Plumpjack Wine Store

kiya

California

4.7/5  rDev +9%
quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4

this is the place. this is it. you don't want to pass this store by if you're ever even anywhere close to san francisco.
not because of it's amazing selection of beers from all over the world, but because of the quality of it's selection.

Drew, the beer buyer, is probably the most knowledgeable beer/wine shop employee you'll ever run across.. seeking out the rarest brews from every corner of the world to be sold in plumpjack..

Drew also runs a beer club for local san francisco residents. runs around 21 to 25 dollars a month, and you get a binder to put your beer notes from the club, along with full reviews and background on the brewery that Drew writes up and prints out to be stored in the binder. great value and a great way to learn about new beers.

drop in and see what he's found, you'll be surprised at what kind of rare beers you can find here.

06-16-2004 05:04:18 | More by kiya

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

4.21/5  rDev -2.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25 | $$$

In comparison to other places, the selection here seems a bit smaller, but they do have a lot of nice stuff here. It does tend to be a lot of higher end stuff, it seems. Which ends up being a lot of pretty pricey stuff as well; which I am over. My beer splurging days are done. So, I tend to get the more obscure stuff here that I don't see elsewhere. One good example is a Spanish craft beer, which I hadn't recalled seeing elsewhere.

Keep in mind this is mainly a wine store, so any questions will probably not be answered with as intense a fervor if it were wine you were asking about. Definitely worth the stop.

01-11-2013 00:59:56 | More by RblWthACoz

gs1397

South Carolina

4.36/5  rDev +1.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Stopped by Plumpjack when I was out in San Francisco last August (2010). Had a very good selection of higher end craft brews, some of which I wasn't able to find previously in Whole Foods. Picked up a few bottles of stuff from Firestone Walker and Russian River as they had some of the older vintages of 750mLs from the latter that I couldn't find elsewhere around town.

Overall, if you're an out of towner looking for beer or just looking for standard California craft brews to drink fresh I'd recommend visiting Whole Foods. If you're looking for some more out of the way items, especially things which age well or are vintage, check out Plumpjack.

07-27-2011 17:10:55 | More by gs1397

ThreeWiseMen

California

4.5/5  rDev +4.4%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Stopped in here each of the last two days to make purchases, and then make more purchases. Here we go:

Plumpjack Wine Store's weathered, nondescript storefront would have made you think it was just another boutique wine store. I initially glanced at it and kept walking. Then the name registered - "I've heard that name on BA", I thought. In I went.

Plumpjack Wine Store certainly IS a wine store. A good 75% of the shelves are stocked with rare and unique wines. As for that other 25%: high-quality craft beer and a handful of meads and ciders. The majority of the beer comes from northern Europe: predominantly Belgium, but also Norway, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Denmark. However, the United States craft beer industry was also well-represented - think Russian River, Jolly Pumpkin, Cascade Brewing, Midnight Sun, Allagash, etc. All of the beer seemed to come from top notch breweries, and most of that beer was of the rarer, highly-sought-after variety. (Why did I go to Plumpjack back-to-back days? I didn't have enough room on my bike to carry the four bottles of Sanctification I purchased, so I had to come back with a car the next day.) All in all, the selection is very impressive.

There were a few negatives about Plumpjack, but they aren't biggies. Number one: they don't really "do" six packs. Almost everything they sell is a single. Number two: most of the prices were higher than they should be; not by a lot, but a few dollars here, a few dollars there adds up pretty quick. Number three: the majority of the beers sit unrefrigerated on wooden shelves. This typically doesn't bother me, but some of the beers left out were IPAs and imperial IPAs. I would have purchased their last Sierra Nevada Estate if it had been sitting in the cooler.

Each of the cashiers I chatted with was friendly and knew his craft beer. I'll be back several more times before this summer is over (I'm only living in San Francisco for the summer). EDIT (09-12-2010): I've been into Plumpjack several more times over the last month and have grown pretty fond of one of the employees: a young guy named Josh. Josh is very knowledgeable about craft beer and can make some excellent recommendations. He won't bullshit you either; if you inquire about a beer he doesn't like, he'll let you know.

08-10-2010 04:57:28 | More by ThreeWiseMen

cleverbeername

Nevada

4/5  rDev -7.2%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

win. as a disclaimer, i am a bottle shop owner so i may be slightly biased. additional disclaimer, i was browsing wine not beer a few years back, so selection wise i will re-rate and revisit upon the next time in. bottle stores are ALMOST ALWAYS going to have better staff, period. liquor stores hours start early open late, and its a lot to ask for your early morning/graveyard staff to know and care about spirits, wine, and beer. chain stores are safe, most bev mo type places are really safe, only carrying larger production stuff and they monopolize price structure through buying power. they do have few cool things, but most things are not as small production as you may believe. grocery stores are the same, and most whole food/trader joe type places have little staff assistance or knowledge at all, usually youre alone. bottle shops will have great margins, passion, and expertise, and plumpjack is no exception. same philosophy for brewing as purchasing, ask yourself if you like craft/niche or corporate and mainstream? Does the place you buy your product have a symbol on the stock exchange? have you ever met the owner?

02-25-2010 02:04:51 | More by cleverbeername

Falcon91Wolvrn03

California

4.1/5  rDev -4.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$$

The beer selection at Plumpjack is all high end craft beers including a great selection of Belgians. But they didn't have as many craft beers as I've seen elsewhere, such as Healthy Spirits (S.F.), Monument (Concord), and Perry's (Livermore).

The quality of the beers they had was all very good, but the prices were very high as is typical in San Francisco beer stores.

About half the beers were in two coolers, and the other half next to the coolers on the shelves.

If this is in your neighborhood, it's a very nice selection of craft beer; if you're coming in from out of town, I would recommend Healthy Spirits, Ales Unlimited, and/or City Beer.

12-07-2009 20:55:13 | More by Falcon91Wolvrn03

Offa

California

4.35/5  rDev +0.9%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

This is a great place to go for unusual, harder-to-find beers, especially imports. It has a very eclectic variety of beers and the largest number of different, hard-to-find British beers I have seen in Northern California. It does not have a large variety of "regular" beers or nearly as many micro-brews, local or otherwise, as some other places, it's a little in the pricier side, and it is not a good place to go for just buying beer in general. However, it makes up for it with the selection of unusual beers and it is definitely worth a trip down there.

11-21-2008 05:54:08 | More by Offa

mentor

Colorado

4.15/5  rDev -3.7%
quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Walked here from my brother's place, a few blocks away. Nice neighborhood and a well-maintained store front. Looking in the wondow, the place was packed with wines, which made me worry the beer selection might not meet expectations.

A small store with a few small aisles of wine. The register was to the right and beers along the wall to the left. A cooler with a few selections also on the left wall. Pretty decent selection of beers. no macro products whatsoever. Decent local California selection and some imports worth picking up, too. Most of the inventory could also be found at City Beer a couple miles away, but the prices in Plumpjack were lower. Plumpjack also had a few items that City Beer did not...? because the inventory doesn't turn over as fast? I think the guy working the register was the ownder and he seemed to know enough about the beers to sataisfy me needs. A few picky details he didn't know and I was happy he would admit to not knowing, rather than trying to BS me or gloss things over to put on the big sale.

A decent place and one that I will likely return the next time I stop into SF to visit my brother.

11-29-2007 05:20:21 | More by mentor

Riggsy

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -7.2%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Stopped in on a recent visit to the left coast to see a friend who lives in this area. Was pleased to see many hard to find (for me) brews. Was able to pick up some Russian River selections and a Moylan's Hopsickle which I've been wanting to try. Unfortunately, no Alesmith were in stock. Spoke briefly to a guy who seemed to know his stuff but I didn't catch his name. I marked this store as reasonably priced as prices were not out of line with what I expected to pay and single bottles in PA are outrageous.

08-01-2007 16:03:01 | More by Riggsy

francisweizen

Australia

3.55/5  rDev -17.6%
quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

I used to love this place, but Craig just has everything on lock down now. The quality of the beers is great and the selection is pretty damn good, but the service is really only good when the one beer guy is there as some of the other employees just know nothing about beer. Also this place is in Noe Valley so it is kind of out of the way for me and the prices are definately on the higher end of things. So all in all this place is great to pick up a few special bottles quickly when you already know what you want. I rest easy shopping here every once in a while because hey, Gavin Newsom owns the place ;-)

05-21-2007 02:57:47 | More by francisweizen