Getting beer on draught at your neighbourhood bar or from a corner store is easily accomplished. It can be a little tougher to find stores that specialize in Argentine craft beer and foreign imports. You can’t drink Quilmes forever!

Here is a guide to some of the noble stores in Buenos Aires that cater to the discerning beer drinker’s need for top notch suds. Each of these locations carries at least one beer that you can’t find at the others, so make sure you visit them all.

Bodega Cervecera

Chatting with customers in Bodega Cerveceria (Photo: Trillia Fidei-Bagwell)

Bodega Cervecera is a Palermo Soho gem a short walk up Thames from Plaza Italia. The store specialises in beer but also carries some wine brands. They carry brands such as Gülmen, Beagle, La Loggia and Die Eisenbrucke. They have gluten free beers, hard to find brands from Belgium, China, and even a beer I had never seen or heard of before from Korea.

Store owner Sebastian Piñol is a friendly guide to the products he carries and is always looking for new things to fill his shelves. If you have a product in mind that he doesn’t carry he is usually able to order it in. Stop in and sample a beer or two from the fridge before deciding what you’ll take home.

I recommend Beagle’s stout, Die Eisenbrucke’s Imperial Stout and Kolsch, and Gülmen Lager Ahumada. It also has the best price I have seen for a bottle of Grosa, a barrel aged Belgian tripel co-created by Argentine musician Gustavo Santaolalla.

Cervelar

Cervelar is around the corner from the famous pubs of Renconquista, like Downtown Matias (Photo: Trillia Fidei-Bagwell)

Cervelar is an interesting hybrid between a store and a bar. It is like a beer store with tables and waiters. You can order a draught, take bottles to go or do both. They boast two locations the widest selection I know of when it comes to Argentine and Foreign beers (though they don’t have everything). The original location is in Microcentro, right around the corner from the famous pubs of Reconquista and their newest location is in Belgrano.

Prices tend to be a bit higher here on some brands (Grosa, for example). It always pays to compare when you see two stores with the same products. I recommend any of the products by Abdij Deleuze, an Argentine micro-micro brewery that specialises in Belgian style beers. Grab a couple Belgian originals off the shelf to compare side by side.

La Francisca – Feria de Campo

La Francisca (Photo: Trillia Fidei-Bagwell)

La Francisca is a feria de campo (country fair) themed store located in Palermo Soho, a short walk from Av. Scalabrini Ortiz. The store has a rustic feel and is as close to the friendly, smiley experience of buying at a market stand as you can get without a long drive into the country.

Save for some Schneider lagers, the beer selection is all Argentine and artisanal. The best part about La Francisca is enjoying a beer on the outdoor bench with one of their made to order sandwiches. Sandwiches are cheap (starting at $10) and the cost is based on the weight of the meats and cheeses you pick. Served on a fresh baguette, they are some of the best sandwiches around and certainly some of the cheapest to be found in Palermo.

I recommend the pastrami and smoked cheese, enjoyed on the sidewalk with the beer of your choice. Artisinal beers are all $15 meaning you can enjoy a sandwich and a beer for under $30. Look for Sixtofer’s IPA, one of my favourite IPAs in the country.

Antares

Antares impresses with its draught beer offerings (Photo: Trillia Fidei-Bagwell)

Antares is one of the go-to locations for draught beer, but did you know they also sell bottles to go? Antares can be found in grocery stores (and some of the stores in this list) but you won’t find a cheaper bottle of their products anywhere else. When you consider you can get a 660ml bottle for $13.50 and a draught pint costs $24.00 outside of Happy Hour it pays to get some Antares in your fridge.

Make sure you show up before 10pm to avoid disappointment. Once the beer drinking gets into high gear they don’t sell bottles to go anymore. Antares has a solid lineup of year-round beers but keep an eye out for their seasonal beers. Right now the seasonal beer is Antares Bitter. I highly recommend this beer. It has a gorgeous label and authentic British flavour to match.

Natural Deli

Natural Deli is both a cafe and a store (Photo: Trillia Fidei-Bagwell)

Natural Deli has three locations sprinkled between Recoleta (Laprida 1672), Las Cañitas (Gorostiga 1776) and Palermo (República Árabe Siria 3090). It is a mix between a natural food store and a café/restaurant carrying high-quality foods of all kinds. Their beer selection follows the theme of quality. They don’t carry Argentine artisanal beers, instead focusing on imported beers such as Duvel and Chimay.

You can have a beer sitting down with your meal or take a couple home with you to go with your purchases. This is a great place to try your hand at matching beers with food. Natural Deli is chock full of options for picking up picadas and the drinks to go with them.

I recommend Duvel with your choice of cheese, nuts or preserves.

Are you foaming at the mouth because I missed your favourite beer store? Let me know in the comments! I am happy to investigate your suggestions.

This week and after so many football frustrations, we are trying to find some new happiness in this great sport - the most popular in Argentina, and the one that harvests the most obscenities.

This alarm clock made in West Germany came to us after 30 years of waiting to be sold in a store in Greater Buenos Aires. Ideal for those with football on the brain 24 hours a day, who will never forget to wind this faithful gadget.

It’s a clock, it’s a ball, it’s an alarm clock, its dial is a field, it winds up, it’s made by the Kaiser brand… Today we cannot lose!

Pick up the football alarm clock for $200 in Cualquier Verdura. Open Thursday-Sunday, midday to 8pm. For more information, click here.

The name, Cualquier Verdura, came first. It literally translates to “any vegetable”, but colloquially is used to describe “anything”. Walk into this little shop in San Telmo and discover a space as creative and playful as its name.

Every corner, nook and cranny of the store is something you don’t want to miss, and no matter how much time you spend in there, you probably won’t see everything in its jam-packed shelves. It is a feast for the eye, a tactile party, that plays with you as you walk around this magical spot.

“The truth is we have a great time,” said Violeta Brenman, who owns the shop with her brother Esteban, “It’s not a business, it’s a hobby.” Both of them have day jobs, but use this space as a creative outlet and an excuse to buy cool stuff.

The boutique takes over the first floor of a building from early 1900s. The owners describe it as a house-store. Every room looks and feels like a beautifully and eclectically styled home - a wonderland of surprises. From toys and clocks to clothing, furniture, kitchen items - you name it, it’s there - and it’s all for sale. Even the furniture, or the plants in the patio. Nothing - except the beta fish - is off limits to customers.

This system makes for a store that is always changing, shifting and inspiring. For example, the kitchen table has been replaced three times since the space opened in 2007. No one, however, has yet to buy the red antique refrigerator in the kitchen.

“The crazy guy, willing to pay what we’ll sell that refrigerator for, has yet to show up,” said Violeta.

The items are special, some kitschy, treasures hand-picked by the owners. Everything in the store has a color coded tag: ivory for “antique”, white for “new”, light blue for “made/designed in Argentina” and orange for “we’re sorry to see it go”.

Some of the stuff is so unique, it’s hard for Violeta to part with it - although she does get excited to start looking for new things to fill the vacated space.

Cualquier Verdura is a genuine adventure for anyone in search for something different. You just have to follow your curiosity into this hidden shop and let your imagination run wild.

As soon as I entered Walrus Books I felt very much at home. This may be because my Dad is a voracious reader who has turned our dining room into a library! However, I’m certain that the worn rugs, unique book shelves and a browser friendly soundtrack will also put you at ease in your quest to find a light holiday read or unearth a lesser-known poetry collection.

The shop stocks between 3,500 and 5,000 titles in English, a mixture of first and second hand books which are all in good condition. A whole wall devoted to English language novels is bound to bring delight to any literature lover in a city where (so I’ve heard) it can be hard to find a good English language book shop.

The owner, Geoff Hickman, is friendly and willing to help customers. Navigating the store - unlike the dining room with which I am familiar - is easy. All sections are clearly labelled and organised in alphabetical order. Particularly enticing books are pulled out or laid on the table in the centre of the room.

The literature section is the largest. Aside from various contemporary and classic paperback novels, which cost from $15 to $30, there are also a couple of shelves for poetry where you can find staples including Percy Shelley and Charles Bukowski. I was pleased to see a healthy Shakespeare collection in the larger drama portion. There are a selection of easier, and cheaper, reads by authors such as Danielle Steele and Jackie Collins.

Latin American fiction and non-fiction is popular with tourists who want to further their knowledge during their stay. You can pick up classics by Gabriel Garcia Márquez, Isabel Allende and Jorge Luis Borges. More unusual titles include ‘Patagonia: Histories, Myths and Legends’. (Fortunately there is more than one copy of this as I think I’ll be going back to buy it soon.) Cheaper second-hand travel guides may also attract thriftier tourists.

Other sections include US history and politics, popular culture, religion and mythology, travel/memoirs, science fiction and fantasy, erotica and health - a particularly helpful section for ex-pats. I was impressed by the range of biographies and autobiographies. Former US presidents are favoured, but you can learn about various others from Colette to Margaret Thatcher (the latter perhaps not so popular amongst the locals). These are mostly hardback and cost from $45 to $60.

A small part of the shop is set up as an area for children, complete with toy walruses! There is a case full of story books for kids to read while adults browse. This enhances the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere which Geoff believes recommends Walrus Books above others.

I was disappointed not to find any Jane Austen or anything by the Brontë sisters, but a new shipment of books will be coming in soon which will replenish any gaps that exist at the moment.

Geoff explained that his aim is “to offer quality books at reasonable prices”. Including things that people won’t be able to find elsewhere. He has achieved this, shown by the number of customers scouring the shelves – and I don’t think they were just taking refuge from the rain.

Walrus Books is at Estados Unidos 617 and is open from 10am to 8pm Tuesday–Sunday. The shop has a website: www.walrus-books.com.ar