Whole Foods Fairfax offering Growlers !

Those of you seeking great beer in Fairfax County have a new option – the Whole Food grocery store in Fair Lakes (4501 Market Commons Drive, Fairfax, VA 22033) not only has ten taps flowing with fine American micros, but they’re selling growlers.

On a recent Saturday, they were pouring a black ale from Left Hand, a Belgian-style wheat from Avery, Yards IPA, and several beers from Founders (including a porter, a rye IPA, and Centennial IPA). You do have to stroll a little inside the store find out what’s what in the draft beer department – two taps are at the seafood bar (the “Seafood Shak”), two taps are at the barbeque bar (“Smoke Haus”), and six are at the cheese/sandwich counter (“Cheez Town”). But if you’re Facebooked, the beer manager updates the draft list on his Facebook page – search for “Whole Foods Beer Market” on Facebook.

There is no central listing in the store of what’s being poured, but the cheese/sandwich counter generally has a chalkboard of their six selections. Clearly, the latter area is Beer Central at Whole Foods, because it’s right next to the also-excellent selection of bottled and canned beers, and it’s where you’re more likely to find a little beer expertise from the staff. A growler fill (and they’ll fill growlers from other locations besides their own) generally ranges from $9.00 to $19.00, depending on the preciousness of the brew – recently, they were pouring Oskar Blues GUBNA Imperial IPA, which was both sublime, and short-lived. It’s my experience that the kegs empty fast – last Saturday night, both the Founders IPA and the Left Hand bit the dust while we were there, but at least you can be sure that the beer is fresh.