Norm’s Beer and Wine

September 2, 2008
Norm’s is a solid place that typically has a selection that cannot be found in Total WIne or Whole Foods, such as Oaked Arrogant Bastard. Prices are good and once they get to know you the special bottles make the weekly trips to the store worth it. Many of my top prizes in my beer collection have come from Norm’s, so highly recommended for those hard-to-find bottles.

August 17, 2008
I am from NJ, so maybe I am missing something here? The selection at Norm’s was significantly lacking. The beer selection was extremely small, and everything they did have could easily be foundat almost any decent liquor store in NJ. I wonder did they once have a much larger selection? I must say that I left extremely disappointed.

April 20, 2008 [ Updated April 21, 2008 ]
Since I’m from another state I may be giving Norm’s a slightly higher score than I would if I lived in Virginia, as the selection consisted of lots of beers I can’t get back in Wisconsin, which made the place feel fresh and exciting. Unfortunately, many of the interesting/hard-to-find beers weren’t broken out into singles (strangely sessionable beers that could easily be sold in six packs like Shock Top White and Hop Sun were sold as singles), so I didn’t get to try all the beers I wanted to. And with the wide variety that Norm’s offered, selecting two multi-packs wasn’t very easy. But, overall, the experience was a good one and had I been spending more time in Virginia I would have certainly stopped back in on another beer run.

January 10, 2008
Now I know how the Israelites felt when they came out of the desert and saw the Promised Land for the first time. Northern Virginia has some great beer bars and decent selections at Whole Foods and Total Wine, but none of them compare with NBW. The only place in NOVA where you can get a good selection of singles, and easily the best selection of craft beers and imports around. I also like the 10 percent discount for a mixed case, and they always have some special beers behind the counter for sale. They have a huge seasonal rack with at least a dozen of the seasonal beers. I love the place so much I have an NBW magnet on my car!

November 26, 2007
Glad I took the quick drive out here yesterday. Easy and closer than I would have thought. Great prices overall and a pretty nice selection. Great selection of Bells in 6 packs and pretty damn nice prices. Expedition for $3 a bottle or $14 for a 6 pack ain’t bad if you ask me. Somewhat decent Belgian selection. Nice calm mellow atmosphere. Well organized and nice to see seasonal selections prominently featured.

September 5, 2007
During a recent visit, I stopped at this store on a Saturday night. I found the store had a decent selection of singles and was pleased when the cashier took me into the cooler in the back to look for some additional singles. I was a bit disappointed that he wouldn’t break up some six-packs into singles, but still had a positive experience at this store. The store has a lot of wine up front, but had a substantial amount of warm shelf space devoted to beer. Selection was pretty good, but I was a bit disappointed to not see more stuff I couldn’t get back home in WI (a lot of the same-old imports). I bought a few bottles of Troegs which we can’t get at home. I was hoping to pick up some Weyerbacher and Dominion in singles, and while the store had both in multipacks they didn’t have any in singles (and I didn’t have the luggage space/weight for that). The guy manning the register took me into the cooler to look at an odds & ends shelf in the corner for additional singles, but he didn’t seem interested in breaking up any of his multipacks. Still, it was nice of him to him to take me in the back to find more of what I was looking for. Prices on singles seemed a bit high, but DC is a higher cost area than the one I usually shop in, so for the area maybe it is just normal. Still, this was a nice store and I’d recommend it.

July 28, 2007
Ok selection..I picked up a couple of brews that I hadn’t seen....service was non-existent...they did’nt even bag my singles until I asked...I guess they thought I would just carry then out..

July 26, 2007
Great selection of singles, US, German and Belgian, though not as expansive as the selection at Chevy Chase, this is a pretty good store, even when I was told during my visit that their selection was dwindling that day. Prices were great, I think this is where I will pick up a lot of the more common, but exceptional, bottle conditioned Belgians that I like to cellar. Really the only thing available here that you can’t get in DC/MD would be Legend, but I like their prices... plus THEY HAVE CAVE CREEK CHILI BEER!!

March 17, 2007
This was a great recommendation from a couple of RBers! I had been looking for some specific beers and had been unable to find them, but lo and behold, Norm’s had them plus a bunch of other stuff I haven’t seen elsewhere in the area. The staff was wonderful - very knowledgable, friendly and tolerant of all my questions. They were not only able, but actually seemed to enjoy answering the barrage of questions I threw out. It was a great change of pace in an area where customer service is largely non-existent. I will definitely be returning.

February 16, 2007
Great selection of brews that I hadn’t seen in the area, even after going to many different beer stores. Liked the 10% discount for the mix-and-match six pack, a nice supprise. Staff was nice. Thank goodness this is near where I work because I will be returning.