April 17, 2008
A mixed review to say the least. The selection is good, lotsa rare stuff, even some of the RR specialties. Pricing is not great, but not horrible either. The guy there was helpful, you could tell he was into the whole beer thing despite it mostly being a wine store. However, once I bought beer I was over the limit of 4 on RR barrel aged brews, so my friend (who likes good beer but isn’t some hardcore beer geek) offers to buy the two bottles I was over. After this the guy there has a breakdown, everything changes, he says usually people that do this aren’t asked to come back, packaging the bottles with quite a bit of force, etc etc. Take that however you want it, but it made me feel guilty and not want to come back over something that’s pretty trivial IMO.

October 13, 2007
Off notes from 2006. Since it is Plumpjack, of course they have a wide selection of wine. For those who are unaware, Plumpjack is a winery that the mayor of San Francisco actually used to be president of. That aside, the selection of brew here is actually very, very interesting. My one regret is that I have moved and that I discovered this shop too late in my year+ of living in San Francisco. I would have loved to had more opportunities to check it out and try some other things they sold. Unique selection, but with a higher price than some other places. I’d give it a higher rating on selection if only they were even more committed to beer.

October 9, 2007
One of my usual stops while in SF beer hunting, you can really find some nice beers, be it on the shelf or in the cooler. A very knowledgeable staff will help you with anything you can’t find. The only down part of this store is the prices of the beer, as they are much higher here than in other stores. I assume this is due to the price of rent in Noe Valley. At any rate, a must stop if you are in SF and looking for beer.

July 16, 2007
Small but a well picked selection the staff was enthusiastic and helpful and recommended City Liquors as the best store I never made it there though. All the Russian River stuff was there and a nice selection on American micros.

February 8, 2007
This is a small specialty wine store that really packs in the inventory. I counted about 157 different craft beers (of which 89 are from Belgium). But some may be stored in the cellar due to lack of shelf space. The manager expects to stock more beers from the Shelton Bros. importers in the next month. Prices about 8% higher than BevMo but it has a much more interesting selection. Unusual beers available here include Petrus Aged Pale, Flying Dog Wild Dog Double Pale Ale, De Ranke Kriek and XX Bitter, Drie Fonteinen Kriek, Lee’s Manchester Star, RCH Ale Mary, Aventinus Eis Bock and Le Bete des Vosges. Very tough street parking but worth popping in just to see what’s new.

December 7, 2006
This place is a great place to go if you are looking for imported beer that is top notch. Not really a micro scene store or that many domestics, but thier international section of brews from Europe is amazing

September 13, 2006
This is a good place to find hard-to-get Belgians and domestic micros, as well as fine wines and rare liquors. The beer selection is not as extensive as in the Caruso’s era, and the prices are quite high. However, the beer stock is well-selected in regard to quality - I always find something I want. One of the few Northern California retailers to carry AleSmith. Their restaurant on the other side of town is excellent.

July 10, 2006
Only rain in breifly - looked like a boutique wine. spirit and beer store and as such had a limited but select selection. Alesmith has hit the city I see if only in three or four varieties - Old Numbskull, Grand Cru and Wee Heavy. Some good Belgians and memory fails on the rest.

April 10, 2006
a good selection but not great. more wine here then beer. the restaurant is very good however. i wouldnt go out of my way.

March 23, 2006
My rating is heavily based on my experience with very good beer stores from NYC. On a visit to SF my fellow ratebeerians said this was the one place to go. Its a small liquor store with even a smaller beer section. The store itself is very nice, clean, and dark. The staff are great, helped me with everything, helped me get to the store and back. The selection is good but nothing tremendous. They have lots of good stuf that I was looking for like Alesmith, Rusiian River, and Alaskan smoked porter but overall it was a decent selection. Maybe very good for SF but this is not a suoermarket. Definitly saw belgians I had not seen before and a few J.W. lees. Very happy with my purchase but again everyhting very good except too small of a beer section with good beer but few varities.