Half Time Beer in Mamaroneck NY

My husband is a huuuuuge beer geek and I have sort of become a junior beer geek by association, so I loved this place almost as much as my husband.

They claim to have the biggest beer selection in the world, which wouldn’t surprise me if it’s true. It’s not necessarily the most rare or esoteric selection but there were certainly enough new beers here for us. Their international selection is the best I’ve seen in any beer store (Germany and Belgium each have their own aisle, and there are sections for Italy, Spain, Mexico, Canada (not so many Canadian beers, seems like they are ripe for a craft beer takeover), and the UK. And aisles and aisles of domestic craft beer, along with non-craft standards for non-beer geeks.

The best part is that you can grab any single beer in a 4 or 6 pack and purchase it separately. We took advantage of this perk and bought about 40 new beers we’ve never tried before, from stouts to wheat beers to IPAs to sours and more.

If you’re looking for variety this is definitely the place to go. I’m not sure how their prices are in terms of value if you’re buying 6 packs or cases. We found an Ommegang listed at Half Time for $19.99 at Costco for $12.99 a half hour later. Also, make sure you check dates on the more perishable beers as I don’t know how fast turnover is here.

I went a few times and was not really impressed by most of their selection, and not by most of their prices…

As I said, this is not a place to find really esoteric beers from little-known nanobreweries, but the variety they do have is remarkable. We found some beers from breweries we like that we’d never heard of before. Last night we drank an American Pale Ale from Long Trail we’d never heard of before that was really impressive-- floral and a bit hoppy but well balanced. We haven’t been too impressed with some of Long Trail’s offerings but this was a keeper.

You confirmed what I thought about the prices though-- I guess you are paying a premium for that variety. However, I like that you don’t have to commit to a six pack of something new.