Barrels of Wine

A hidden gem in Walled Lake sporting all sorts of craft brews. The owner is cool too.

Ive been piecing together my kegerator for the past few weeks and the time finally came to purchase the keg. I didn’t have a place in mind that I wanted to purchase the keg from, but I knew I wanted a ¹⁄₆^th Final Absolution and ¹⁄₆^th Soft Parade. I stopped in on a whim. After waiting in a long line (because the clerk was to busy chatting rather then working) I finally made it to the counter to ask if they had kegs.
The clerk said «Yes» and I asked if he had Final Absolution. He laughed at me and condescendingly said «Aint gonna happen.» I asked if he had a list of what he could get and he started naming typical domestic brews, clearly not what I had in mind. I told him that wasn’t what I was thinking and I was told to step aside and wait to have this discussion after the customers behind me were rung-​up. I just left.
I found 1/​6ths in Grand Blanc and Dearborne. Even if this tool could have gotten the kegs I wanted for me id still make the hour drive to not give them business.

I moved to the Novi /​Walled Lake area about five years ago and have been a frequent customer at this store ever since. I’ll often go in after watching a game at Bayside next door. They’ve got a good selection of wine, including several Michigan favorites, great selection of cognac, and scotch, as well as other spirits but the aforementioned always get my attention. They have always been a good spot to stop in and pick up a pack of some of your Bud /​Miller /​Coors type of stuff but they never really went too far into craft beer. They did carry Sierra Nevada and some Magic Hat but mostly the crowd pleaser beers. This was never a problem because they are so customer friendly in there that if I wanted something special they would just order it for me. Well upon a recent visit to pick up a requested bottle of St. Bernardus Abt. 12, I was struck by a sudden and overwhelming feeling of delight. Something fantastic has happened over at my local beer store. It has become a gem of a craft brew store with all of my favorites right there on the shelves. No longer will I drive 25 minutes to Holiday in Royal Oak when the vast majority of what I purchase there is now available basically within walking distance. Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown! Weihenstephaner! Four packs of St. Bernardus! All of my favorites from Stone, Founder’s and Great Lakes! Good things are happening over at Barrels of Wine in Walled Lake my friends. Do yourself a favor and check it out. I took advantage of the mix and match 6 packs of craft beers for an additional 10% off my total, one of the specials. My wife isn’t the worlds biggest fan of craft beer but even she got excited about mixing and matching all of her favorites and even got some new ones to try.
Why such a raving review for what some may see as just being a party store? Here’s the bottom line, a small, family run local business has made a bold move in delegating a section of their store to a niche market and I can’t drink all this beer myself. Go in and let them know they’ve made the right move. With so many fine micro breweries in Michigan you shouldn’t be drinking the mass produced, filtered, flavorless, national conglomerate beers anyway. Buy local, support local business.
5 Stars.