Spirit Haus

Billolick

New York

4.3/5  rDev -1.1%
quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Must hit beer store very near to downtown Amherst, MA, excellent selection, very beer savvy,nice guy behing the counter, found a bunch of overpriced Alesmith, all the locals, regionals and national good suff, tons of imports, glassware, more everyday stuff on the floor, stacked up, more high quality suds on 3 large shelving areas and in cool, old school wood framed coolers along the rear wall. we were given two glasses, allways a nice touch. well worth a visit if in the general area, just a few minutes from Moan and Dove and the Dirty Truth, what a great local trifecta!

07-28-2006 13:15:01 | More by Billolick

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev -8%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Nothing like Ryan and Casey in Greenfield,or Town and Country in Springfield in terms of any measure, this was still a better than average beer store. It is big and staff was friendly. Good selection of primarily local brews, with a reasonably good import aisle. I was able to put together basics here and prices were similar to the other stores. Extra point for being allowed to grab a single - all of the 3 top stores even encouraged this. A cooler you can walk into.
A good store for beer, sure.Claims of this being one of the best stores in the state, no.

07-12-2007 02:36:31 | More by northyorksammy

TurdFurgison

Ohio

4.35/5  rDev 0%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Convenient to budding drinkers in Amherst College or UMass Amherst, this place is a total find. If it's available in western Mass it appears you can find it here, with possible exceptions being those things that only Julio's gets. Maybe Julio's isn't really considered western Mass though...

Easily 300 beers to choose from, conveniently laid out by country and then brewery. Many offerings are available both on a room temp shelf and in the coolers, which are really nice looking wood/glass doored jobs. Of special note is the availability of beers from the People's Pint, which I just haven't seen anywhere else (that I've noticed).

Prices are about on par with Table and Vine, meaning college students won't have to drive too far to get their craft fix. Wish it was like this when I was in college, but then again I was always broke...

10-14-2010 19:30:00 | More by TurdFurgison

UncleJimbo

Massachusetts

4.15/5  rDev -4.6%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5

This store is located on Rt. 9 a short ride east of Amherst, MA, about half way to Maplewood Farm.

The store devotes a good amount of space to beer, and the beer selection is good: a lot of beers offered as singles, though some bottles looked fairly dusty, a good number in refridgerated cases, a good number of 750 mL bottles of Allagash and others, and some more vintage bottles (including Westvleteren, SA Triple Bock, Thomas Hardy, etc.) in a small glass case near the front, and a good amount of local beers such as Paper City and Berkshire.

The store also has other wines and liquors. The staff greeted me and asked if I needed any help.

Overall, a very good beer store.

07-14-2003 22:05:58 | More by UncleJimbo

Goldorak

Quebec (Canada)

4.65/5  rDev +6.9%
quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Looks like ski lodge from the outside, the wine is to your left, the Beer to your right. Lots of breweryana on display on the walls. Fridges full of stuff, isles chock full with even more! Selection is similar to Table and Vine, however they had a few gems that were worth stopping for. Fantome Babillard, a few aged old ales from the UK, Allagash four to name a few. No Triticus yet though, I really thought they would have had it by now.

What truly separates this establishment in my opinion was the service. A friendly staff that happily checked out the back for anything rare we could have missed, we chatted a while and they made me feel right at home, no attitude, condescension or fakeness. That seldom happens at a store, much less often at a liquor store. I also got free glasses and a discount, which pretty much made prices the same as at T&V.

07-19-2005 19:02:19 | More by Goldorak

indiapaleale

Massachusetts

4.3/5  rDev -1.1%
quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I've had mixed feelings about Spirit Haus for awhile. I went yesterday and felt it was time to review the place.

Beer is on the right when you walk in. Its everywhere. Warm cases and six packs are on the ground. There are several aisles of warm beers, mainly bombers and imports.

They have nice, old, wooden coolers in the back which are really cool to look at but not exactly practical for stocking. They also have a walk in cooler in which you can go in and find stuff yourself.

Here are the big pros to Sprit Haus:

* Selection is very good. They had both Black OPS and Nugget Nectar on 3/3/09

* Service tends to be hit or miss. If you find someone who does know beer they will talk to you for a long time which is nice.

* Nice local selections and they do sale beers which is cool

* Prices are decent, not the cheapest in MA but still decent

03-04-2009 15:00:59 | More by indiapaleale

sulldaddy

Connecticut

4.7/5  rDev +8%
quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

I visited this store on a recent adventure with my wife. We hit up ABC and the local EMS as well. Quite a nice day trip. The Spirit Haus was our first stop and I was not disappointed. The store is on a main road just after you pass through Amherst College. There is ample parking in the lot and lots of doors on the front of the building. You can go in any of them, they all lead to a great beer selection. Walking in the beer is to the right of the store. There is an aisle of imports with a fine selection of English, German, and other European brews. To the left is a wine rack with numerous 750s of various Belgians, lots of Cantillon amongst others. Sorry I bought the last Rose de Gambrinus they had. Next row is all US beers with a great selection of DFH, Rogue, Left Hand, Harpoon, Avery, and Brooklyn. There are tons of 6 packs on boxes and the selection is good here as well. I walked into the Self Serve cooler (VERY COOL) and found some Allagash Musette and Interlude! Some locals (People's Pint and McNeils) were also heavily represented in the cooler. So I spent a lot of cash and could have spent more very easily. There is also a cabinet with vintage brews stored. Tons of old J Harvest ales, some Samichlaus and Thomas Hardys are what I remember.
This store is a no-brainer visit if you are anywhere in the Amherst area. Service was negligible but I didnt really ask for anything and they were helpful once I got to the counter and asked about a few bottles I didnt find. Go in with a shopping list and leave very happy!
I thought prices were pretty reasonable.

03-11-2007 02:48:21 | More by sulldaddy

goodbyeohio

Oregon

4.25/5  rDev -2.3%
quality: 5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5

wonderful place, made my 4th trip today from CT- about time to review it. great look from the outside with the germanic lettering on the dark wood exterior. inside, the layout of the store is rather organized and kept up well.

sixers on the right side, shelves on the left.. first american, then uk, then belgian, then "other" (unibroue, tiger beer, etc.). single selection is mind-blowing in its obscurity. lots of cantillon, weyerbacher, all the rapscallions, at least 3 of the victory big beers, 3-4 lagunitas and ALL of the quintines! unfortunately, lots of the 750s are stored on their sides (corked ones and capped ones).

the real prize here is the walk-in fridge. on my first visit, i thought it was for employees only. on my second, i saw a customer walk back there so i followed. today in the fridge i found a whole bunch of stone 03.03.03 VE, fantome saison (not on the shelves), and some older maredsous 8 (old label!).

the staff is pleasant, but not aggressive enough or knowledgeable. there is probably one guy who is, but the degenerate kids who work there dont seem to have a clue. the one who packed up my order didn't know the difference between a wine box and a beer box.

still, a great store.

01-19-2005 03:36:33 | More by goodbyeohio

MuddyFeet

North Carolina

4.35/5  rDev 0%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Walked in and quickly realized that the building was much larger than it appeared from the outside. Amazing selection. My jaw dropped to the floor. Most of the beers are also available at many other better MA beer stores. However, I also found growlers of Paper City and bombers of Hyland and People's Pint. I did a little leprechaun jump and clicked my heels together. Also, I could not really find an expired date. Even the BBC bombers I looked at were all within the date. They were helpful and essentially left me up to my own perusing unless I had a question.

11-26-2005 21:50:19 | More by MuddyFeet

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -8%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

We make a habit of stopping in here whenever we are driving through Western Mass. Atmosphere is a bit of a mixed bag. Kind of a "controlled chaos" thing going on with the cases and six-packs on the floor. Imports and better craft bombers on the shelves and I love the older looking wooden cooler in the back that's accessible from the front and can then be walked into as well. Selection is very solid. I especially like the dedication to the local scene with plenty of Berkshire, Opa Opa, Pretty Things, High & Mighty, and People's Pint selections available cold, fresh, and ready to go. Good mix of import and craft with some harder to find selections available. They also make it plainly clear and encourage doing mixed sixers, which is always a bonus for me.

Pricing is reasonable and seems on par with what we usually pay at other liquor stores in state. I've never had to ask for assistance with anything but there are always plenty of young guys always running around helping other people, so it doesn't look like it would be a problem. Overall, this is basically a college town liquor store (and the vibe shows that) that carries a pretty darn good selection of beer. Good enough for us to make a stop whenever we pass by though.

06-26-2009 19:26:01 | More by Kegatron