Beverage Warehouse

keithmurray

Louisiana

3.45/5  rDev -17.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Visited this place on many occasions, figured I owed 'em a review.

Pretty decent selection of craft/import beers, the usual Samuel Smith/Samuel Adams/Lagunitas/Stone offerings that you can find in most places. The place looks like a large industrial warehouse, but everything is well organized. Prices are fair, on par with a lot of other stores in LA that sell craft beer. Only thing is they only carry stuff that you can find anywhere else, if you are looking for rare, one off beers, this isn't the place for you. You better know what you are looking for though, i'v been to this place maybe a dozen times and not once has anyone ever asked me if I needed help, which was all well and good, since I usually have an idea of what I need before I go there. Overall, decent place to get your craft beer fix.

04-10-2011 04:06:48 | More by keithmurray

callmescraps

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -15.9%
quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

Finally trekked over to the Beverage Warehouse. I've been looking for a go-to beer place since moving to Los Angeles. I must say, I miss my beloved Downtown Wine and Spirits in Somerville, MA. (To be fair, I also used to work there, but it really does have an awesome selection.)

Anyways, the warehouse certainly lives up to its' name looks wise. That being said, everything is pretty spread out. They don't really cram a whole lot of stuff in all that space.

Quality - The stuff they had seemed to be in pretty decent shape, and finding things was a breeze.

Service - The guys working there seemed a little rude, and didn't seem to care much about the product. That being said, it's pretty much par for the course.

Selection - Sort of a tease. It really is a pretty good selection, but it could have been so much more. There is plenty of space there, and I would have loved some more options. They have a couple of real treats, but I got pretty much everything I really wanted with one quick stop. They seem to have maybe one or two beers per brewery, which is fine if that's what you're looking for, but kind of a bummer if you already like a brewery and are excited to find a new offering from them.

The prices are totally reasonable, but nothing special.

Overall, this is a decent place, and somewhere to keep in mind. However, it's not exactly a home run. With so much potential I was expecting a bit more. I guess I'm still looking out this way just the right spot.

09-29-2008 06:24:59 | More by callmescraps

GJ40

North Carolina

3.55/5  rDev -14.7%
quality: 2.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

This place was right by my hotel during a business trip but I almost missed it because they're only open from 9 AM to 6 PM on weekdays. Fortunately we managed to get out of our meetings early one day.

Beverage Warehouse has a nice selection of beer from CA, the rest of the US and Europe. The selection is very good but it's not particularly well organized or displayed. Given that it's a warehouse, I wouldn't hold that against them. I focused on the locals and was able to pick up some AleSmith (IPA & Speedway Stout) and Russian River (PyE & Blind Pig). I always try to take some west coast IPAs back when I'm out there. Unfortunately they were out of Ballast Point Sculpin & Dorado.

The guys in the place were helpful and knowledgeable. Overall the prices were good. Some seemed high but most were on the low to average side. The PtY was only $4.29 which is lower than I pay in Seattle.

As I started to drink the beers I'd brought back, I started to see a pattern. First off, I noticed that the Blind Pig was four months old (although the PtE was only two weeks old). It was pretty dry and the hops had certainly faded. Then, I opened a Marin IPA and it was way too carbonated and dry as well. The AleSmith IPA wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I think the warm conditions at BW played a role in all of these. With the garage doors wide open all day, the heat seems to be even higher than most places without refrigeration. The guy behind the counter mentioned that RR requires them to refrigerate their beer and I can see why.

I can't say for sure that the beer spoiled because of the conditions at BW but I'm not sure I'd take the chance again. When I'm back in the area, I'll stick to the refrigerated RR and check the dates more carefully.

07-23-2009 12:10:19 | More by GJ40

Mustard

District of Columbia

3.7/5  rDev -11.1%
quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4

The Beverage Warehouse, henceforth BW, probably boasts the largest beer selection of any liquor store on the Westside. That said, said variety is not actually that great -- I would estimate it at a 150 or so (a solid portion of it typical macro stuff) -- nor that unique. Most offerings are easily found at nearby venues (e.g. the Wine House, Whole Foods or Bristol Farms) and at fairly comparable rates (but note below). The usual California brews/breweries (Stone, AleSmith, SN, Anchor, Moylan's, Bear Republic, etc.) are well attested and reasonably priced -- and there is an ok to decent smattering of German fare (Ayinger, Paulaner, Allgäuer) -- but "extra-Californian" domestics are few and far between (a few Rogues, some Victory, DFH and Ommegang) and the Belgian selection is a whit inferior to that found in, say, the Wine House or even the more recently constructed Whole Foods stores. (Great draw of Unibroue products, though). Where BW does make a niche for itself is probably with its Baltic porters (only Saku and Okocim), a style not othwerise found on the Westside, as far as I've been able to make out. Pricing, on the whole, is fair, with a good number of bombers coming in anywhere from $.20 to $.30 cheaper than elsewhere, six packs $.50 to $1.00.

08-13-2003 03:20:49 | More by Mustard

psiweaver

Washington

3.7/5  rDev -11.1%
quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

This used to be my go to beer store. I find that it is very hit and miss, some weeks I go in and they have a ton of items that I want, other weeks I got in and they seem to have nothing of interest. They do have a large selection. The staff are generally helpful. They don't tend to get many rare items, and not a lot of the Lost Abbey items. Overall very reliable and with a pretty good selection just nothing that will blow you away or get you all giddy.

They do have a great alcohol selection though so there is definitely some other interesting things that can be found/had while you are there.

05-20-2010 02:43:07 | More by psiweaver

BlindPig

Pennsylvania

3.8/5  rDev -8.7%
quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I was kind of worried about trying to find this place after reading all the reviews. I really had no trouble at all. Maybe they fixed roads, changed some signs, ect. but it was very easy. It's a big warehouse building and there are no fridges for the beer which I was kind of iffy about saying it was pretty hot in there (haven't tried any of the beers I got so far). They have a pretty nice selection. Even had Hopsickle and Stone 10th anniversary which were basically the only two beers I REALLY wanted to find and I managed to get them both. The 10th came as a big surprise since I heard from somewhere else they weren't getting them in until Monday. They had a good selection of other things. They also sell some 12oz. singles. Wish they had more for singles but still they had them. Good selection of Belgium's also. I would go back here if I was looking for something harder to find. I think it was worth my 3hr out of the way drive since I did find these two beers.

08-26-2006 10:55:13 | More by BlindPig

skillerified

Illinois

3.8/5  rDev -8.7%
quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | $$

Stopped by yesterday while on a short visit to LA.

The best part about the place is the selection. I found it to be quite extensive, but this is also the only place that I've ever shopped for beer in CA before at the time of this writing. Still, in comparison to what I can find back home in Texas, the selection was certainly well above average. It looks like they may have expanded the beer selection a little since some of the previous reviews as it now covers basically an aisle and a half at the back corner of the store. Lots of brews I hadn't seen before. Managed to score a couple bottles of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout of which it looked like they only had one case. Picked up a few Russian Rivers as well.

The quality is maybe a bit of a problem. I don't know how warm it can get here in CA and I've been actually a little surprise at how cool it's been since I got here, but if it ever did manage to get much over 85 or 90 degrees outside I would be concerned about the storage of the brews here. Everything is wide open. I'm not sure if the place was air conditioned or not, but my experience of working in warehouses (and this is literally a warehouse) is that they are not. Still, I've already tried some of what picked up and haven't had any problems. I guess I'd just always prefer to see everything in a cooler, you know?

Customer service was non-existent, but I wasn't really looking for any help anyway. I couldn't tell the difference between the people who were just passionate customers and the actual employees for the most part.

I think the value was high. I didn't spend too much money and got some pretty good stuff. It's comparable to anywhere else I've been in the country anyway.

All in all, a pretty solid beer destination. Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area.

03-08-2009 14:55:37 | More by skillerified

Rumrunner

California

3.85/5  rDev -7.5%
quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$

A large un-decorated space that sells all kinds of liquor. A great selection of spirits and wines. It has a humidor and they sell all types of glasses. They have large grocery style shopping carts so be careful. A person could spend quite a few dollars here with a cart that large.

The beer selection is very nice. A large selection of California beers and some offerings from a few other states. Oregon, Alaska, Colorado, Pennsylvania and others. The import selection is well stocked. Australia is included, Canada is well represented and a nice supply of English and German beers. They also have plenty of Belgians and beers from many other countries.

The service is okay. Nobody really offers any help. If you ask they will try their best. The prices are better than many other places that sell the beers we are all looking for and this place probably has the best selection on the west side of Los Angeles. The Wine House comes close but they are unpredictable lately. Their selection seems to be dwindling.

BW is tucked away in a mini mall whrere no one would think a mini mall would exist. Be sure to check the maps on how to get there.

09-22-2003 23:18:48 | More by Rumrunner

charlzm

California

3.85/5  rDev -7.5%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $$

This is in fact a warehouse as far as decor goes. There are industrial shelving units with lots of spirits, beer, soda and wine.

Macros are well represented with pallets of them lined up on the floor.

While there are plenty of craft beers, there are few I haven't seen anywhere else. For instance, I was excited to see some Sprecher limited edition beers and bought them. Soon, I saw the same beers in at least two other good beer stores.

If you live on the west side of LA, I can see this being your #1 or #2 bottled beer go-to (although I prefer the Winehouse, personally). But I wasn't as thrilled with the selection as I thought I would be when I finally made the special trip there.

03-17-2008 18:58:15 | More by charlzm

beer2day

North Carolina

3.88/5  rDev -6.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Located at the back of a industrial strip shopping center. Not sure what I was getting into, but glad I found it and glad I stopped in.

Cold beer is limited to one small cooler opposite the registers in the front. Warm beer area is large and all the way in the back and quite extensive. I was able to find plenty that I was looking for to fill my checked bags for the trip back east. Lots of Alaskan, AleSmith, Stone (plenty of 15th), and Drake's to make me happy.

Service, though a bit standoffish at first, was actually very pleasant when I checked out.

Hard to find, not easy to get to, but worth a stop.

09-23-2011 01:04:09 | More by beer2day