The PLCB makes it tough to try new beers by mandating that distributors sell only cases. Who wants to blow $25 to $100 on a box of beer they’ve never had? The good people at Bella Vista Beer Distributors, newly ensconced in larger digs at 755 South 11th Street, have recently launched a plan to help customers discover new brews: The Beer Exchange Program.

At the register, you’ll find a box of individual beers. On your way out, simply swap one from the case that you’ve bought with one you’re interested in tasting. There’s just one rule: All the beers are American craft brews — so you can’t trade your Pabst Blue Ribbon for a Paper City Brewery ale, and you won’t find any boozy Belgians. But this weekend, the box included bottles of Flying Fish, Stoudt’s, Old Dominion Brewing Co., Bells, and Sam Adams.

Staff members say bottles of Intercourse Brewing Co.’s pale ale move the fastest because everyone wants to discover a reasonably priced pale ale (it’s just $27 for a case) that’s really good. The program has been up and running for a few weeks, and staffers say about 10 people a day make a swap. Many come back for a whole case of the beer they tried.