looking for armenian beer and jermuk

i am a huge fan of your collective knowledge, lth, and i hope you can help me out with this one:

i am looking for armenian beer and a mineral water called jermuk. erebuni and kotayk are two kinds of beer that i enjoyed back in hayastan - but i can't find them here in chicago. arax foods USED to carry both, but i just called and they no longer have them.

i read a while back that jermuk was being banned in the US due to its arsenic content (eek), so perhaps that one is a lost cause!

any ideas?

FDA Warns Again About Arsenic in Mineral Water

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is re-issuing its warning to consumers not to drink "Jermuk" brand mineral water due to the risk of exposure to arsenic, a toxic substance and a known cause of cancer in humans. The agency is providing this information again to consumers due to an expansion of the recall initiated by the products' importers and distributors. "Jermuk" water is imported from Armenia and distributed under different labels in California. Five brands of these products have been recalled since March 7.

Last updated May 31, 2007 with another recall. I just found this googling "jermuk arsenic"

ratebeer.com's summary of Erebuni distribution and Kotayk Lager distribution don't show any signs of Illinois distribution (there are other kinds of Kotayk.)

I hadn't seen that service of RateBeer, but it looks pretty cool! I don't know much about Armenian products; I was just answering my occasional compulsion to search for things

Have you visited Sayat Nova, the Armenian restaurant in Streeterville? I wonder if they'd bother to get Armenian beer despite the apparent lack of distribution.

Back in November, the Liquor Barn in Niles carried 3 brands of Armenian beer (actually 2 were from the same brewery) as well as Armenian wine and brandy. They seemed to be well stocked with the brands, but I would call them first before making the trip.




Liquor Barn
(847) 581-0060
8170 W Golf Rd,
Niles, IL 60714