Specialty imported beer?

I've been looking for a particular type of English beer - John Smith's (ale/bitter). Neither Binny's nor Sam's carries it. Any other ideas for where I might find this? I'm not even sure whether any quantity of it is ever imported for sale in the U.S. (especially since I had trouble locating it in any stores in England recently).

Hi there,

You might try John's Grocery, in Iowa City, Iowa. They carry a wide selection of beers and ship everything they carry.

Here are some links:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t= ... ns+grocery

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t= ... ns+grocery

John's Grocery
401 E Market St
Iowa City, IA 52245
(319) 337-2183

http://www.johnsgrocery.com/

Years ago, I remember John Smith's in bottles was available here. A few years ago, they introduced something called John Smith's Pub Draught, which came in those tall cans with the nitrogen powered widgets. However, I haven't seen it for a while (of course I really haven't been looking for it either). Now, I don't think they import John Smith's at all.

The brewery was bought by Scottish & Newcastle, which also owns Fosters, Baltika (with Carlsberg), Kronenbourg and, of course, Newcastle Brown. S&N has its own importing company here in the US. The local distributor for S&N imports is Chicago Beverage Systems (the Miller distributor). You might ask your local liquor store to check with CBS if the John Smith's Pub Draught in cans is still available (although I remember it really wasn't that good).

The only beers that Scottish and Newcastle brings into to the US are Newcastle Brown Ale, McEwans Scotch Ale, Kronenburg 1664, and Theakston's Old Peculiar. They trimmed down what they were importing within the last year and that is all for now.

They used to import Beamish but pulled it, although I heard someone else might be bringing it back to the states. So there might be hope for your John Smith's