Whole Foods Market

Chico1985

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +3.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

A usual stop for me when making what I like to call a "Route 9 beer trip" (Whole Foods, Four Seasons, Liquors 44 Hadley, Spirit Haus). Selection is on the small side but it is definitely good for what they have. Especially impressed with their selection of harder-to-find Belgians such as offerings from Fantome and De Struise, they apparently also have Cantillon in the back sometimes. They are one of the few stores in the area to have these and other highly sought out beers regularly and keep them on the shelves for longer than 10 seconds it seems. Stock always seems to be fresh, not much past it's prime. Prices are very reasonable as well.

11-18-2010 23:41:01 | More by Chico1985

jeed

New Hampshire

3.85/5  rDev -0.5%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $$

It's a Whole Foods so it's focus is on food and since I am a natural foods kinda guy, that's good. The beer is in the center of the store along with a pretty damn good wine selection. Beer specials spread throughout the store with DFH Punkin' on sale at the time I was poking around. Beer is mostly cold (16 feet maybe?) of cooler space with about 60 warm selections off to the side with a couple Belgians and random Micros. In the cooler...Victory,North Coast,Founders,Southern Tier, Troegs, DFH,Stone along with New England local brews.
Local favorites Peoples Pint and Berkshire very well represented here along with growlers of a local that escapes me at the moment. I was asked if I needed any help choosing a beer so I am assuming that if needed I could get an answer. I got Founders Curmudgeon 4-pack and a Peoples Pint bomber for 20 bucks. Not bad. The selection is damn good for a grocery store but nothing compared to Table and Vine down the road in Springfield.

09-12-2009 02:08:25 | More by jeed

bernardus

Virginia

4.35/5  rDev +12.4%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

Hit up this place on a recent trip to Hadley with my wife to visit family. Her aunt lives only 3 miles away and it's convenient right along Route 9. The beer section is situated in the center of the store with the bulk of it in the cold aisle but the imports and more hard to find American craft brews are off to the side. Not sure what the selection is like compared to other MA stores but this Whole Foods definitely carries a ton that you wouldn't find in the DC area. Lost Abbey, Pretty Things, and plenty more rounded out a solid selection. They even had Brasserie Ellezeloise Quintine Blonde which we couldn't believe we found (albeit very expensive).

Plenty of local beer too with Wachusett, Opa-Opa, The People's Pint, etc. Definitely worth a stop.

09-03-2009 15:53:23 | More by bernardus

indiapaleale

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +3.4%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

For some reason I tend to forget that Whole Foods in Hadley has a pretty damn good beer selection, maybe its because it seems like we have one liquor store for every 15 people here in the Pioneer Valley.

Typical Whole Foods set up, one long open cooler/aisle that is chock full of the good stuff. Lots of growlers from OPA and BBC. They had the usual suspects from both US micros, Germans and Belgians. I grabbed a Long Trail Coffee Stout since it was only $4.99. Prices seemed pretty good actually.

Not a destination for me when it comes to beer since I don't want to fight through the food shoppers but if you're getting stuff to eat at WF, you can certainly find some good beers as well.

03-04-2009 14:55:52 | More by indiapaleale

fitzy84

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -9.6%
quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

I had to purchase health products recently and I was very surprised by what was in Whole Foods. I noticed much more local brews than in other supermarket stores in Western MA (most noticeably Paper City Brew). They also had the typical stuff, like Bud and some Sam, but they also had some imports as well. The downside however is apparent: its not a big assortment comparatively. Even the Table And Vine in Northampton's Big Y has more stuff than what Whole Foods has. Someone was stocking the shelf but I did not know if that person would have knowledgeable info about the brews if asked. Like many of these supermarkets I have gone too, it just looks like the person could easily be working at some other department in the store.

Like the Table and Vine at the Northampton Big Y, this place does have an advantage of being a supermarket. But seeing it is Whole Foods, the prices on the food definitely would set you back. However, I did notice typical prices for the beers they had on stock. So if you are shopping for some good but expensive food, you can at least buy typically priced, great brews at the Whole Foods.

03-21-2008 14:59:17 | More by fitzy84

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev -16%
quality: 4 | service: 2 | selection: 3.5 | $$$

Another good beer selection at a Whole Foods. Lots of selection, though more pricey than the individual stores. Ryan and Casey, a must visit if you headed north, and Town and Country if you are headed south. Reasonable import selection. And of course the food accompaniments to a health-conciousness person, like Me, are second-to-none. Of course, little in the way of service. I think the beer was equal in size and selection to the wine, if not superior to it. If you need an extensive amount of unique beer, keep researching. If you want a beer or two for the night, convenience.

07-12-2007 02:57:24 | More by northyorksammy

UncleJimbo

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +3.4%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

This is a really great supermarket as far as beer is concerned, and I make it a point to stop here every time I am in the Amherst area (sadly, only a few times per year). On my last visit over the summer, I was able to find Stone Imperial Stout among other bombers that I was searching for. There is a large selection of beers imported by the Shelton Brothers, not surprisingly, including many from Belgium. They also stock many regional favorites such as Paper City and McNeill's. The service is typical for a grocery store, but one nice feature I found was that they offer handy cardboard wine bottle carriers (I think they hold 6 bottles), and these can also be used for carrying bombers of beer. (I found these carriers in the wine section.) The store has a large selection of wines as well as beers. The prices were reasonable. Definitely stop by when you are in the Amherst/Hadley/Northampton area.

12-15-2006 15:22:24 | More by UncleJimbo

mountdew1

New Hampshire

3.5/5  rDev -9.6%
quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

Stopped by to price Whey protein, not to look for beer. Was pleasantly surprised. Found a nice long cooler full of micros and imports. Plenty of local bombers, BBC, Peoples Pint, etc. Prices seemed reasonable if not good. Compare Spirit Haus People's Pint Oatmeal Stout - 4.20 to Whole Food's - 3.99. Not a huge difference, but nice to see. I didn't see much that wasn't already in the cooler except for a few piles of cases, which were mostly scattered around the store. No service to speak of, didn't see any clerks in the Liquor dept, but the selection was very orderly and appeared to be sorted by brand. Nice bright clean store, made it easy to pick, but the light and open fronted cooler probally kills the shelf life, but a grocery store probally isn't where you are going to pick up expensive beers to store. Wish we had one of these nearby, as the selection is massively better than that at the local grocery stores.

11-19-2006 03:17:18 | More by mountdew1

twelvsies

Maine

3.85/5  rDev -0.5%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $$$

So I went into Whole Foods to get a few things and I'd heard they had great beer. I stumbled upon the beer section. No crap beer at all. Lots of sixers of various local and import microbrews. A decent selection of Belgians too. Lots of Dogfish Head and Victory. I ended up getting a bomber of Weyerbacher Insanity, which was oh so good. They also have Chimay cheese, which I think I'll pick up next time I go there. There isn't really any "service" to speak of. But the beer section is small enough so that you don't really need any assistance finding anything. The only downsides I'd say is that there's nothing bigger than a sixer and nothing is cold. But if you just want to browse and maybe pick up a few bombers while you shop for groceries than it's just the right spot.

01-23-2005 20:11:51 | More by twelvsies

ppoitras

Massachusetts

4.15/5  rDev +7.2%
quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4

Popped in here to scout, not buy, brews after doing some Christmas shopping nearby in the same shopping plaza.

Store overall was quite busy, and beer area was not outlandishly huge, but what they have is a quality selection of locals, micros and imports. Have one long cooler, and a few piles of cases here and there on special.

Contents of cooler were extensive selections from Paper City (6ers, bombers, and growlers), Berkshire Brewing (bombers and growlers), Avery (6ers and bombers), various Rogue 22s, and the list goes on. Was a small singles section down at the end, but it certainly didn't look like that was something they do as a rule.

An employee was actively stocking/reorganizing the beer cooler while I perused, and he asked I needed any help or was looking for something in particular, which was nice. I was just browsing, but good to see help out and about, which is better than some shops.

Overall, I figure my visit boiled down to this place being a nice place to stop if you need some specialty foods and want some good beer to go with them, without trying to find some special order import or the like. I wish there was a place like this closer to me, except that I would be poorer for the convenience.

01-10-2005 12:43:38 | More by ppoitras