Best Damn Beer Shop (Krisp Beverages + Natural Foods)

GJ40

North Carolina

4.74/5  rDev +5.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Conveniently located in downtown San Diego (though not in the best neighborhood). "Best Damn Beer Shop" is inside a family run market that's undergoing an amazing transformation. It was a typical downtown market (but with an amazing beer section) when I first started going there. But they're improving the decor, expanding the beer displays, adding fresh/local foods and building a homebrew section. It's pretty impressive and there's apparently more to come.

They're strongest in west coast beers (which is the main draw for me) but they have a lot of Belgians and plenty from the rest of the world. They had several from Russian River, AleSmith, Ballast Point and many more. Most are refrigerated but some are not. And the prices are good.

The beer is outstanding but the service equals it. Sid is a real beer enthusiast and a great guy. Be sure to ask if he's in when you visit. He's always got a good recommendation.

This is a great beer store and well worth a visit if you're in the area.

07-10-2012 23:25:53 | More by GJ40

crossovert

Wisconsin

4.88/5  rDev +8.9%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5 | $$

Stopped in here today, and boy was I glad I did. I had been goign to Bottlecraft which is a good place in its own right but stopped by here today and was thoroughly impressed. I first went and bought some food, very nice stuff, lots of organic. Then I went to the other side which is pretty much straight beer. After a few minutes of browsing Fancisco approached me and then it happened a nice 30 minute beer geek out. He told me what was new, what was good, and when the next shipment this week is in. Best of all he offered to drive me to Alpine. I mean how great of customer service is that. Def the best selection I have seen in SD, though ill give it a 4.5 just because the selection isn't mind-blowing on a national scale. The prices were extremely reasonable. They also have everything you could want for a tasting: glassware, cheese plates, fruit, chocoalte, etc.

07-25-2012 01:17:04 | More by crossovert

Bobbo330

New Jersey

3.76/5  rDev -16.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

This was the first shop that I visiting on while on vacation last week. For reference I was there early in the morning on a weekday. As others have stated the area did have a large number of homeless people and while unsightly I did not feel like I was in harms way at any point. Onto the beer... Their selection was solid with a good amount of Russian River and Lost Abbey. I must say that I was not blown away by the overall selection and after having gone to 4 bottle shops in total I would rate this in the bottom half of the regional shops. While still having a solid selection I was able to find many more 'harder to find' beers at other shops. Perhaps I came at an odd time but honestly I would not go out of my way to re-visit this shop in the future.

07-23-2012 21:53:35 | More by Bobbo330

sholland119

Pennsylvania

3.96/5  rDev -11.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

An interesting combination of bottle shop / homebrew shop / bodega / homeless shelter. We visited on a Sunday morning while strolling the Gas Lamp area after our arrival in town.

There is a very extensive selection of bottles on the right hand side of the store, with a heavy emphasis on locals and big ticket Europeans like Mikkeller. The homebrew section at the front of the store was cool as well, with a good selection of base and specialty malts, yeast and basic supplies.

The neighborhood, and the area right around the front door, were rather more heavily populated with homeless folks than average for San Diego. I have never really had a difficult encounter with homeless anywhere but it is a bit more off putting for me in a strange town.

We were planning to return with our rental car to make some purchases but then we hit KnB and blew our budget. Worth a stop for sure.

HV

02-29-2012 19:10:01 | More by sholland119

Driver8rws

Ohio

3.49/5  rDev -22.1%
vibe: 1 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 5 | $$

AMAZING selection of WORLDWIDE beers.
Stuff I have NOT seen elsewhere for sale.

Not that great of a Southern California selection but pretty good.
Prices were a few cents more or a few cents less than BevMo.

TOTALLY "gangsta" area of town though (at least after dark)...

The beer area takes up about HALF of the supposed "grocery" store.

Staff was fairly knowledgeable about the beers they had and even ones they did not (Heretic).

Worth a trip (in the daytime) if you are in the area.

02-27-2012 21:11:40 | More by Driver8rws

madpentzer

California

4.18/5  rDev -6.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

The vibe here is a little odd. Every time I come in to grab some good beer there at least a couple homeless people hanging around doing weird shit (i.e. talking to themselves, etc). Looks like a hole in the wall market, but when you get to the beer isle it's fantastic.

The quality of the beer here is great and it is always kept nice a cool.

The service here is hit or miss. If Sid is in he's really great. He is very knowledgeable about beer and glad to help you out. But, if he's not in the service isn't really that good. The girls at the counter are nice and will try to help, but they seem to know almost nothing about craft beer.

Selection here is awesome with a huge selection of both craft and import beers. Sid sends out a newsletter via email too letting you know about any new beers comming into the store. The newly renovated home brew section is really nice too.

The food here is actually pretty good (I enjoy the carne asada torta), and it's cheap.

Value here is good. The prices are reasonable compared to other bottle shops.

02-04-2012 23:36:44 | More by madpentzer

corby112

Pennsylvania

3.88/5  rDev -13.4%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Medium sized food market in the downtown area with a large beer selection that takes up almost a third of the store. They have a nice selection of local and other domestic craft as well as a large selection of imports and glassware.

The vibe of the place is odd with a mix of beer geeks, city workers and homeless people walking around. While I was in line waiting to pay a homeless man who was clearly mentally ill was screaming and threatening to fight everyone. Nobody said anything to him and he finally walked out. I'm used to living in the city so this wasn't a problem for me but I can see how this could be a turn off or really bizarre for others.

Although this place doesn't have the nicest atmosphere, they have a good selection at reasonable prices. Tons of imports including Mikkeller, Drie Fonteinen, rarer Fantome, etc. along with a lot of quality locals and a few east coast offerings. Normally I would give the selection a four but the ridiculously large selection of glassware bumped it up for me. All kind of cool glasses including Russian River ation glass, collectors edition Duvel tulips, Lost Abbey tulips and many others. Really nice!

Not the nicest place but perfect for stocking up on good bottles and cool glassware. Check it out if you are in the area.

01-19-2012 00:57:24 | More by corby112

tobelerone

New Jersey

4.04/5  rDev -9.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

This store is in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood with some addled vagrants wandering around but it's not dangerous per se; you're not gonna getted jacked going in here. It's just not as lovely and pristine as much of the rest of town is. Don't let that stop you though, they have a truly tremendous selection of singles, sixers, and large format bottles, make your own six, etc. Lots of rare and hard to find bottles. It's kind of a weird store because it's just a kind of average food market with an aisle of ridiculously good beer. Apparently they have a great homebrewing section too, but I didn't check it out because that's not my thing (yet). Nice glassware choices as well.

Service was decent enough although I've heard the guys here can be great, I just don't think they were in attendance when I stopped in. As an Easterner it was great to come here because there was more stuff I can't get at home than I could possibly begin to try. Scored myself some Russian River, Kern, Alpine, New Belgium, Port Beers. As someone else mentioned, they have a sign limiting you to 2 a piece Pliny and Blind Pig but didn't have any bottles of either, oh well. Got 'em elsewhere.

Definitely worth a stop. Don't let my opening paragraph sway you; just wanted to distinguish the hood from the rest of town; this was the only place in the city I actually saw panhandlers and homeless folks, etc. Being from NYC it didn't bother me but if you're not used to seeing that don't let it dissuade you. Metered parking on the street, I was able to pull right up in front of the store and park for a quarter.

01-06-2012 13:12:01 | More by tobelerone

Rhettroactive

Virginia

4.14/5  rDev -7.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Stopped in here on Halloween night '11 to pick up some suds to bring back east.

First of all: beeline it when you get there, as there's always a hoard of homeless folks begging out front. When I was there, this was most certainly true, as we got approached the moment our feet hit the sidewalk.

Once you're in, the shop looks ok. I wouldn't say it's on par with Whole Foods or anything like that, but it's a decent shop with a nice selection of foods, snacks, etc.

The service was really on point. The beer buyer approached me pretty quickly, and was extremely friendly and helpful. Once I told him "I got this" he smiled, walked away and left me to my business without hovering.

I'd been told that this is "the place" for beer in SD. Though it has good selection, I can't say the shelves were stocked with mondo-rarity. Being an east coaster, I was a little dissapointed not to find the treasure chest of amazingness I'd hoped sat on their shelves 24/7. Maybe they keep some stuff in the back, I don't know. But don't get me wrong, the selection was still pretty solid, as I easily found ten day old Pliny and Blind Pig in their fridge.

You know, maybe I'm being a bit tough on 'em. But you've gotta understand that when I see an A+ rating, I tend to think it a life changing place. Everything was good, really good. Would I come back and shop again? Absolutely. Just keep your expectations in check.

*A BIG thumbs up and thank you for selling styro bottle shippers, both one and six bottle packs!

11-26-2011 22:23:01 | More by Rhettroactive

drpimento

Wisconsin

4.44/5  rDev -0.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Just got back from there and starting to sample some of the bounty provided. Most of the beer is stored to minimize fluorescent light and super easy to find - straight in from the door. Owner was working the aisles restocking and helping customers. Helped us out a lot, polite, sense of humor, and straightforward. Selection was by far mostly bomber/750s and lots of one offs. Spent some solid coin there and they recognized and gave us couple of tshirts as tokens of appreciation. Place was clean and other customers cool. Love to return.

11-05-2011 01:09:03 | More by drpimento