Beers of the World

zimbo211

2.94/5  rDev -27.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.25 | service: 2.25 | selection: 3 | $$$$

Good selection but they put off ordering many new brands put out by brew labels they
already get. I go out of state and find a much better selection.

Plus their prices are too high. Anything on sale has usually gone bad.

Also they never make any attempt at customer recognition. I've been going there for years and yet they never even nod hello.

01-13-2013 04:43:23 | More by zimbo211

mtomlins

Ontario (Canada)

4.51/5  rDev +10.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$$

Selection: An incredible selection! It seems like if it’s available in NY, then it’s available in at BOTW. They often get rare bottles and much more of them than other stores I have visited in other states. Very rare/limited releases are held up at the front counter. I also appreciate that you can make mixed 6 packs from a single brewery. There is also a great growler filling station!

Service: The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, even about beers they do not sell at the store. I had great talks with Ryan and John who recommended some delicious brews.

Price: ALL selections are sold by the single bottle, 4 or 6 pack or by the case so one can mix and match at will. If you make a mixed 6 pack from a single brewery, then there is no mark up. However, individual bottles are marked up. I have a hard time gauging if a store is considered expensive as alcohol is always cheaper in the States compared to Ontario.

All in all, this is a fantastic store with a great selection and very helpful staff. Prost!

05-22-2013 16:07:01 | More by mtomlins

jmw4437

Connecticut

4.71/5  rDev +15.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$$

Fairly expensive but the staff are very knowledgeable and always willing to help you find something or to make a suggestion on something new to try. If they don't have what you'd like they are also willing to order anything you would like.

Beer that is on sale, in my experience, is usually expired or about to expire.

05-12-2013 16:39:14 | More by jmw4437

VaporDome

New York

4.12/5  rDev +1.2%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25 | $$$

Huge selection. Beers and ciders from all over the world. Prices are reasonable but sometimes a bit high. Any beer can be bought as a single. Employees are pretty knowledgeable. Sometimes has tasting as you walk in. Several beers on tap available for growlers.

03-03-2013 02:06:32 | More by VaporDome

aranheaney

New York

4.08/5  rDev +0.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Been here several times, now it's in an old Wegmans and branching out. Awesome selection, very knowlegable staff, but the downside of this place is always price. They are nicely divided by region, country and style. They also will order specific hard to find stuff and they are very customer-friendly. On one trip I had a personal shopper....They kind of have the market cornered and are not afraid to take advantage of it. Wegmans and other grocery stores are now catching up, maybe that will help to drive down some of their outrageous mark-ups...

01-01-2012 03:23:29 | More by aranheaney

dogfishandi

New York

4.14/5  rDev +1.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

visited this and the other BOTW with some fellow BA's on a mission to land some bottles we couldnt get in buffalo. our mission was quite a success.

approaching the store by car i was amazed by the size of this place. seems to have been an old wegmans grocery store. walk in and the pretty much the entire store filled with rows of beer. about half the store devoted to micros and half imported/ foreign beer. coolers on one whole wall that seemed to stock nothing but micros. maybe 12 or so taps, if i remember correctly, for growler fills. a big sign showing size and selections of kegs. also had a whole section devoted to homebrewing and winemaking.

very nice overall selection, including the likes of firestone walker, goose island, pretty things, sixpoint, dogfishead, ithaca, uinta, south hampton and tons of nice locals. also a decent selection of nice belgians.

they seemed to have an abundance of 2009 GI- bourbon county which I gladly took advantage of, but absolutly no 2010. i asked the guy cashing me out and he said the distributer made a mistake.

all in all, a worthy stop if your around. about as good as the other BOTW. imo, worth the trip, ill definatly be back.

09-07-2011 05:02:07 | More by dogfishandi

coopbrewer

New York

4.18/5  rDev +2.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Living in a small town I'm always looking for beer stores that carry brands I can't get locally. BOTW fits the bill nicely. The place is very spacious with the shelves clearly marked with the regions of the beers. Nice selection of micro and craft breweries. Brands like DFH, Stone, Lagunitas, Ommegang, Great Divide, Great Lakes, Rogue, Troegs, and many more. Unbelievable selection of imports. Individual bottle prices tend to be a bit on the high end but it is a small issue as the convenience of mixing outways the higher single bottle price. My only moderate criticism is that the shelves on occasion are incorrectly labelled with either price or description. Beyond that it is a great store and well worth a stop if you are in the area.

08-22-2011 17:27:57 | More by coopbrewer

thelarplarplarp

New York

4.2/5  rDev +3.2%
vibe: 3 | quality: 5 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | $$$

Selection - These stores both have an incredible selection of both domestic and imported brews. One can find almost anything they could ever want and more here. By far the best place to find rare brews in and around Rochester. Their keg list is also unreal, if you are looking for quality kegs look no further. I am however quite dissapointed in their homebrew supplies selection. They don't carry a ton of stuff and are often out of different strands of yeast and hops.

Service - I have had mixed results with how Knowledgeable the staff is. I think it depends on who is working on any particular day. I have had better results asking about selection and what beers are like etc. than about homebrewing. I would reccommend doing any advanced homebrewing research online at home. The staff seems to have a basic understanding of homebrewing techniques, however anything beyond basic questions they seem to struggle with.

Price - This is the biggest set back of the establishment. Everything is overpriced, especially if you buy beer by the bottle. Homebrew supplies are also conciderably more than if ordered online. I understand that this is a specialty store with quality beers and the best selection around however I find many of their prices to be unfair.

All in all, awesome place to check out if you're in Rochester. Cheers.

08-19-2011 20:10:40 | More by thelarplarplarp

josefnewsong

New York

4.13/5  rDev +1.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 5 | $$

This place is awesome - the best selection I've seen anywhere. I have one gripe:

The prices are often labeled incorrectly, or sometimes not labeled at all.

SEVERAL times now (this store has not been open long mind you) I've had beers ring up higher at the register than they were labeled on the shelf. Sometimes it's ended up working in my favor, as they've discovered the shelf price was the incorrect of the two but still gave me the cheaper price...but even in those times one would have to be as diligent as I am (now) about looking at the receipt, unless one was adding up numbers while picking up brews throughout the store (which I do). In my most recent visit my total was a good 20% higher than it should have been until I went back and pointed it out.
Then there are times when I see a beer that interests me, and there is no price tag. Call me crazy, but if I owned a beer store, when I put a beer on the shelf, I'd put a price tag to go with it. This has cost them at least a few purchases by me.

Kudos to BotW for the new customer appreciation cards - $30 in one trip for just one stamp is a bit ridic but I'll take what I can get. (Spending $150 to get a 15% discount isn't much of a deal, esp when you need to spend at least $30 each time). Makes me feel like they appreciate customers with more money than me (which I'm sure they do, I would too).

Overall this place is awesome, but seems like it could benefit from some beeradvocate management, i.e. someone who REALLY cares about all that great beer they have in there, or at least understands how much we all care about it.

02-21-2011 05:37:55 | More by josefnewsong

ChrisBakken

New York

4.35/5  rDev +6.9%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

best place in the area, my only gripes are the lack of home-brew supplies and the glitches with the new system they have. i know its a new system so i wont degrade the store. the reason i like the new store more is the draft setup by the cooler, it has got me to buy some stuff. if you have questions, the staff knows what they are talking about. the layout (country / region) is the same as the other stores which is easy to navigate. the store is huge i am looking forward to see what they are going to do with the extra space.

01-21-2011 02:25:57 | More by ChrisBakken