The specialty beverage retailer BevMo in the Crossroads Shopping Center has been open now for a couple of years and offers a variety of products like spirits, a large wine selection, craft beer, soda, gourmet snacks, barware and much more.

The store in Riverbank also hosts tasting events every Friday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. where guests can sample an assortment of wine and beer. This past Friday, Oct. 30 BevMo hosted a special Halloween tasting, pairing a variety of craft beers with some Halloween candy favorites.

Lead clerk, BevMologist, Catherine Palmer started guests with a Bavarian-style wheat beer paired with a couple Starburst candies, then she poured a Firestone Pale 31 that was paired with Halloween staple, candy corn.

The tasting continued with a Stone IPA (Indian Pale Ale) and a few Sour Patch Kids as well as some darker beers like the Alaskan Amber with some chocolate like Twix, Snickers, and Reese’s.

The final pour was a stout, which is a dark beer, that was paired with Snickers to bring out some of the flavors in both candy and beverage.

There were approximately 30 guests that stopped in to revel in the tasting which included some guests that were in costume like Mario Ulloa, who was Jason from Friday the 13th.

“It is really nice after a long week to stop here on a Friday and meet new people or see some of the same people that you hung out with last week,” stated Ulloa. “The tastings are really fun.”

There were shoppers also that stopped by to do a little tasting and then completed their shopping.

People took a moment to taste a few of the craft beers which even assisted some with their selections.

The tasters seemed to be regulars that all knew each other in a way that made the tasting time a social hour with friends catching up after a long week.

“The tasting went well,” stated BevMo Manager, Adam Lopez. “We offer wine, beer, snacks, and more (at the tastings).

“Our weekly tastings can be viewed at our website at BevMo.com.”