BeerCraft

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

3.88/5  rDev -10.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Just recently saw the review for this place, and as I happened to be staying at a hotel in Rohnert Park, I figured why not visit.

BeerCraft is a smallish store, located in a strip of small stores right on Commerce St. God only knows what this place was in a previous life (maybe a Napa auto parts?), but the place is undeniably small, with something of a warehouse vibe. Right now, the place consists of three cold boxes, holding bombers and singles in two of the boxes, and 6 packs in the other. There is a small counter up front where you bring your beers, where they're bagged and you pay for your purchase. So that's about it, though the owner acknowledged that he hopes to expand and bring in as much new stuff as he can lay his hands on.

So... the pros and cons about this place. The pros are obvious... the place sells nothing but craft beer (no imports, near as I could tell), and what they have is good stuff (Upright, Firestone walker, Logsdon, etc.). At present they probably have roughly 100 different beers on offer, most of which are in cold boxes, but with a few beers sitting outside in small displays as well. At present, don't expect to see anything mindblowing (BA Old Rasputin was about as rare as I saw), but I'm guessing that may change in the future.

The cons are equally obvious... this a small place, and while the selection is decent, it's probably not much better than what you can find at a good safeway.

While this place is not much of BA destination at present, the upside to this place shouldn't be understated. The owner is knowledgeable and passionate about craft beer, and he's committed to making this a craft beer destination. Prices are very reasonable... bombers of double jack for $7.25 and union jack for $4.50.

Right now, I'd call the previous review of this place a bit much... comparing this place to the bottle barn in Santa Rosa in any context is laughable. However, that's at present (the owner indicated he's only been open three weeks). A year from now, my review may well be the one people are laughing at. This place has GREAT potential, and the owner is the kind of guy you want to see succeed. This is the kind of place you want to support.

Picked up a bottle of Union Jack that was bottled on 6/12/12, and frankly the bottle did not taste as fresh as I might have wanted or expected. As the owner is a new guy, I have to think if there's a freshness issue, it's probably more of a distributor problem... like maybe they're dumping old product on the new guy? Shrug... in any event...

I'll be back...

09-01-2012 01:24:40 | More by johnmichaelsen

OGkushington

4.7/5  rDev +8.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

A friend You told me about this store so I decided to check it out... Luckily I did. This is a great store that specializes in only in craft beer, Every day is a different beer for 50% off, Which I've taken advantage of a few times... The owner JT is Very friendly and informative.. I believe the store has only been for a few months, and I think it is headed in the right direction. Hopefully they will host some tastings at some point that would be awesome! If you're ever in the area and would definitely suggest Stopping in and checking it out..

11-03-2012 20:50:58 | More by OGkushington

avaldivia

California

4.44/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | $

This place just opened up in the small town of Rohnert Park. It is the first Craft Beer store to open up in the area. Before you would have had to drive to Petaluma or Santa Rosa for a decent selection.

Atmosphere: This place has just opened up so the decor needs a little time to come together. A lot of open space. Talked to the owner and he said that it's just a matter of time before he has everything all set up.

Quality: There are three sizable coolers stocked with beer. and then a couple of small shelves. I appreciate that pretty much everything is kept cold and the only stuff that isn't is either a stout or some other dark beer that wont be as affected. Owner said he was looking into bringing in a few more coolers down the road.

Service: When I went it was the owner who was running the shop. It was only the two of us so we chatted for a while. Nice guy. Knowledgeable about stuff and willing to take requests for stuff we would like to see him carry. Will go back based on his service alone.

Selection: Still brand new and could use a little work, but by far the best selection in the area. He's focused on American craft beer which is fine by me as he had Anchorage, Pretty Things, and other stuff that you don't see very often. He has almost everything in coolers except for a few stouts, porters and other stuff that wont be as affected by being at room temperature.

Value: Insane. He always has a beer of the day which is 50% the regular price. He's had Aroma Coma, Sofie, Rogue's entire line-up, Oskar Blues' entire line-up, etc. In addition the regularly priced stuff is competitive with Bottle Barn.

Overall: Still new and a work in progress, but has the makings of one of the best bottle shops in the North Bay.

08-29-2012 23:41:09 | More by avaldivia