Ale, Wine, and Spirits of Powell

Today I made my first visit to Ale, Wine, and Spirits of Powell.  It’s unlikely to be my last.  The shop is located just off Sawmill Road, past the Columbus Zoo, at 7560 Guard Well Street in Powell, Ohio.  The web site boasts that the shop offers 700 wines, 500 ales/beers, a full line State Liquor Agency shop, premium cigars, and weekly tastings.  After visiting it, I see no reason to doubt the web site’s description of the store.

Inside, I found beers from Dogfish Head, Left Hand Brewing Company, Breckenridge, Stone, Avery, Southern Tier, Lagunitas, Brooklyn Brewing, Samuel Adams, Ommegang, Goose Island, Unibroue, and many other fine breweries.  I was particularly pleased to get two bottles of Dogfish Head Ta Henket (a personal favorite) and a Black Diamond Bourbon Barrel Aged Grand Cru.

Many of my favorite beers were on the shelves, including Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, Breckenridge 72 Imperial, Unibroue La Fin Du Monde and Trois Pistoles, Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron and Ta Henket, Ayinger Celebrator, Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro,

Not being a wine aficionado, I can’t speak to the wine selection other than to say that they do seem to carry quite a lot of it.  If your tastes run toward wine, I doubt you would be disappointed.

What was equally impressive (and unfortunately not so clear in the cell phone camera photos taken here) was the selection of beer making ingredients, equipment, and books you’ll find there.  I am sure there are larger and more well-stocked beer brewing stores in town, but their selection was impressive enough for an amateur home brewer like me.  I’ll include my photos here, but I apologize in advance for the blurriness of the images.  On my next visit, I hope to correct that.

Make sure you take the time to explore the entire store.  There were shelves full of beer that I missed on my first and second visit, and there are often beers tucked away on the counter or in other spots you might miss.  This could give you the mistaken impression that the selection here isn't as large as it really is.

For me, there doesn’t seem to be one single shop in Columbus where you can find every craft beer you might want.  My go-to shop tends to be Kenny Road Market, in part because the owner is a friend of the family and in part because I can usually find something new there to try.  I also like visiting The Andersons near 161 and Sawmill and Palmer Beverage Center on Indianola.  But after my experience today, Ale Wine and Spirits of Powell will be a part of my regular rotation as well.

An unexpected find here was a product I’d seen advertised during episodes of the Discovery Channel’s Moonshiners TV show.  They had just gotten in a shipment of Ole Smoky Moonshine.  For reasons of nostalgia, I decided to pick some up.  Perhaps I’ll have some the next time I sit down to watch the show.

Every week, the shop does a beer tasting.  This can involve a single, hard-to-get beer, or a variety of beers from a particular brewery, style, etc.  These are usually held Thursday in the 4-7pm timeframe.

If you live close to Powell, or have the time to make a trip there, I recommend checking the place out.

Ale Wine & Spirits
7560 Guard Well St.
Powell, OH 43065
Phone: 740-881-0318

Below is a partial (but lengthy and as complete as I can make it) list of the breweries whose products I saw here in April 2013:

• 21st Amendment


• Abita


• Alesmith


• Avery


• Ayinger


• Ballast Point


• Bell's


• Boddington's


• Boulder Beer


• Breckenridge


• Brew Dog


• Brooklyn Brewing


• The Bruery


• Chang


• Chimay


• Columbus Brewing Company


• Dogfish Head


• Dominion


• Duvel


• Elevator Brewing Company


• Epic Brewing


• Erdinger


• Evil Twin


• Flying Dog


• Fort Collins Brewery


• Founder's


• Franziskaner


• Fuller's


• Goose Island


• Green Flash Brewing


• Gulden Draak


• Hacker-Pschorr


• Harpoon


• Heavy Seas


• Hinterland


• Innis & Gunn


• Ithaca Beer Co.


• Kasteel


• Kentucky Ale


• Kingfisher


• Kirin


• Kona Brewing


• Lagunitas


• Left Hand Brewing


• Mission Brewing


• Moretti


• Murphy's


• New Holland


• Newcastle


• Nogne


• North Coast


• Ommegang


• Orval


• Oskar Blues


• Otter Creek


• Palm


• Paulaner


• Petrus


• Rockmill


• Rodenbach


• Rogue


• Samuel Adams


• Samuel Smith


• Schneider & Sohn


• Shiner


• Sierra Nevada


• Singha


• Sixpoint


• Smithwick's


• Smuttynose


• Southern Tier


• St. Bernardus


• St. Feuillien


• St. Peter's


• Staropramen


• Stillwater


• Stone


• Theakston


• Troeg's


• Two Brothers


• Uinta


• Unibroue


• Urthel


• Victory


• Weihenstephaner


• Weyerbacher


• Widmer Brothers


• Young's