylvania for having) and then continuing on and back up the next aisle with the imports. And then across the room, racks running a good length with the American micros; again more resentment for Pennsylvania (Dark Horse, Speakeasy, Founders, Bells, Great Lakes, Duck Rabbit, Terrapin, New Holland). On the far side of these are a run of coolers and more to the rear.

I've been rolling in for my Mikkeller & Nogne O fix mostly, they are quite nice; especially that Tyttebaer, with its lingonberries of crazy. But they've also got reasonably priced make your own six packs so I can mix and match Bells singles and cross state lines with them. And then on fishing around for a six of the Founders Porter, I came up empty. But having been spied by beer lady (her actual name as it turns out) who asked and I told, she says "No, I'm sure we have that" and hunted about low moving other sixes out of the way until she found them hidden behind tucked. Well played, and thank you, ma'am.

Currently all done up for Christmas a-coming, with Winter imports displayed in that first aisle and pyramids of Winter micros in the center of the room. Also, candy canes hooked on the shelving throughout for walk by licking.

Jerky, chips, snacks, candy, I love candy, candy good, yeah, they've got all that. And apparently, although I've never actually seen them, they have sandwiches or frozen foods or whatever it is that allows them to hold the kind of license to dodge dirty Pennsylvania case law without having a 2 tap old man bar set up.

Very reasonably priced, easy access, good knowledgeable service, great selection, and ridiculously excellent hours of operation. Feel the love.

12-02-2009 20:06:11 | More by slander

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

4.32/5  rDev -5.5%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 3.75 | selection: 5 | $$

Holy hops! This place is insanity. And not the Weyerbacher version. I'm talking the real-deal insanity. I walked in here and saw tons of stuff I didn't even see at The Foodery in Philly, or have seen anywhere else for that matter. Love the mix-a-six. That alone ensures I'll be back. Found a J.W. Lees Harvest '08 for a reasonable price and didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. Service will vary at times, I think. But, this place is awesome. If I lived in the area, I may be in here twice a week.

06-15-2013 14:02:22 | More by RblWthACoz

Budinetz

Pennsylvania

4.44/5  rDev -2.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

This place has an awesome selection of beer, some of which is has a reasonable price tag. If you really dig around in this place, you can turn up some pretty awesome finds. Some of the main stream beer that people are really hunting for, Abe will jack up the price due to supply and demand, but that's how you do business and I get that. I must say though, overall very good value for most of the beer available and for PA this is probably the best beer store in the Lehigh Valley. The staff is very knowledgeable as is Abe the owner. Place has later hours also, which is nice for the late shift beer lovers out there. I can definitely walk in here and spend 2 hours looking around, there is THAT much selection. You are able to purchase just one bottle if you wish, or mix and match six packs! Awesome!

05-12-2013 06:15:36 | More by Budinetz

TheBigBoy

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev -10.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.75 | $$

Lots of Beers, all different kind of beers. I try to stop here whenever in Bethlehem area. $12 for a mixed six is pretty standard and you will likely see some beers here never encountered. Many other sixes and single bottles to pick from as well. I know they do some special orders for "hard to finds" often as well. If near, just stop here. Warms and cold to go. You'll be impressed.

05-09-2013 03:06:14 | More by TheBigBoy

Neorebel

New Jersey

4.81/5  rDev +5.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

This is hands down one of the best places to buy beer in NEPA/NJ area. The owners and staff are very helpful and knowledgeable, and most importantly, fair with selling coveted limited releases. I scored a Bell's Black Note here recently. The selection is great, with a lot of beers that are somewhat harder to find in your average PA bottle shop or supermarket. The prices are reasonable, if you are used to what single bottles generally go for in PA. Def. hit them up if you are in the area.

04-14-2013 03:59:38 | More by Neorebel

dcoms233

Pennsylvania

4.74/5  rDev +3.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

A great place for 6 packs and bombers in the Allentown area. He knows his beer and goes out of his way to ensure that he has a good stock of both the regular and rarer beers.

If you are into craft beer and in the Allentown area this is a place you must stop by at!

02-03-2013 03:42:02 | More by dcoms233

NEhophead

Massachusetts

4.3/5  rDev -5.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

What a pleasant surprise while traveling through Central PA this past week. Easy to find on West Broad St., this place looks like a pretty standard convenience store, but once you look closer you soon notice that practically every inch of the store is stocked with beer...really good beer. As a New Englander, a lot of Abe's selection was news to me including offerings from Bethlehem Brew Works, Sly Fox, Flying Fish, etc. In addition to a ton of local stuff, offerings included pretty comprehensive lines from Pretty Things, Stone, DFH, Mikkeller, Nogne, etc. Definitely a place to stop in and stock up if you're even remotely in the area.

08-20-2012 19:38:18 | More by NEhophead

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev -10.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Good quality shop here. The place isn't huge, but they make good use of the space. The shelves were well-stocked--though it seemed to me there might be some items that have been sitting for a while. There was fridge space for macros as well as crafts, with the more popular brands (DFH, etc.) available in 4/6-packs or greater. You really can't complain about the selection, though there really wasn't anything outrageously rare there that I could see. As I'm not from the area, I'm not sure if they offer the more rare items when they are released. But with reasonable prices and diverse selections from the likes of AleSmith, Bruery, Mikkeller, and so forth, you really can't beat this place.

05-09-2012 04:41:29 | More by Rifugium

NoLeafClover44

Delaware

4.28/5  rDev -6.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$$

Abe's is pretty much the only option in the valley for a great craft selection if you want to buy singles/bombers/sixes. They have a great selection of US craft and imports. If you wanted the limited release stuff you can't get at the distributor or Wegmans, Abe's is your place. All bottles are available individually which means they are slightly more expensive than normal, but on the other hand you can break up any six if you just want one or two of a certain kind. On average the bombers are a few dollars more expensive than other stores I have been to and the individual bottles .25-.75 more expensive, but you are paying for the selection. Some of the employees can be helpful, but some have no idea, it all depends on who is working. I am still unclear on their policies for highly sought after stuff, as I have been unsuccessful on acquiring it despite calling ahead and being told when it would arrive. My only knock on Abe's would be that sometimes their stock is a bit aged. This is to be expected because they have a huge selection, but there isn't a huge craft drinking population in the area. This has hurt me (old IPA) but can be quite nice when you find year or two old stouts. Overall, the best Bethlehem, and perhaps the LehighValley has to offer in small quantity.

02-02-2012 23:04:27 | More by NoLeafClover44

nrs207

Pennsylvania

4.58/5  rDev +0.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

Abe's definitely has a lot of beer, and a lot of variety. They like to be helpful when they can, and it really is the only place I buy beer except when I want a 6 pack of something not too special (I then go to Wegmans, which is a bit cheaper with most 6 packs). The real key is being able to buy as many or as few of any bottle you want except for the more common stuff (then you have to buy whole 6 packs). This only came into play for me once because Sierra Nevada is only by 6 pack and I wanted Celebration, which Wegmans doesn't have. Was happy to buy a 6 pack, but it was $12. Gone within a couple days. I got 120 Minute here, I've even seen a couple bottles of Russian River, although never PtE.

The only thing I don't like about Abe's is that sometimes their selection isn't the freshest. I was in a couple weeks ago and saw an IPA from 2010. This usually doesn't come into play, only for the less well known stuff or the expensive stuff. Its not in a location where I feel that a lot of people want to drop $8-10 on a bomber, etc. I see most people walk out with BMC or not really know what they're doing when looking at the craft selections. So I can't really blame them, because if they didn't have out of date beer at all, you probably wouldn't be able to get that beer anywhere in the valley except maybe a case at Shangy's. If you're into craft and don't want a case, this is really the only place to go in the valley.

12-07-2011 03:25:09 | More by nrs207