UPDATE: Just to re-iterate what I wrote below, France 44 does not have Surly Abrasive in stock. It’s not being held back. The beer was released earlier this spring and has pretty much sold out everywhere. And New Glarus isn’t distributed to MN. Cheers!

Back in 2008, when the ‘Buy Beer’ page was in full swing here, I made a startling discovery: an online retailer where you could purchase Surly beers online without having to go through eBay. I quickly learned that it was a mistake to give attention to businesses that have $100 purchase minimums and exorbinant shipping costs. The beer community was excited by the prospect of being able to buy beers from Surly and other Midwest breweries online though.

Recently, I found the right store that fits that need: Minnesota’s own France 44.

What breweries/beers does France 44 carry?

Use the website search and/or click some of the suggestions below. ** means you must call (612-925-3252) or email for it as they are unable to list certain limited beers on the website. If you have a beer question, ask for Matt or someone in the beer dept. If you have an ordering question, ask for Carin. Just don’t ask for Surly Abrasive or New Glarus; they don’t have those.

Surly Brewing: Furious, Bender, Coffee Bender, CynicAle

Tyranena Brewing: Doubly Down & Even Dirtier** (could be Down ‘n’ Dirty but I wrote down Doubly in my notes), Shaggin’ in the Wood**

Boulevard Brewing: Imperial Stout (2011 Batch 1), Tank 7 & a bunch of others

Odell Brewing: Myrcenary IPA & India Pale Ale

Dark Horse Brewing: Tres Blueberry Stout, Fore Smoked Stout, Special Reserve Black Bier, Crooked Tree IPA

Goose Island Beer Co.: Big John**, Night Stalker, Pepe Nero

Jolly Pumpkin Ales: Baudelaire IO Saison

Founders Brewing: Red’s Rye PA, Porter & Centennial IPA

Great Lakes Brewing: Edmund Fitzgerald, Dortmunder Gold & Eliot Ness

…and countless others like Central Waters**, Great Divide, New Belgium, Summit, etc. etc.

Automated System:

Though many readers will be interested in some of the allocated beers and will call (612-925-3252) or email anyway, the France 44 system is relatively advanced in that: 1) You can order beer online with a modern shopping cart system and 2) online stock counts are accurately tied to what’s on the floor at the store.

Shipping Policy:

Very transparent. Fill up your cart and then click on “My Cart” in the upper right corner. Put in your zip code in the Destination Zip Code input field in the lower right part of the order screen and hit enter on the keyboard. It will then calculate your shipping (without signing up/in or entering a credit card).

Shipping increases incrementally with each package you add to the cart (but less each time). There is no need to try to plan out an order of exactly 6 or 12 beers to fit a certain box. For an indication of cost, four 4-packs of Surly ran me about $67 total, shipped across the country.

Also of note, France 44 ships to all but five states so 95% of readers here are all set. Pennsylvania is actually a state to which it can ship. However, they do not ship internationally.

A Quick Word:

As with all of the businesses I feature here, supporting them is a great way to support Beernews.org (in this case, while even getting yourself some beer in the process). Chris, Carin and the rest of the crew are big on delivering good service so give them a try.

If you find yourself in/around Minneapolis:

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