Sam's Blue Light (Sam's Quik Mart)

I can't add much more than another A+ to this outstanding store. All the help you want should you need it, and the time to browse undisturbed like the proverbial kid in a candy store should you desire. And what a candy store it is. I found everything I wanted and many things I did not expect to see. Prices seemed reasonable, but a discount for quantity would be nice :) I could easily throw down a couple hundred here.

The New Belgium Lips of Faith series was here, with plenty of La Folie and Bier De Garde, a nice selection of Fantome, De Proef, Jolly Pumpkin, The Bruery, and all of the standards. Great Belgian and German selection. English selection looked good too, but not really my thing.

If you are within a 2 hour radius, do not miss this gem.

Reviewed on: 11-08-2009 00:03:40

In a single word, awesome. Having recently moved to the area from Columbus OH I can say that this beats any of the Ohio stores I've been to. Selection is outstanding, all the locals and all the Belgians you could want...besides the Westys. Good stock of everything from Cantillon to Dieu du Ciel to Duck Rabbit to Hoppin Frog. Seasonals rotate through quickly and constantly. Ten Fidy, plenty of the Bruery beers, DFHs, Mikkellers (still have some weasel beers as of this writing), everything. If you keep in mind NC tax and the NC abv limit, I can't see a lot of stores in the state being better than this.

Even sales with logo glasses that can't really be beat. Buy a Hennepin, get a matching glass for a dollar? Same with Bells, Duck Rabbit, etc? Sweet. Even if they don't have this deal they're only like $3.

There's one real problem with this place. And that is the fact that it lies in my daily commute from my apartment to Duke. Which makes me stop in far more frequently than I should. That's about it.

Reviewed on: 11-05-2009 03:57:42

this place is awesome. be careful not to slip on the drool if you follow me in the store.

huge selection of beer, domestic micros and european galore. this place knows their beer. very few of the beers are in coolers, but with the selection, who cares. they always have a handful of limited release bottles to choose from. you can also pick up growlers from some breweries.

the only downside is that it is kind of a drive from my house, but on the other hand, probably a good thing. if it was close, i would be spending way too much money there.

don't be fooled by the simple website. the beer selection is way more expansive than the web listing.

Reviewed on: 11-01-2009 19:46:54

Wow, I just noticed I never reviewed Sam's. How can that be?

Sam's is the best beer store in the Triangle (though the Carrboro Beverage Co. may give them a run for their money). They have a huge selection of locals, west coast beers and Europeans. They're usually the first to get new stuff and frequently have hard to find beers like Ballast Point Dorado and Sculpin. They seem to have just about every Belgian available. Most of the stock is unrefrigerated but a small portion is.

Sam's is well worth a visit. I only wish I lived closer.

Reviewed on: 10-18-2009 21:14:16

Dropped in after the World Beer Festival. Unassuming building near Duke University. Might be the best selection I've seen. Everything you could want from NC brewers. Many, many good things from regional micros, many things from national micros, quite a few internationl selections. Lots of tough to find stuff. Wish this place was closer to Charlotte, everything my local Charlotte stores have, then some. More than Brawley's, which is pretty impressive. Service was adequate and very helpful to others, I didn't really need to much. Looked like many people had come from afar to make large purchases. All were handled well and helped out to there cars. A few things were a few bucks more than in Charlotte, but most things were less, some 2-3 dollars less. This is the place.

Reviewed on: 10-06-2009 00:31:16

WOW. What a selection. I would never have known that this little store held so much potential. I would have driven right past it.
They have a huge variety compared to any other local shop I have been to. They have discounted beers all the way to rare vintage imports. They are nice enough to let you make your own six packs with just about any beers available in the store. Also, check out their club. Right now it is $15.00 to join and right off the bat you get a free t-shirt and two drinking glasses. From then on you get a 10% discount on the majority of purchases as well as some other perks that went in one ear and out the other as I gazed at the WALLS of beer. I could easily spend a few hours at a time at this place.

Reviewed on: 09-25-2009 22:14:12

It is always so much fun to make a trip to Sam's. The selection is as good as any beer store I've been to in the state, with a good balance of American craft beers and hard-to-find imports. In addition, although this may be a small bonus, Sam's has a large selection of branded glassware at reasonable prices to make it easy to fill out your home bar.

The staff are certainly knowledgeable and willing to help with any questions, but often with a delightfully surly demeanor. There have been a number of times that I've visited to get a new keg for my home kegerator and received a disdainful roll of the eyes from the man behind the counter as he passed the notepad identifying the myriad selections they had in stock.

Sam's is a little out of the way for my everyday beer purchases, but any time I'm searching for limited releases or other hard-to-find varieties, it's worth the trip. Even if I don't find what I was searching for, I always come out with something I had otherwise been meaning to try or something I didn't know even existed.

Reviewed on: 09-19-2009 19:42:14

This place is extraordinary, a beer lover's paradise. Easily the best selection of any beer store in the Triangle area that I'm aware of. They have most of the flagship brews produced by the major national brands, plus an impressive collection of specialty brews. Lots of 22 oz. bombers and single-unit beers, plus they let you break up 6-packs and buy singles in most circumstances. I haven't bought a beer from Sam's yet that tasted skunky or appeared to have been mishandled.

They're now selling growlers and appear to be rotating local drafts -- fillup is $10. When I was there they had Foothills Pilot Mountain Pale Ale, Foothills Hefeweizen, and (I think) a few brews from Carolina Brewing Co. Really nice service since Foothills isn't yet bottling their beers (as far as I know).

Found everything I was looking for except Founders Breakfast Stout! [edit: which I later realized was not available this time of year, so there's a reason why they didn't have it!]

Helpful staff, if not the friendliest. Doesn't really matter I guess, since they will eagerly help you find what you are looking for.

Pretty good selection of brand-name glassware, including goblets, snifters, and pint glasses.

Prices aren't exactly discounted, but specialty beer comes with a cost, as we all know.

Reviewed on: 07-09-2009 16:55:00

Wow, its totally true, if you didn't know about this place you'd almost certainly drive right by it without giving it a second though. Its a completely unassuming place from the outside but wow, what a gold mine on the inside.

Tons of local NC stuff and loads of other micros in coolers and on shelves mostly in the back. I grabbed a bunch of Duck Rabbit to smuggle back to the north with me. They had loads of imports and even an American micro vintage shelf with random beers that were quite a few years old.

Service was great, lots of friendly people walking around. You can mix and match whatver and they have tons and tons of great bombers. I wish my wife was not in a hurry as I definitely could have spent an hour or two in here! Instead I got my Duck Rabbit and my Two Hearted and we were off...I was tempted by the $1 pint glasses but I have enough of those...the Duck Rabbit snifter glasses were hard to pass up as well!

Great place! Keep the low key image, it is awesome!

Reviewed on: 05-09-2009 19:59:49

Stopped in here this morning on the way back to Georgia upon the recommendation of several BA's. From the outside, is doesn't really look like much of anything. On the inside, it's truly a fine place just about any BA would enjoy perusing. Bell's, DFH, Founder's, too many to try and think of off the top of my head, really, were all well represented. There were also many nice imports, as well, such as the whole line of J.W. Lee's Barelywines, a few Fantome offerings, Des Rocs, lots of usuals and several things I had not heard of before. Just a spectacular selection, in my opinion, and as if that weren't enough, they'll let you break 4/6pk's which I thought was a huge plus. I'll certainly visit this place again on my return visits to Raleigh/Durham.

Reviewed on: 03-21-2009 00:53:10