Acland Cellars

Store

187 Acland St
St Kilda, VIC 3182
Australia

+61 3 9525 3818 | map
aclandcellars.com.au
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.8
Reviews:
9
Ratings:
9
pDev:
9.47%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by wordemupg:
Photo of wordemupg
Reviewed by wordemupg from Canada (AB)

4.46/5  rDev +17.4%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.5
Went here a little after noon on a Tuesday, 18/3/14, and for the time of day there was more people then I expected. No pesky front door getting in the way, open air in Melbourne's pleasant during the first days of Fall. A big wall of beer was hard to miss, some cold and about 2/3 of the brews at air temp. I was surprised to see Lost Abby, Stone, Founders, and Ale Smith on the shelf, USA was well represented but some were stale dated so pay attention if your buying hops bombs from the other side of the planet. Lots of Belgians, German stuff and UK was well represented and lots of Aussie craft with some Kiwi stuff mixed in. I took my time looking over the beers and one of the guys working walked up and down the wall a dozen times with me talking beer all the way. They knew their stuff and were super helpful informing me of local hot spots and hidden gems, this is how I like to be served in a beer store, A++ service. I found 4 county tics so I was super stoked, I'm lucky to find one when I travel. I could spend a small fortune in here on Cantillion, AleSmith, and Lost Abby, but I walked out with random lagers from obscure beer countries, Founders Breakfast Stout, and some Stone & Wood Pacific Ale to drink on St Kilda beach. Prices were all over the map from super expensive 30$+ sours to my reasonable 6$ bottle of Breakfast Stout and cheap random lagers. I'm shocked this place doesn't have a higher rating, perhaps some big improvements have been made recently. Little to complain about other then a couple stale dated IPA's, world class service and enough selection to keep me in the store for ages. Top notch store and they even open your beer for you when you leave, gotta love St Kilda, I'd go back in a heartbeat, check it out if your in Melbourne
Apr 17, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of Hoptron_3000
Reviewed by Hoptron_3000 from Australia

4.01/5  rDev +5.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.5
Wow. If you are looking for American craft beers in Australia this is the place to go. Massive selection of American, UK, Belgian plus a few others. Picked up some Firestone Walker Double Jack, New Belgium Ranger IPA, Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Lagunitas Hop Stoopid & Dogfish Head Aprihop. They also had some Oskar Blues, Founders and Port Brewing plus a few other American craft brands that I can't remember.

Big cooler with about half the beer in the cooler and the rest just on shelves.
Aug 13, 2013
Photo of brendan13
Reviewed by brendan13 from Australia

4/5  rDev +5.3%
Recently renovated, this place has a great selection of imported beers from all over the world. Of course the majority are British, Belgian & German but there is also other decent ones hidden there. A couple of good finds were Rochefort 6 (I always thought it was only available in Belgium) and 3 Monts (Haven't seen it in any other shops). They also have quite a few glasses for sale, mainly pilsner glasses or lager steins but they did have a Deus flute. None of the actual beer though. I asked the lady about it and she rang her boss to ask for me. She also told me that if you buy 6 imports you get 10% off which i wouldn't have known otherwise.
I'll have to get here more often.
Feb 16, 2007
Photo of norwichboy
Reviewed by norwichboy from Australia

3.65/5  rDev -3.9%
I live a short walk from Acland Cellars which is pretty damn lucky given the few places in Melbourne with this kind of range.

The shop focuses on imported beers rather than Australian, and has a particularly good range of Belgian and English beers, plus most of the well known German wheatbeers. There seem to be a lot of Polish beers as well, probably due to the area. I'm particularly pleased to be able to get a range of British ales - Strong Suffolk, Fullers 1845/ESB/Pride, Theakstons, Guiness Foreign Extra, Adnams Broadside, Deuchars, Duchy's Originals, Shepherds Neame are some of the top picks - but they are a bit steep at around $8 a bottle. Belgians include Westmalle, Rochefort, Rodenbach, Orval, Karmeliet, Gouden Draak, a good range of strong goldens, the Unibroue range and a number of less well known Belgian breweries ($5 a bottle for many but some are $10). There is a much more limited range of Australian micros, with some glaring omissions such as Redoak, although this seems to be improving.

Service is friendly and always ready to give advice - although I sometimes get the impression the staff don't know the beers as thoroughly as one might expect in a specialist shop.

As a bonus there is a fantastic range of vodkas and a not half bad range of whiskies too.
Nov 01, 2006
Photo of sulldaddy
Reviewed by sulldaddy from Connecticut

4.15/5  rDev +9.2%
I hit up this bottle shop while touring around with some friends in Melbourne. I was able to procure quite a few new beers for my belly.
The store is on the corner and as you walk in the main beer selection is to the left. There are quite a few Australian micros on the bottom shelf and floor. I picked up bottles of Holgate, Southwark, Mountain Goat, and James Squire. Maybe these arent the better micros I dont know, but they are all new to me. There is also a row of belgian ales, with Westmalle being a highlight. Also Rodenbach and Rodenbach Grand Cru are exciting finds! A row of English ales above this is also impressive with several fine examples to choose from. Of course there are some of the usual suspects, Heineken etc, but also Aventinus, and Kostritzer for some other decent choices that I picked up. IN the back there is a cooler with cold 6ers of more common Aussie beers like Coopers and Cascade. Didnt buy anything cold since we were going out to eat and didnt want the bottles to sit and get warm. I spent about $37 on 9 bottles of beer.
The two guys behind the counter were excited to hear about my choices of micro beers and chatted up about quality beer for a few minutes. We talked some smack on Budweiser and I left a happy customer.
I think this is a great place to stop and grab some beers. Not sure when/if I will ever make it back but will try if in Melbourne again!
Dec 05, 2005
Photo of BeerNutta
Reviewed by BeerNutta from Australia

3.65/5  rDev -3.9%
Acland Cellars is located in St Kilda and seems to be my last resort if the usual suspects are not open.

They seem to open late and have a great selection. Their Australian selection is set aside to make way for their imported beers which I don't mind cause thats what I'm there for. They get allot of good beers which other stores do not seem to get. Also you can stock up on your wine and spirit needs while you are there.

They are a little bit pricey. But I guess they gotta pay the rent.
Definitely worth checking out if you are in the area.
Jun 23, 2005
Photo of joecast
Reviewed by joecast from Australia

3.65/5  rDev -3.9%
unassuming place on the well-known ackland st. of course, not much seems out of place here.
the main selection of imported beers is just to the left of the front door, in the corner. plenty of stuff, mainly belgian and english, with a few german and others thrown in as well.
one thing i noticed was they located the mountain goat and james squire beers here as well, not with the other domestics at the back. now if they want to makes this a "craft beer" selection as well, thats fine. but the two domestics were located right on the bottom shelf, just inside the door which would be about the hardest to sight spot in the place. just seemed wierd to me, thats all.
through the middle section of the store is the wine display with a fairly standard selection of refridgerated domestics, though i didnt look through this section very long.
prices seemd ok. picked up a fullers 1845, westmalle triple and duvel for $22. not too bad i thought. though i did see little creatures pale ale for $20/6 when in tassie i can get it for $18.
overall a pretty diverse selection and decent prices. and while you're here, do yourself a favor and stop in at one of the cake shops. some pretty awsome stuff, and the display cases will blow you away.
Jan 11, 2005
Photo of rastaman
Reviewed by rastaman from England

3.35/5  rDev -11.8%
Good selection, particularlt for an Australian liquor store. Good Belgian, and fairly good Euro selection. Lots of English ales aswell. A down point is that many of the English ales and lighter style Euro beers tended to be a little stale. Surprisingly, theres not many microbrewed Aussie beers at this place.

Pretty good location, coz you can hang around St Kilda, go to the pub, have ameal at one of the cafes, and then grab a couple of beers at this place.

Lets face it, this won't compete with the better stores in Europe and the US, but i suppose this'll do in Australia.
Mar 13, 2004
Photo of diablo14
Reviewed by diablo14 from Illinois

3.3/5  rDev -13.2%
two main things stand out about this place. one its open late every night, and two it gets some really bizarre and hard to find beers in.

has probably the most extensive selection of asian beers youll see in australia. not that thats necessarily what one would be looking for, but expands the opportunity to try new brews. biggest downer about this place is that they are particularly expensive. at least a dollar more than everywhere else. i really only go here if im eating out in the area or ive heard they got something interesting in.

good, but not great place to get top notch beers, its a handy option when my main choices are not available.
Nov 23, 2003
Acland Cellars in St Kilda, Australia
Place rating: 3.8 out of 5 with 9 ratings