July 25, 2009
Great selection, including a few hard to find items. Very knowledgeable and helpful staff. 10 minute walk from Birreria Paradiso, where the beer manager is roommates with the owner of Wine Specialist.

May 29, 2009
A smaller store that probably will not overly impress you with the number of beers, but makes up for it with a lot of quality stuff. Most of the stuff you can get in VA is there, along with Nogne O, Mikkeller, high end Italian beers (for those wanting to drop $20+/bottle), Orkney Dark Island Reserve, and I’m sure a number of others that I can’t recall. Prices were comparable to what I see at Whole Foods in NoVA. Most of the singles are the more expensive bottles and/or bombers and 750s, with a number of 12ozers only available in 6 packs. Overall, definitely worth a stop.

February 22, 2009
While Chevy Chase might have a larger selection due to filling up in the ranges of lots of average breweries, The Wine Specialist has it beat in overall quality of selection. Lots of good stuff from Denmark, Scotland, Belgium, Germany, and limited releases from American brewers. The service is great and the beer manager Tim is passionate and knowledgeable and will talk about any beer with you and get you what you need. Sadly, they had to stop selling single bottles due to the new city ordinance, but they should get an exemption soon and be back in the game full time.

October 4, 2008
My second time visiting this place, and I found it as rewarding as the first. Tim, the beer guy, is really awesome. Smart, committed to the scene, and goes out of his way to really think about recommendations. Sure, he’s a Giants fan but that’s forgivable. Great range of out of the norm Germans and English beers along with the usual suspects (Stone, Troegs, Bells, Southern Tier, Clipper City). Nice sleeper Italians and Swiss (e.g. BFM), some Brewdog and Mikkeller and Nogne, and a nice representation of locals (still some Brewers Art Canard and Ozzy, Williamsburg Rapadou Porter, Legacy Hoptimus Prime). Good shop!

August 21, 2008
Just popped in here because I heard they had a decent beer selection, I really didn’t know what to expect. I was really impressed by a wide and eclectic selection crammed into a relatively narrow space. Staff were helpful. Maybe a bit disorganized, but that made it more fun to hunt.

April 9, 2008
Web order. Mostly very good results. It shipped and arrived rapidly. DC to California arriving on the 10th day from order (which was a Monday, so it may have arrived at local Fed Ex even earlier). Down side is I didn’t seem to get shipping notice to track, so I ended up driving 20 miles to pick the order up. Other than that the result was fantastic. De Glazen Toren, Southampton, Brewers Art and Dogfish Head. Items hard to find within a decent driving distance for me. Even across the country shipping costs may be cheaper than driving 90 miles each way to a good beer store - that would not usually have any of the items purchased. I’d do this again for items I really wanted.

October 9, 2007
Good spot for hard-to-find bottles and old stock. Southampton 10th Anniv., RR Salvation batch 3 (when everyone else in town has been out of it for the last 6 months), 2000 Koff Porter, 1997-Present JW Lee’s, and 2002/2003 Aventinus. Check their website, it seems to be updated, but if you don’t find something on the shelf that’s listed online, ask them, because it’s probably in back. I walk from the Foggy Bottom/GWU metro stop, but it’s about the same distance from Dupont Circle, and only a short walk from Brickskeller.