Beverage Castle

Connor

Florida

4.28/5  rDev +14.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | $$$

I have been going to Beverage Castle/Cigar Castle for years so I am probably biased. =(

The owners/staff are always helpful, and have gone out of their way to locate beer for me... they once took down my info and held back a few bottles of DFH Bitches Brew, calling me when it showed up.

This is pretty much the only place other than Total Wine that I know of where you can buy good beers in Tampa. Off the top of my head (stuff I buy hehe) you can find all the time: Dogfish Head, Cigar City, Terrapin, Rogue, Avery, Coney Island, Brooklyn, Oskar Blues, Left Hand. .. lots more I have not yet gotten around to.

If you are Northeast Tampa, this is the place to go to get craft beer.

03-08-2011 16:30:38 | More by Connor

OldGrowler

Ontario (Canada)

1/5  rDev -73.3%
vibe: 1 | quality: 1 | service: 1 | selection: 1 | $$$$

AVOID! Total scam! A shame, but I have to agree with the newer internet reviews on this place and assume it's gone downhill. With the poor economy and high gas prices, it's an expensive wasted trip. Some have praised the so-called "selection" (which is even missing most of the "greats"), but in reality ***YOU COULD PAY TO HAVE THE SAME BEER SHIPPED TO YOUR DOOR FOR LESS.*** For example, expecting to pay $10 from the sticker on a 4-pack, I was informed that was actually the price of an individual bottle. $4-6 inflation PER BOTTLE pretty much sums up the greedy beer-pricing scam in there. A message to these crooks: STOP HOARDING and drop your prices so that more people can enjoy craft beer! Oldsmar Beer place sells all the same beers for $1.98-$2.89 a bottle, NOT $10, and they will rush-order just about anything you want.

03-06-2011 13:15:55 | More by OldGrowler

nick76

Florida

3.1/5  rDev -17.3%
quality: 2.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$$

You always hear of the rags to riches stories. Well this is an example of a rage to riches on its way back to rags story. I remember when it was a drive thru only beer store with a good selection but the stock was old and no one there knew very much about beer. They did a good business anyway because it was the only beer store in that part of town that had more than Macros and common imports. The owners sold out or brought in new management that realized how much potential there was in quality beer and servicing the people who buy it. They got an addition to the store called the "beer cave" and got special lighting and cooling for it. The store finally organized it and hired people who knew there stuff. It was great then something happened and the staff vanished the place no longer has staff and the entrance is through the back door. The beers are all over the place (just like in the old days) and the stock is getting old. "deja vu" The worst part about it is the prices are getting higher from an already inflated price. Good luck to these guys I love what you started but I am no impressed by whats happening. I rarely go here anymore and I hesitate to recommend it to visitors. But I will say they have a nice selection.

11-26-2008 07:20:04 | More by nick76

Zeckster

North Carolina

3.85/5  rDev +2.7%
quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Wow,
I found plenty of things here. It is kind of hard to locate. (Its between the drive in location and the cigar store). However they have big bottles of Belgians in the first room along with a load of glassware. Then you go into the stock room.

A fair bit of warning the beer room can be hella messy. However, they have a super nice collection of stuff. Old Anniversary Beers, some of the harder to find northern ones too. They had plenty of foreign titles, but I don't know enough about them to tell you if they were all rare. I did still see some Christmas Ales.

Alll around pretty sweet.

08-28-2008 13:50:29 | More by Zeckster

tpd975

Florida

3.4/5  rDev -9.3%
quality: 4 | service: 2 | selection: 4 | $$$

This place used to be good when it first opened and Joey R was running things. He brought in lots of good beer.

The bad news is since he left nothing really new or good has come thru the door.

That being said the beer is at cellar temp so anything that can age has. They do not sell much of the good stuff, so most of what was purchased a year ago is still there.

Just be careful the with IPA's and such as they most likely are not fresh. There are pleny of Belgians, Stouts, and Barleywine's though which age nicely.

The way the place is currently being ran is sad. That said there are some gems still there so give it a shot.

Just heed my warning as most of the stock has some age on it.

08-10-2008 01:09:15 | More by tpd975

udubdawg

Kansas

4.35/5  rDev +16%
quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | $$$

One of the highlights of my recent vacation.

Selection is great, although I never quite figured out the organization system here. Laughed as I realized a guy from Kansas was going to Florida to buy beer from Washington (Fish Tale) and California (Lagunitas, etc)

Saw around a dozen meads on the shelves, none of which I had tried, so I was forced to buy a couple. Yeah, forced, we'll go with that.

Prices while generally slightly high were over the board - bought a Fullers Vintage ale for $7, while a single bottle of DFH 120 was $12.99 - ouch! They had a lot of the danish cooperative beers and as usual I was sucked into buying a few.

Didn't see any Saint Somewhere on the shelves, but hey, what's this box on the floor? Opened it, and there's the Lecto Divina, which I bought several of. Other highlights off the top of my head were 2004 Thomas Hardy's, Lagunitas Brown Shugga, Full Sail Wassail, and Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster and Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout.

The overall quality of the brews here was exceptional - so why no "5"? The disappointing number of beers well past their prime - the Harpoon IPA was was at least 3 months past, for instance.

Also saw a few remaining bottles of 2007 Utopias for $180 for those who haven't found any yet. Hope that helps.

No service issues. Not sure why he took 10% off of almost all my beers, but I wasn't about to argue. Nice cool atmosphere on a hot day.

I'll be back!

01-05-2008 23:05:02 | More by udubdawg

Axelbay

Illinois

4.35/5  rDev +16%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

To get to the beer selection, park in the front and walk through the side door which is accessed through the drive-thru. Atmosphere was neat. Foam was sprayed on the ceiling and painted blue and white to resemble a cooler. It was a bit on the cold side indoors, but that's fine since it's for the beer.

Selection was outstanding. Better then Total Wines and World of Beer. But you'll pay for the that better selection. Some bottles were $3 or $4+ more then other places i've seen. Even in florida. They seemed to have have atleast 3 or 4 beers from most breweries they carry. I like that effort. I saw Terrapin, DFH, Rogue, Brooklyn, Avery, SamAdams, Nogne, Brouwerij De Regenboog, Stoudt, Flying Dog, Haandbryggeriet, Achouffe, Oskar Blues Sierra Nevada (Bigfoot '06), Left Hand, Fish Brewing and many many many more. I should have attempted to count how many, but that wasn't on my mind. The front of the store had some glassware and a few coolers to keep some beers cold. They had maybe 6 + meads there, I think. I thought it was a decent selection. If I had the money I would have bought one to try out.

I saw a $100 bottle of FD Gonzo 750mL in a canister. I have no idea why that beer is so expensive. It wasn't barrel aged either. Maybe it was blessed by the Pope.

When I'm back in florida, I will definately go here. I will go here last though due to the prices.

10-05-2007 22:05:53 | More by Axelbay

meadhead

Montana

3.95/5  rDev +5.3%
quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | $$$

visiting florida for months-

this is a real diamond in the rough

A drive thru
Beverage " Castle"
that truly is a castle
A few meager rows of bargain style coolers
with one side for singles and 750 ml---
and one side for four pack and six packs"
On the singles side:
All they can get their hands on:
Two to three coolers for America
One for Germany
One For England/Scotland
Two for Belgium
and all sorts of interspersed rarities

ALL varieties:
(I think nealry every style Beer advocate lists is there)
Pale ale
Barleywine
Saison
Belgian Pale.dark strong etc
Doppelbock
Wheatbeer
IPA
Scottish Herb
Black lager
Even Mead and some nice wines:

Nealry All the Big Micro-American's that ship to the state
Rogue, Dogfish Head, Avery, Stoudts
Ommegang, Bison, Boulder,
Allagash, Harpoon,
Anchor, Sierra Nevada
Bells, Abita, Tommyknocker, North Coast
Flying Dog
and a few locals

The Big Germans and Belgians
(whatever there names are again)
Weihenstaphener, Ayinger, Pinkus, Schneider and Sohn
Weissbier and many rarities
I can't remember or don't know


Big Belgian's like ,
Huyghe ,Dupont, Bernardus, Chimay
Fantome, (Grimbergen brand)
The one with smiling snails {Caracole}
and another with pigs on the labels
(many rarities)

All the Big U.K.
Samuel Smith, Ridgeway, Wychwood,
St.Peters, and Old growlers
plus
ALL The usual Pub Stout suspects
and a few exotics

The full selection from Scottish
Heather Ale. Ltd. co.

Plus Dutch, Austrian
Australian, Polish, Lithuanian,
And the Ever popular
French Canadian
Unibroue

---

Prices a little bit high
Service meager
but an exceptional get out of the car
and do it yourself
Drive thru

I hear they are building a beer cellar
in 2007

Easy going
Brew Lover's Oasis
Though, Pricey on certain items

02-23-2007 04:20:20 | More by meadhead

basscram

Florida

4.3/5  rDev +14.7%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$$

This is one of the places you can go in Tampa for a giant selection of beer of any kind. Depending on the employee working, they can steer you towards a good beer to try. They can also accommodate you if you need a box to carry your 3 six packs of beer if you so choose to buy that many. I recommend parking and walkin in so you can actually browse their selection cause its pretty expansive. You can get a good deal on mix and match 6 packs as well. One con.. they can never keep Kostritzer in stock but all in all. A good place!

05-02-2006 04:46:48 | More by basscram

Jredner

Florida

4.05/5  rDev +8%
quality: 4.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 5 | $$$$

I used to work here so I can confidently say it has the largest selection in Florida. That being said I no longer work there and I know that no one there now knows much about beer. But I set it up well int he new cooler and beers are grouped mostly by country/region so you should be able to find what you want. It is very pricey with many beers being close to double what you might find at other places. But some beers you can only find here, so it is worth a trip. But, it's not the place to buy your every day drinkers, just the rare stuff.

The rating that follows was from before I worked there:

The atmosphere (a drive thru convenieince store) and service (there isn't any really) are pretty uninspiring, but the beer...ohh the beer.

Simply put they have everything. If it is distributed in Central Florida...they have it. They also special order a lot of stuff. Now you will find old beers there, but with higher abv stuff that is a good thing because at least you can get it. They were the last store to dry up when Westy got rare recently.

They don't put prices on any of the beers..you have to ask the staff or have them scan it. And the prices are pretty high. Not as bad as Hyde Park Express, but not cheap. Still if you want access to the largest selection anywhere in the Tampa area I'd have to say Beverage Castle is the place.

And if you are into cigars they have a very large cigar shop right next door along with a good wine selection. The owner says he will move all the craft beer into the cigar shop to get it out of the drive thru and if and when that happens the ambience will go up three fold, but even with all the negatives I still end up at Beverage Castle because it is one of the few beer stores in the area that still has a wide selection of beers I have not had.

It's worth the trip.

03-15-2006 21:42:00 | More by Jredner