Bottle Barn

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +5.9%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Holy Shazam, Batman! This place was effin' impressive. At first, I was a bit dubious after Uncle JedI took us to two consecutive BevMo!'s, but that quickly changed once we got inside. I had a look at the multitudinous, different selection and I had to keep reminding myself, "Restraint, Woodbo, restraint." That was even before I asked to speak to Jason the Rye Guy who put me on to several more brands of which I was unaware (Pappy Van Winkle Rye, Black Maple Hill, and Old Potrero) plus he gave me a recipe for Old Fashioneds. I cannot stress how good rye whiskey is and I normally eschew spirits. We stood and talked rye whiskey until Uncle JedI had finished his shopping.

I was really excited about this place and it was not as bright and shiny as the BevMo!s and I liked those places just fine. I mention this because I normally do not review stores simply because I find them difficult to quantify.

Summary: Super selection, great prices, fun staff.

08-24-2008 20:23:00 | More by woodychandler

TheLongBeachBum

California

3.85/5  rDev -9.4%
quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

After a trip to Bear Republic, and an event laden drive back to Santa Rosa, a stop at Bottle Barn was easily accomplished. Just off the 101-N, taking the Mendocino Avenue exit and a few twists and turns will have you at the Bottle Barn, located in one of those small “every unit looks the same” Industrial areas about 4 miles north of downtown Santa Rosa itself.

A glowing neon Bud Light sign to the right of the official but staid Bottle Barn signage didn’t seem to bode well. The interior is an open warehouse, nothing fancy, just rows of shelving and stacked boxes all over. Predominantly biased towards the Wine buyer, and why not this is Sonoma County after all, it does however have a nice selection of beer.

A short walk forward once inside soon has you facing a handful of coolers which are filled with 22 ounce Bombers from a nice variety of craft brewers. I picked up the last 2 Bomber bottles of Moylan’s Hopsickle (this is the first time I have ever seen this!), a Deschutes Hop Trip, Island Starry Night Stout 2004 and a never before seen bottle of Anchor Bock.

A nice selection of 22ounce Bombers, both in and out of the coolers, lots of 12 ounces in 6-Packs, it looked like they didn’t sell the 12’s as singles. Heavy on Cali brews, has more Marin and Moylan’s bottles than the BrewPubs themselves. Bear Republic Tribute Brown and XP Pale Ale both drew my attention as I rarely see that in SoCal. A varied range to Euro brews including some classic Belgians and a rarer seen bunch of weirdo Russian brews. Only concern regarding quality of beers on offer was the fact that they still had Bombers from Ross Valley on sale, as it appears that they closed some time ago.

Prices seemed fare and reasonable. I never asked for any service and I wasn’t refused any, I picked up my own brews and took them to the desk, I have nothing bad to say about the chap who checked-out my beer, he offered a Box without asking and seemed like he knew what he was doing. Hard to mark service on occasions like that so I’ll go with a 3.5, seems fair enough.

Thanks to BA Rapapoda for directions here, putting up with the blow-out on the way and covering my back on the 101 whilst I did the spare wheel change!

Make time to do the short 4 mile trek here if you’re staying in the centre of Santa Rosa.

Last Visit: Monday 2nd January, 2006.

01-09-2006 05:28:22 | More by TheLongBeachBum

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.58/5  rDev -15.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

A lot of choice, though to what is hot and fresh it is losing ground to Bierkraft and to Whole Foods(polling among bars done by NYSam).
Fair organization of bottles - on the floor, crowded near the bathroom and stockroom compared to the many wine racks. Old hoppy ales (ie. Lost Continent) among lesser known breweries. Only a small proportion of beers in the narrow cooler.
No single bottles. I asked an owner and he brings me to the Belgiums and bomber selection. Both owners are noteably unfirendly and unsmiling as they go about their business of making money.

11-09-2012 05:07:45 | More by northyorksammy

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

3.6/5  rDev -15.3%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $

Located just a half mile from my hotel, hard to beat that for convenience. However, I'm not sure I'd want to go too far out of my way to come here, as the beer selection here is pretty comparable to your standard BevMo.

From the outside BB doesn't look like much, but once you walk in, you encounter a sizeable, warehouse like store, primarily focused on wine and liqour. However, straight back to your right upon entering is a decent size beer selection, with 7 or 8 cold boxes holding beer and wine. There are also several display areas of craft beer and imports, but as others have noted, this isn't really the place to come to find any hard to find, obscure items. They did have bottles of elder in the cold box when I stopped by, though it's my understanding that this is not all that typical, as apparently they run out pretty quickly whenever they get it in stock. Otherwise, they had a nice selection of beers from Alesmith, ballast point, RR, speakeasy, Big Sky, etc.

As for service, I'm not really sure how to gauge it. Not that I really needed any help, but no one came by to see if I needed any either. Prices, on the other hand, were quite good. Bottles of pliny were $3.99 and my bomber of Black Xantus was $11.99.

Despite how it might sound, I liked this store and would come again if I happened to be in the area. However, this isn't the sort of place that I'd drive to if I happened to live in Healdsburg or Rohnert Park. The local total wine and/or bevmo has every bit as good a selection, and so I'd go there if they were closer.

10-10-2011 17:49:35 | More by johnmichaelsen

TurdFurgison

Ohio

4.2/5  rDev -1.2%
quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $

The bartender at Russian River recommended this place to try to find Beautification (Russian River didn't have any). They didn't have any either but it was a good stop anyway.

The selection is outstanding, and the prices were the lowest I've seen on many of the beers. Examples: Alesmith 750ml at $8.99 (it's $12.99 back home), Bear Republic 22oz at $2.99, Chimay 3-pack of 330ml + chalice at $10.99

The prices aren't cheap enough to drive to Santa Rosa, but if you're planning to visit Bear Republic or Russian River you might as well stop here afterwards for something to take home.

07-17-2006 10:52:22 | More by TurdFurgison

Yetiman420

Ohio

4.65/5  rDev +9.4%
quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $

Stopped in on a whim while my wife was sleeping in and recovering from our previous nights visit to Russian River. This is an excellent place to visit to stock up on Russian River and other NoCal beers - some of which are only available in Sonoma County. They had a couple of cases of Abyss and Supplication was $10.99 compared to $13.99 at Russian River. The beer guy working there was a lot of help. He even went to the back and got some beers for me that were not on the shelf. They sell boxes to ship wine but when FedEx asks, tell them IT IS NOT WINE.

05-21-2008 21:23:06 | More by Yetiman420

corby112

Pennsylvania

3.7/5  rDev -12.9%
quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Stopped by here on a recent trip to Santa Rosa. It's basically a huge liquor store with a small beer selection in the back. They have s mall selection of room temperature bottle, mostly from CA and a few imports and a couple of coolers half of which are dedicated to macros. They do however have a couple of coolers that are filled with bombers and 750s of craft. Also, they had Abyss and Mirror Mirror as well as an almost unlimited amount of Temptation and Consecration. Nothing all that rare or impressive though.

01-16-2010 10:14:08 | More by corby112

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

4.24/5  rDev -0.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $

Roll into an industrial area. I don't really know what you do with atmosphere. On one hand, its just an industrial warehouse type of area, not exactly sexy. . . but do you need that when buying bottles? Plus, the amazingly cheap prices here are in some way connected to the fact that they aren't paying rent at a high end downtown loft in the epicenter of the chic cool chachi tony ravioli puffed shirt fancy hair crowd. So, while the atmosphere isn't much, the amount and price of beer are going to lead to an above average score based on what really matters to me.

Quality, well, they have tons of Russian River. And lots of other good selections. Beyond beer, the hard liquor and wine selection is fantastic, picked up some of the 8 barrel Buffalo Trace Experimental stuff from 1991 & 1993 while I was there, koufax21 said that $50 for them was a steal.

Service wise, everyone pretty much leaves you alone, when I asked for the chicken wire cage to be opened, they were quick to help out. Another bonus, there's some decent looking ladies at the register, big props to the fine looking native girl I'm guessing. Cute, smiley, just what you should be when a dude rolls through spending three digits.

Pretty much a must visit when I'm in the area from now on, thanks Kristalynn for the heads up on this place.

07-20-2012 21:18:33 | More by Beerandraiderfan

Seanibus

California

3.35/5  rDev -21.2%
quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Disappointing given the high reviews. This place is large, but the beer selection is just a small part of the overall stock, and the selection is far from spectacular. Apart from a few cool finds - like Deschutes Jubel and Abyss - the selection is just about what you'd expect from a well-stocked West Coast bottle shop, including Moylans, Alaska, Alesmith and a few others. Hardly a trace of the East Coast can be found, however, and the imports are limited. The wine selection looks pretty good, though the liquor selection is not overwhelming. This doesn't seem to be worth a trip out of the way. Prices, however, seemed quite reasonable.

02-20-2011 01:24:15 | More by Seanibus

womencantsail

California

4.35/5  rDev +2.4%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Another spot to check out in the Russian River area. I'd heard great things about this place, so I made sure to make a stop before heading over to the RR Brewpub.

They had a great selection of west coast and CA beers, like you would expect. They had quite a bit of FW13, Deschutes special releases (including allowing me to take home a case of Abyss). The selection of beers from other parts of the US was quite good too, especially some DFH beers that we don't often see out here in CA.

The service was not bad, but you need to take the initiative if you need some help. This isn't a problem for me, and something I generally prefer when it comes to beer shopping.

The prices are also great, at least a dollar or two less than other retailers (Mirror Mirror for example, was $10.50 instead of the usual $13).

11-28-2009 20:26:50 | More by womencantsail