Pearl Street Beverage

Vermont is an ABC state, meaning that it has monopoly control of the distribution of alcoholic beverages. I have no opinion on this setup right now, though I mean to form one. However, as a practical matter for beer drinkers the arrangement doesn't seem to have much affect, as beer is available in a wide variety of stores. The hours of sale aren't overly restrictive either. For 'hard' liquor the situation is different. The state authorizes only a certain number of private stores to sell spirits, and provides a separate cash register for those sales. This strikes me as an odd arrangement compared to the separate state-run stores in Virginia with which I am familiar, but Vermont has only one-tenth the population, so practicality might be the reason for the hybrid.

Pearl Street Beverage is a 'bevvy' located on the border between the Old North End and the College Section. Located in an unattractive building not far from downtown, it sells hard liquor, wine, beer, and array of convenience store foods. It also operates a beverage redemption facility. The selection of beer is not terribly impressive, with the usual Vermont microbrews and a limited selection of out-of-state microbrews and imports. However, unlike City Market, which is the nearest store with an equally good microbrew selection, PSB has a lot of macrobrews. The wine selection is not as good as CM's, and the liquor selection is limited as well. Prices for beer are typical for the area. The service isn't great, but given that it caters mostly to college students, this isn't too surprising. On a previous visit I was told by a staff member the store sells singles from six-packs, but prefers not to. Overall , the store is acceptable but not worth a special visit.