The Letspour.com Experience

Have you ever been experienced? Well I have, now.

Thought Id take a break after all those reviews and share a pretty awesome experience that I had with Letspour.com.

Buying beer online was an idea I had, once. I forget what site I tried, but I remember (and this was several years ago) building up my cart with several bottles of things I couldn't get in Connecticut at the time. I got what I thought was awesome and respectable list of beers, and went to check out. Shipping was astronomical. I cant remember the exact dollar amount, but it was about $50, give or take a couple bucks. Do you know how much beer I could buy locally for $50? A lot. So I quickly closed the hell out of that window, but I was still feeling slightly optimistic as I continued to Google online beer sellers. It took me  another try with another retailer before I gave up completely. I'm a glutton for punishment.

Now is a new time for me, and I'm much more active in the community and far more open to ideas from others. So one day, I was fooling around on the Beer Advocate and someone mentioned Letspour.com, so I figured I'd head over and check it out. There were two things that enticed me. Well, three things.

• They have a really fun roulette flash game to win money off your order, or store credit, what have you. I won $10 off my first order. It's aptly named "Spin the Bottle."

• They offer free shipping after 6 bottles. That is really what sold me, completely. Free shipping? Hell yeah!

• They have a good selection of a lot of different breweries from all over.

Now im sure at this point you're thinking "Damnit Brewfus, just show us what you got already!" Well, calm your horses, dear reader. While I just highlighted some of the positive aspects, there are a few things more along the negative line, that you should be aware of.

• The first is you are timed to make your purchase. They gave me about 15 minutes to pick my brews. Now, When I'm at my local bottle shop, sometimes I'll scan the aisles and bottles for 20 to 30 minutes. Being forced to pick from a batch of beers I've never had before in an unfamiliar setting, in a short amount of time? That was stressful. Next time, I'll pick out the beers I want before hand.

• It was two weeks between me placing my order and me actually picking up my order. With that said, they DO state that it will take 3-5 business days for shipping. I ordered on a Sunday, didn't get my shipping notice until the following Saturday, and picked up my package from UPS the NEXT Friday. This isn't so bad, but I'm also really impatient. So while it was annoying to me, maybe it won't be so bad for you. Also, you must be there to sign for the package, and be 21. I opted to just pick up my package from UPS, so I didn't have to fret about being home on time.

• Quite a few of the bottles I saw on the site, that I can buy locally, were easily 3 or 4 dollars more than  what I can pick them up at locally. That kind of put me off a bit. It' was only some though, and not all (I don't think). I still find the service handy for all the bottles I cant get here.

So If none of those are deal breakers, then I highly recommend giving them a shot. Alright, so lets open these bad boys!

The packaging was awesome. If you've received bottle from me, you know that I tend to go a bit...batshit crazy with the bubble wrap. There wasn't a bubble to be found in this box. Instead they use these neat cardboard things with bottle-shaped cavities. For a trip from Washington to Maryland, they arrived in perfect shape, albeit a bit dusty.

Here is the total haul! 6 bottles out the door for about $50. Not bad!

Sam Adams
New World

Justice Brewing
White & Nerdier

Bear Republic Brewing
Race 5 IPA

Full Sail Brewing
LTD Series 06

Left Coast Brewing Co.
Hop Juice

Left Hand Brewing
Fade to Black Vol 4

So there we have it, my first experience with buying beer online. It was more or less painless, and I got some great beer. Have you ever gone through letspour.com? Do you have a website that's different? Let me know your experiences!