Beer Revolution

datamike

Illinois

1.55/5  rDev -64.4%
vibe: 1 | quality: 1 | service: 1 | selection: 3 | $$$

You guys are crazy.

First, this place is really more of a dingy bar than a revolutionary beer store. The "amazing" selection is three unlighted, glass-front beer coolers. Yes, there's some great stuff in there, but not spectacular. Also, it's so dark you can barely read the labels. When I asked if they had any Speedway Stout, a gruff guy snapped "sold out"! How about the Wee Heavy? "Sold out"!! Uh ok, sorry for asking...

Second, this place if fucking filthy! I wanted to shower after just being in there. Take a look at the decorative bottles on top the coolers - thick layer of dust on everything. I am guessing the place has never been cleaned since it opened. The entry way is stacked with kegs of beer - some sitting in direct sunlight due to the half-door. Nice way to handle the beer...

Bottom line: Don't waste your time. If you want a great beer bar in the area, go to the trappist. If you want a great take out store, go to City Beer or Perry's in Livermore.

08-01-2011 13:56:33 | More by datamike

BartholomewRoberts

Washington

2.98/5  rDev -31.7%
vibe: 1 | quality: 2 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | $$

The selection is amazing, but this bar proved a terrible disappointment. First, the atmosphere is akin to drinking beer in a dirty, albeit brighter, version of your parents' basement, with the local SCA chapter. The inexcusable part, however, it that they get the beer wrong. My friend's $6 DIPA came in a soapy glass. He didn't drink it. My $7 saison, which was a rare beer that I was excited to try, was flat--not undercarbonated, flat. Clearly, the keg had been mishandled or was too old. And the bouncer (a very nice guy) kicked customers out at 11 pm on a Friday night, which would have been more disappointing if I wasn't ready to leave after 10 minutes. Not a place for people who are serious about beer. More of a clubhouse for a particular hipster subset of the "new Oakland."

03-30-2013 14:06:38 | More by BartholomewRoberts

CopeTech

California

3.28/5  rDev -24.8%
vibe: 2.75 | quality: 3.25 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 1.5 | $$

Atmosphere - Interior is dark and dank, the new space is more open but flavorless. The exterior is more fun but picnic tables with an occasional umbrella forces you to sit too close to people you probably don't want to. But on a sunny weekday afternoon it can be pretty nice.
Quality - Pretty good, I think the owners carea nad are involved, I disgree with many of their choices but ok.
Service - rough, we were turned away from the bar since we also wanted to order food, then the waitress kept routing away from us.
The bottle list here is very good, if you don't like the extensive tap list, the wall of coolers are very good. Teh tap list tends to have 3-6 beers I want, and the taps vary greatly on style and quality.
the new food is weak, poorly cooked and vegan. No stars.

05-01-2013 03:46:57 | More by CopeTech

BeerAficionadoMCMXC

California

3.3/5  rDev -24.3%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 2 | $$

It was packed, but the beer selection was great. There was a nice little pub next door that I heard was even better. If I could remember the name that might help. The food wasn't worth my time, and the beers were a bit pricey, but perhaps that is the Oakland rate. Overall, I would certainly come back to this place, especially if a lovely lady were accompanying me.

05-19-2013 07:11:39 | More by BeerAficionadoMCMXC

BrewnZ

Washington

3.4/5  rDev -22%
vibe: 2 | quality: 2.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $

Beer Revolution seems to be the next step in the evolving Oakland beer scene. With not only a great selection of 14 local taps, but three glass doored cases full of bottles you can easily find what you need.

Difficult to find mostly because the inter-google directions sent me to the wrong part of 3rd. . . should have written down the BA address! Broadway & 3rd Street, near Jack London Square.

The sunny patio stands in contrast to the dark bar waiting inside. Definitely a grungy punk feel so I was not surprised when I was told one of the owners played in a punk band - look for his record on the wall. Shoebox shaped, bar down the right side, bottles down the left, a series of barrels on end used as tables down the middle.

On selection and service alone, this place is an A. Unfortunately I had problems with the atmosphere & beer storage.

The downside of using barrels for tables and keg coolers as the 'bar' is you will continuously bump your knees as you try to settle in for a pint (no overhanging bar top). Also, there is no A/C and on the warm day I visited it was pretty uncomfortable inside the bar with all the compressors heating up the joint. Outside was a better option but the seats were packed so I drank quickly to beat the oppressive heat.

On the quality side, there were several kegs and bottles stored at room temp as they awaited their turns in the stock rotation. There were probably 20 kegs of various sized sitting by the door and a room near the bathroom back stocked with lots of bottles. The draft beers I had were all in good condition but with a few more hot days like this one, the quality of all the beers will start to suffer and this may show more in time.

So that is my long justification for my below average rating. I am looking for a grade A place to drink beer, not just a grade A selection. Add a walk-in to store beer cold, some A/C to cool off the bar, and an actual bar to drink and I would bump this place up. Again service & selection were great.

09-04-2010 18:29:21 | More by BrewnZ

DocJitsu

California

3.8/5  rDev -12.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $$

This place is usually pretty busy. They seem to have a following that outdoes the quality, selection, and environment. I think they might be the only beer bar with this many taps and selections of to-go bottles in the East Bay area. The service is usually pretty good. That snotty, know-it-all, impatient quality often found in the service in Bohemian places like Beer Rev was very noticeably absent. This was a huge plus. Prices are fairly reasonable. Only one bathroom. And it is a unisex. It's a tight fit inside the bar. The only reason I'd give it an above average on environment is that it has outdoor seating. Of course, in that part of Oakland, there's not a lot to look at out there. They close early and sometimes, whenever they choose. They have a huge variety of tap beers that get rotated regularly. They offer several different options of to-go bottles, but the bottle beers aren't anything impressive. Some are obscure, but none that are remarkably sought after. Pliny the Elder seems to sell out pretty quickly.

10-29-2012 00:08:44 | More by DocJitsu

bcm119

California

4.08/5  rDev -6.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Finally visited this place yesterday. Its a nice addition to the downtown Oakland beer stops. It features about 12 very well chosen taps and several coolers of specialty bottles. The business model seems to be similar to City Beer, but it feels a little more like a bar than City Beer. All bottles can be consumed on premises for an extra $1 fee. There is no food, but you can bring your own food in.
Tap selections lean heavily toward local breweries. Bottle selection is very good, not huge but well chosen. Many Belgians and craft 22s. Glassware is clean and appropriate for the style, but not fancy logo ware.
The atmosphere seems to be influenced by the Zeitgeist/Toronado feel, but its not there yet.
Seating is a little sparse, but there is a sunny outdoor patio with several long, communal picnic tables. The patio is the most comfortable place to sit. My only complaint was the noticeably uncomfortable seating indoors-- the stools are too tall for the tables, and the bar seats have no knee room. They could really use some sort of ergonomic makeover.
The owners are friendly, welcoming, and unpretentious.

02-28-2010 20:15:04 | More by bcm119

dvsbizzyb

California

4.08/5  rDev -6.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 2 | $$

This damn place is kind of easy to miss if you don't know it's there. If I wasn't actually looking for the place, I wouldn't give a sh!t about it really, I'd just keep on driving. I don't even remember if there was a sign that said Beer revolution.

As I walked inside it definitely had a different feel than any other beer store and bar. They had barrels as tables and kegs everywhere. Three huge coolers are against the left side wall as you walk in if you wanted to grab a bottle instead getting one from the huge selection of beers on tap.

Overall I had a nice experience and can't wait to come back.

06-03-2011 04:28:55 | More by dvsbizzyb

Seanibus

California

4.08/5  rDev -6.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Not so much exciting as a bottle shop (not terrible though), but the tasting room is amazing - dozens of high quality, unusual taps. If you can't find something you like, you don't like beer. If you can't find something you haven't tried, you get out way too much.

The place is a little grungy-looking, with dark wood and worn looking furniture (there are several outside picnic tables s well).

The bottle shop portion is a couple of coolers across the back wall, with a few small room-temperature shelves. It looked to be a better import selection than domestic and the prices struck me as just a hair over the average in this market.

The nice thing is, however, that you can buy a bottle and drink it right there. But why would you bother with such a great tap list behind the bar.

Staff seems friendly and super casual.

Note that no minors are allowed, so don't even think about bringing the kids.

01-08-2012 01:10:15 | More by Seanibus

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

4.29/5  rDev -1.6%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 5 | service: 3.25 | selection: 4.75 | $$

The end of a recent California trip saw us staying at the Inn at Jack London square. As we were pulling into the parking lot, I saw this tiny beer bar across the street that was just packed with people. The thought crossed my mind that this might be a younger event, so I ran right over to see what was up. No younger, as it turned out, but I was far from disappointed by what I saw on offer.

As part of SF beer week, the BR was hosting a Sierra Nevada tap takeover. I about fainted when I saw what was on offer; 48 different SN beers, with 5 vintages of Big Foot. The draft selection was just awesome, and then there looked to be another 300 or some bottled beers as well (with nary an adjunct lager to be seen anywhere). This place is undeniably tiny, with a small indoor bar and table service area, and then a modest size outside patio area as well. There were kegs and beer paraphenelia strewn everywhere inside, and quarters were undeniably tight. Service was OK.... I was there at closing (9:00 on a Sunday), and I think the staff was a bit worn out at the end of a long day. So service was a bit slow, and the staff wasn't exactly gushing with friendliness, but no matter... no one was nasty or unpleasant, and I had no problem with any of the servers here. Prices were fine I thought... all the SN beers were priced at $5 or $6 a glass, served either in a pint glass or tulip.

This place is just outstanding, and I can completely understand the high BA score. I'll definitely be back.

02-11-2013 05:15:16 | More by johnmichaelsen