Peace Street Market

Strange place this one.

I had no intention of stopping by, but after having dinner at J. Betski's the barman persauded me to swing by and check it out. I was on foot and it took me about ten minutes brisk walk to find the place but I was glad I made the effort.

It's essentially a convenience store, and as others have noted it certainly reminded me a LOT of Sam's Blue Light in Durham - must be something about NC and great beer in dive-like stores! Unlike Sam's though there seemed to be a lack of knowledge, and some really quite high prices. LIKE Sam's there was a distinct lack of organization and beer was scattered in a random way all over the place. Took me quite a while to pick over a bunch of stuff, but to be honest that was part of the fun! Only downside is likely to be problems with freshness.

I thought this was pretty interesting but some of the prices were pretty high and watch out for freshness issues. Having said all of that, on the whole I was glad that I made the effort and had I had the car I might have taken more time and picked up more beer.

Reviewed on: 09-08-2009 01:42:55

I don't know why it took me so long to find this place but I finally stopped in by chance while passing by today. I thought I'd heard about it here so I figured I'd give it a shot. It's not a place that would have you thinking craft beer if you drove by but that is their business.

There's a decent selection on the shelves that face you when you walk in but that's only the tip of the iceberg. There's a cooler that pretty much wraps around half of the building. I was very impressed at how much they keep refrigerated.

They carry lots of NC and other east coast beers. But they also have a nice selection of western beers including Stone, Green Flash, Anchor, Sierra Nevada, Avery, etc. I picked up a couple of sixes of Sweetwater IPA which is relatively new to the area and a favorite of my wife's.

Most of the beer is in six packs but they also have a decent selection of 22s and 750s. They don't seem to split the six packs but I didn't ask.

Peace Street is definitely an alternative to Sam's in Durham. I wouldn't say it's as good with the Europeans but it's well worth a visit.

Reviewed on: 05-11-2009 21:34:06

Great selection, terrible ownership. They're complete jerks.

They had some Atlanta Brewing Co beers on clearout price earlier this year. Only 2.99 or 3.99 a 6-pack. As someone who has missed ABC I was eager to grab some. As you might expect for such a low price the beer wasn't exactly fresh. However it was not only fresh, it was 2 or 3 months past the "best by" dates on the cases.

I was going to grab a 6 pack of each variety they were offering (a case in total) and I ask him if I open one beer and I find it unsatisfactory if I can return the beer for a refund.
After initially saying yes hes feeds me some BS about what the beer is going to be like (basically describing every off feature about old or skunked beer) and then says, no, he doesn't want to offer me a refund if the beer is bad, because that would be "too complicated".
Scam artist.

Reviewed on: 04-07-2009 06:38:11

My last stop on my short visit to Raleigh; it was either this place or a couple of Total Wines. I'm glad I stopped in. This is basically your average convenience except with mounds of beer piled inside.

It's obvious that a lot of this stuff has sat on shelves/in coolers for awhile, so I'd certainly hesitate before grabbing some of the hoppier brews. Lots of boxes and dust and racks filled with beer, completely disorganized, probably lessening the turnover rate.

Service was non-existence, and I can't say I expected much else as I browsed beer in the midst of Fritos, Spam, and motor oil.

Great selection. Great representation of Belgians (Trappist stuff, De Proef, St. Bernardus) with a healthy dose of English and German beers thrown in as well. Loads of stuff from typical American brewers such as Victory, Left Hand, Gordon Biersch, Lagunitas, Stone, Founders, Abita, and more. Lots of refrigerated sixers with a couple of shelves full of bombers. A few rarities to be found, though I wish more selections would've been available as singles. Definitely a stop I wouldn't mind making again next time I'm in town.

Prices were quite decent, in some cases better than some of the same items at grocery stores.

Reviewed on: 03-31-2009 04:54:20

I have mixed feelings over this place. Selection was certainly better than average and I *did* walk away with a 4pk of KBS. However, there's really no rhyme or reason to anything in this place with beer just sort of stacked where ever and I found it really easy to overlook stuff in there. Also, there are quite a few things in there that while sturdy enough to handle the amount of time they had on them, indicated to me that there were likely just as many that were long past their prime. Having said that, if you're in the immediate area around NC State and don't want to stray far off, this place would certainly satisfy you. If you don't mind driving a bit, head over to Durham and pay Sam's Blue Light a visit.

Reviewed on: 03-21-2009 01:01:54

I stopped in last weekend for the first time in a long while, and I was pleasantly surprised. The store seemed cleaner and better organized than what I remember. And at least with the beers I was looking at, they seemed to be much fresher than in the past. While PSM can't match Sam's Quik Mart for overall selection, they do have about the same amount of cooler space for craft beers, so it's a good place to go if you want something already chilled. The prices were reasonable - maybe slightly less than Sam's or Whole Foods, but slightly more than a grocery store. All in all, it's a great store if you happen to be in the neighborhood and want a wide selection of craft & import beers. Sure the service isn't great, but the staff can usually help you find something if they happen to stock it. Thanks to BA, I already know what I'm looking for when I beer shop, so I'm not relying of store staff to help me pick a beer anyway.

Reviewed on: 03-18-2009 15:54:25

Imagine the store from Clerks. Then add an awesome beer. This store is totally disorganized. Labels don't match, occasionally it's hard to find prices. It's pretty dirty. Come to think of it, the store from Clerks is classy compared to this joint. But they do have damn good beer... local, US, international, with some hard to find stuff. Very unhelpful staff (one person there... the stand there and look stupid the whole time type) and I certainly didn't appreciate the back in 2 minutes sign when I got there. (It was more like 20 minutes, and who knows how long before I got there).

Reviewed on: 12-28-2008 06:25:46

I try to get in here at least once a month. The drive to Sam's has gotton a little harder to do on a regular basis. If we didn't have Sam's to compare to, I would think PSM (otherwise known as 7-Even) would be ranked a pretty good beer store.

Service depends on who's working. There's really only 1 weekend guy that drinks what he sells.

Prices are usually very good, beating WF by 10% or so. Selection is much better than WF as well - but not as good as Sam's. Rotation has become better over the years and I don't see as much dead product in there as I used to.

Latest marketing move is to have a big special running on at least one beer, usually stacked near the cash register.

Usually has most of the beers available in bottles made in NC. If you are passing through, definitely worth a stop.

Reviewed on: 12-26-2008 01:19:45

I hadn't been to Peace Street market for a couple of years until today. I went specifically looking for Duck-Rabbit Wee Heavy Scotch Ale... after several unfruitful trips to other local stores, I finally found some. I also picked up a 4-pack of North Coast's Stock Ale from 2007... hope this one has kept well.

I didn't talk to the guy behind the counter until after I had made my selection, but he seemed friendly enough. There was a wide array of seasonals available (both Oktoberfests and pumpkin ales), as well as the first Black Chocolate Stout I've seen this year.

Most of the 4/6-packs were stored in the refrigerated section, while a good number of singles (mostly bombers) sat out on the shelves. A minor deduction for the relative scarcity of sub-bomber sized singles.

Still, when I don't have time for a drive to Durham, this is a worthy stop to fill the beer needs.

Reviewed on: 10-18-2008 22:52:58

Located off from one of the main roads in Raleigh proper, this place looks very unassuming from the outside. Walking in the front door, just to the right is a shelf full of Belgians. Yes!

Three of the four walls in this building, three of them are lined with coolers, two of which are dedicated to beer & ale. The selection of American micros and craft beer is very good, as well as seasonals and specials. Also very good is the selection of imports from primarily the UK and surrounding areas therein. If the American macro brews are your forte, they have you covered there as well.

If you happen to be shopping with your loving spouse who doesn't necessarily share your enthusiasm for fine ale, Peace Street Market also has a reasonable wine selection that highlights many of the local area wineries as well as selections from other smaller domestic wineries.

The staff was helpful, if not fully knowledgeable regarding selections available in the store. Regardless of their ability to recite beer history, when I asked if they had "Fraoch Ale", the gentleman behind the counter walked me directly to it in the cooler.

This is probably the best selection of singles that I have found in the area although there are some other choices. Another nice thing about Peace Street Market is that most of the singles are in the cooler and ready to go. Check it out.

Reviewed on: 02-03-2008 18:37:54