Utobeer Borough Market

flyingpig

United Kingdom (Scotland)

4.09/5  rDev -2.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.25 | selection: 4.5 | $$

A greate wee stall with plenty of selection, particularly from the US and Belgian but I found that a lot of the beers were from larger breweries as opposed to harder to find offerings. For example there was about 6 different version of Leffe in the Belgian section and the US section had a lot form Anchor as well as a limited edition Blue Moon. Still some very good beers available from the likes of Meantime, Nogne and Brooklyn as well as a bottle of Racer 5 IPA from Bear Republic that I hadn't seen in the UK before. I will go back the next time I'm in London though. Well worth a visit. 10p extra for a bag was a bit annoying though given the nature of the purchase.

04-24-2013 10:27:47 | More by flyingpig

adamant1912

Michigan

4.58/5  rDev +9.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Stumbled upon UTO when bustling through Borough Market yesterday. Needless to say I was really impressed with the selection and couldn't have asked for a better atmosphere. Prices were pretty fair, as I picked up a couple Cantillon and a 3 Fonteinen for about 16 pound and was surprised they even had a few American rarities such as BCBS sitting around. The staff was also quite helpful and knowledgable. A must see if you're looking to grab some bottles while in London.

03-24-2013 07:36:14 | More by adamant1912

jgasparine

Maryland

4.56/5  rDev +8.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Atmosphere-
Located in the center of Borough Market, you can't go wrong with the atmosphere-- you're surrounded by amazing purveyors of produce, meats, cheeses, seafood and more. The Utobeer bottle shop is a gem stuck in the mix of it all, with the best world beer selection I have come across in London.

Quality- For what it is, this store packs a ton of quality into a very small space. Their shelves are stocked with great beers from around the world, and no shelf space is sacrificed for macro brews.

Service- The employees were very helpful there, willing to dispense loads of information on their products. They were prompt and friendly.

Selection- The selection of beer was fantastic-- loads of beer from England, Germany, Belgium, USA, and a few singles from other countries as well (I picked up a dopplebock from ICELAND no less). Fantastic selection in a small space- similar to the Spuyten Duyvil Market in Brooklyn.

01-10-2012 03:28:26 | More by jgasparine

thepeter

United Kingdom (England)

3.85/5  rDev -8.1%
quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

This is one of the best places to buy craft beer here in London. the selection is not what it used to be a couple of years ago but it still is very good and one of the few places that gets in most of the newer releases that are available. Service is pretty good, staff are friendly and most of them are knowledgable. They have a nice varied selection of British, Belgian, German and US beers. THe fact that it is only open when the Market is open makes it a bit unfortunate but if you go on a Thursday they will have new stock in and it will not be very crowded. Prices are not great but when in central London, you can't expect any less.

12-31-2010 18:04:54 | More by thepeter

belias

Trinidad & Tobago

4.3/5  rDev +2.6%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

By far the best beer retailer in London. Runs every week in Borough Market (which itself is fantastic and worth a visit for anyone who enjoys consuming anything) UTOBEER has a very wide selection of US, Canadian, Belgian, German...pretty much everything. Most of which I never saw in other retailers, or even specialty beer bars.

Most were reasonably priced. There were a few ("rare" US ales like Double Bastard/120min IPA) which were upwards of £6 a bottle, but I'm not sure how much these will cost in the states so I couldn't say whether they were particularly expensive.

Also worth checking out is "The Rake" which is a pub run by the same people, and just a short walk away from the market. It's very small (key word being very) but is surely the best pub in the area when it comes to what's on offer.

10-05-2010 03:14:18 | More by belias

StJamesGate

New York

4.3/5  rDev +2.6%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$$

Open stall opposite Roast-To-Go in Borough Market. (Or straight down the aisle on the right coming out of the Market Porter!)

The best selection of American beer I've heard of in London, including Stone, Rogue, Victory, Caldera, Steamworks, Schmaltz, and Dogfish Head.
I got Coronado Idiot IPA and Odell's Cutthroat Porter, neither of which are available in NY.
Also has Mikkeller, Nøgne Ø, Ellezelloise, a bunch of German and a good range of English, though not definitive on that last one.

Attractive wooden shelves, staff are amiable without being overbearing, not cheap but that's because they know what they have.

Definitely worth a visit, especially for an American craft fix.

10-27-2009 23:49:58 | More by StJamesGate

corby112

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -4.5%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$$

Stopped by here with my wife on a recent trip to London. This is a stand located in the Southwark Market. They have a very large selection of bottles from different parts of the world but nothing too rare. A lot of these beers aren't available in the States which is a big plus but a I had a list if rare beers from the UK that I wanted to try and they didn't have any of them. Very nice selection of Belgians and Germans but lacking in beers from the States. Not that I was looking for them but it kind of hurts the selection score. The gentleman working the shop was knowledgeable and helpful and overall provided good service. This was the only bottle shop I went to in the county so I don't have a basis to compare but I was pretty impressed with this place.

10-13-2009 04:30:52 | More by corby112

DerBayer

Germany

3.7/5  rDev -11.7%
quality: 4 | service: 2 | selection: 5 | $$$$

Well this place is not cheap but if you want to buy good beer in London it is literally your only good bet.

They are in the heart of buzzing borough market which is only open thursday to saturday and kinda cool but beware you will have to push your way through.

Selection is brilliant and amazing with anything from Aventinus Eisbock to Zeitgeist Schwazbier from all great beer brewing nations.

I come here once per week on a saturfday as a treat and fill my little rucksack with all those quality beers

09-30-2009 20:18:24 | More by DerBayer

PartyBear

United Kingdom (England)

4.15/5  rDev -1%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

A nice little beer shop, hidden in the heart of Borough Market. The selection of beers is fantastic, and is constantly changing. I get most of my American beer from this shop. It also has a superb selection of Belgium, and British beers.

Only negative is that it can get incredibly busy, especially if you go on a Saturday afternoon, which is when Borough Market is at its peak.

Go to The Rake bar near the market while you are there. This is a small bar ran by Utobeer, which offers a big range of the beers that can be bought at the shop, and many more on tap.

07-19-2009 15:30:01 | More by PartyBear

soulgrowl

United Kingdom (England)

4.05/5  rDev -3.3%
quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$$$

Utobeer has its faults, but in spite of them it is still the best beer store in London. The shelves here are packed with American extreme beers, a very wide variety of UK microbrews ranging from 3% ABV milds to big, thick barleywines, a sizeable and somewhat unusual selection of German and Belgian beers (with perhaps too much emphasis on fruit lambics and not enough on saisons), and a smattering of odd novelties from around the world. They have some weird Mexican beer that comes in a suspicious blue bottle I've been meaning to try. For sheer selection, most beer geeks will not go wanting; where else in London can you find Mikkeler Beer Geek Breakfast, Stone Vertical Epic, Rothaus Hefeweizen, Brigand IPA, and Asahi Black in one place? Nowhere, that's where. This is the only game in town for anything hard to get.

Beers seem to be well-kept here; the beers are a bit exposed, and I have found some very dusty bottles, but even so I've never had a lightstruck or past-its-prime bottle from Utobeer. The two main drawbacks to this place are service and prices; service is knowledgeable but also very surly, and the prices are sky-high, even for London. If you're just shopping for standard English or Belgian ales, it's best to go elsewhere. For example, a standard bottle of Duvel will cost you almost £2 more here than at a well-stocked Sainsbury's.

Of course, the prices don't stop me when it comes to the more obscure ales, because, like I said before, I can't get them anywhere else - and believe me, I've looked. Definitely worth stopping by regularly.

05-13-2009 09:11:56 | More by soulgrowl