Best Damn Beer Shop

They really went the extra mile to get my order sent to me even though it was my mistake during the ordering process that held it up. They made sure that I would receive my order before Valentines Day so I could surprise my fiancé with craft beers. I appreciate a company that cares about it’s customers enough to reach out and open up the lines of communication to satisfy their needs.
Thanks guys, you really made my day!

Came here with my girlfriend to get kale for a soup we were making (yes, this place is also a mini grocery store). It just so happens that this is the closest grocery store from Cortez Hill, so we often end up here when we realize last minute that we are missing a couple ingredients for dinner.
This shop DEFINITELY has a HUGE selection of beer. The wine selection is also good, but not as vast as the beer (I suppose the name of the shop should be your first clue). Interestingly, we were unable to locate a Merlot. Either the shop was out of Merlot or we just could not find it. I will say that the shop could do a better job of organizing the alcohol section and maintaining it’s upkeep.
One of the biggest criticisms about this shop is that it’s pricey. This is true and it is particularly true for food item. The price, however, is what you would expect to pay at any other a mini-​grocery store (and we were desperate!).
Bottom line: it is a great store with a great selection of liquids to imbibe; however, I would not come here if there was a closer grocery store.
PS: I gave this store an extra store because it is dog friendly

This beer, wine, and mini grocery store is a great place to buy beer downtown. I recently went here to buy a wide variety of obscure barleywine for a family member. Although they didn’t have my favorite baggy wrinkle, they had several kinds of never even heard of. True, the staff isn’t knowledgeable about the beer, but seriously, doesn’t everyone know about
and similar sites? This place is also open late, until about midnight, which is great because the only other decent beer selection downtown is Jimbo: s, which closes at 9 pm.
Also, you can get since grocery items here, but the selection is rather odd and you’ll potentially pay even more than Jimbo’s. And don’t expect them to have everything all the time, like green onions or eggplant. It’s hit and miss. But again, this is a small shop open late.

Is it an East Coast thing to have empty six packs in a beer shop, so you can fill them up with beers as you go? I guess so– because the employees in this place looked at me like I was insane when I asked if they had empty six packs. Not only are they good for carrying the beers– they encourage you to buy six beers instead of a few. A lot of six pack places in the East Coast even offer discounts (10% off, etc) if you buy 6 beers at a time. This place should take notes. The beers were super expensive– $ 9 for a pint?! When I asked about the six packs, an employee led me to the «discount section» which are beers that are cheaper because they were taken out of their larger six pack. No prices listed and the section was basically like 7 beers. what kind of section is that? This place had a large selection of beers– which is why I gave them two stars. I left empty handed and disappointed.

Great selection of beers but what parking.

Best Damn Overrated Beer Shop might be a better name.
We found parking right in front (it was late Sunday morning) and when we walked in, were not greeted by an employee, but by a homeless person asking for money. See, he was at the register and apparently just spent all his begging funds buying a few beers. Not wanting to keep his toothless girlfriend, who was parked in a wheelchair blocking the entrance, out of the action was responding to her pleas for some liquid refreshment as well. Ladies, who said chivalry was dead?
The fisheye lens they use in their advertising makes the «wall of beers» to be eternally long but it isn’t. It’s actually rather small and the Whole Foods up the road in Normal Heights is larger by shelf space.
Sure, they have some rarities but I was wanting the AleSmith .394 which hasn’t made it’s way up to LA yet. Found the last six pack, which was actually only five since a bottle had been removed, and made my way up.
Placed it on the counter and the first words spoken were «I can’t sell this to you.» When I inquired why, was told that one was missing. I explained to Captain Obvious that he can just charge me for five individual beers then. «I can only sell you a six pack» was his reply to which I asked «Um, you sell individual beers so how would selling me FIVE individual beers be any different?» He couldn’t answer and told me to find another to make a six pack. WTF? How about just charging me for the six pack so I can get on my way. Nope. He refused to do that too.
Odd beer policies along with an obvious lack of help while on the floor left me heading for the door.
I looked up the address for AleSmith in SD where I picked up two six packs of .394 and added a growler of the same with good measure. All with very friendly service.
If you are in Gaslamp and wanted to try your luck, it could be worth a walk over. For me, I might do the same but won’t make an effort to specifically go there.

Always a great selection of the best craft brews around. Also they have a great grocery selection of awesome products.

By the far the biggest selection of beers I’ve seen in San Diego. Walked in assuming we were only going to take 15 minutes to find a new brew to try but ended up staying there over an hour. From chilled to non-​chilled exclusive, brand new, expensive, inexpensive, everyone would find something here regardless if they were a beginner or not. Clean and very organized store immersed with a grocery store. Only downside is parking and it’s so far from my house. What can you do though, it’s downtown!

I don’t know that anything else needs to be said after you’ve already read their name – it really is the best damn beer shop you’ll find in San Diego.
They’ve got stouts, sours, IPAs, super random novelty beers – seriously everything. If you have a friend who loves beer & you have no idea what to buy them for their birthday, just stroll over here and have some fun shopping.
The only bummer is the price, most of those bottles come with a pretty hefty tag, but I suppose that’s to be expected, they are craft.
Check it out!

I was visiting San Diego and stopped in here to grab some local beers. I was blown away by the selection and found some beers here that I could not find anywhere in San Diego. If you love craft beer and looking for some of the top, rare San Diego beers then go here.

Man, I was sorely disappointed when I visited this store. I was in town for work and was excited to stop here and pick up some of California’s quality beer that doesn’t make it out to Colorado. I expected to find an associate and ask them what are some great beers that are not yet made it outside of California. Well, when I spoke with the two associates in the store it was obvious they didn’t have any knowledge of beer. I think they were just there to stock the shelves and run the register. I ended up grabbing a few bombers from California breweries that I’d never seen on the shelves in Colorado, but I’d really wish I’d had someone there to offer me their opinion.
With that said, they do supply a vast selection of high quality beer that I am well familiar with (albiet more expensive which I don’t hold against them) from shopping at my local liquor shops in Denver. The next time I make it out to San Diego I’ll give this place another shot, but if I have a similar experience then I’ll look elsewhere.

Beer supplies… that’s what it is… tucked nicely inside Krisp Grocery…
For anyone living downtown and hates to drive, this is a good place to purchase your brewing supplies. They have a decent variety of hops as well as yeast etc. I haven’t been in the back room, but there are more supplies there as well.
I’m not a brewer myself, but drink enough of it to know good supplies when I see them! Check it out next time you are wandering around downtown then invite me over to drink what you brew!

Overwhelming is the only way to describe this place. Asked for some good local brews and was happy with the ones suggested. Disappointed that I’m passing through and I won’t have have more of an opportunity to try out too many more

This place really does have an amazing selection. It was like being a kid in a candy store! Of course west coast brews were dominant. I was hoping to see more from the east coast. The staff is friendly. We initially went here for the home brewing section. We were pretty disappointed with the area/​selection they had. But the man that helped us took his time showing us online options and offered tips and advice.

Not an overwhelming selection, but seemed like a highly curated beers that I can’t find in LA.
I spent a long while looking at each of the beer. They had some hard to find/​limited release beers (rated 98+ out of 100) which I purchased to take home with me. They also had Cantillon in stock. I found a Bruery limited release, Consecration, and a rare Beligian sour beer I purchased. I could have bought more, but my fridge is quite well stock with beers to share right now.
I’ll make this a stop every time I’m in San Diego. They even maybe three bottles of Dieu du Ciel from Montréal which I haven’t seen in Los Angeles craft beer stores yet. Also mixed with all the other beers and not encased and locked was a $ 2,499 bottle of Mikkeller beer.
Parking might be difficult, but on a Sunday afternoon I found free meter parking 5 minutes away.

We have heard a lot about Best Damn Beer shop, but never got around to actually going. As we walked down 7^th Ave, we stumbled upon the Market and only then we realized we were at Best Damn Beer shop! The store is awesome! So clean and well organized. I loved that the beer was organized by style. Makes it so much easier to eliminate what I dont want to drink. :)
Loved their selection and look forward to coming here more often.,

Cons:
–crappy parking. expect to pay a meter and walk 4 or 5 blocks. Not a good thing when you are wanting to carry out 60 pounds of grains for a brew day
–Grains not easily accessible. Do you like smelling your grains while making a new recipe? some are stacked 7 feet in the air and are only available to access from a dispenser at the bottom of the bin.
it’s also very difficult to pour out how much you want. if you go over, you have to pull a 50+ pound bin completely off the shelf to replace any extras you poured out.
–There are no bulk scales. you must weigh out grain about 4 pounds at a time.
–many beers do not contain price tags.
Pros:
–cheapest yeast around. 6.99 for a 5 gallon pitch, even white labs charges something like 8.40 for the same vial, and they are the ones that make it!
–99 cent per pound 2 row. my lhbs charges 1.35, and they just raised it last time i went in, i forget but I think 1.50 or 1.60
for what I need, I probably wouldn’t come here again, but if you are looking for an import and live nearby I am sure this is a great place to go.
I bought a couple beers on sale here. different kinds but there was MOLD underneath both the caps!
none got into the beer, so i was able to pour it into a glass safely, but it was kind of gross popping off the top a seeing a giant white fuzzy layer around the rim.

Pretty cool location inside Krisp! Natural Foods store. They do have a darn good beer selection, especially as one of the only bottle shops in the area. I was able to find a few local and not so local beers to bring to a party later on that day.
Prices were pretty competitive as well, so I appreciated that there wasn’t a giant markup for being downtown. The staff was very nice and easy to deal with as well.
If you’re downtown and need to purchase a good beer for a party or to enjoy later, this is the place.

Best Damn Beer SHop is located inside Krisp Beverages & Natural Foods Market.
They’ve just recently done an amazing Remodel! I’ve been coming here since the Super Jr. Market days when I was a little kid.
This is one of 2 stores in the downtown area that I frequent.
Craft beer selection that is one of the best I’ve ever seen. I love their new cooler doors in the back. Liquor bottles adorn the walls all the way up to the ceiling. Their clerks are very knowledgeable about craft beers and can make selections for the rookie beer drinkers out there.
They also have a Home Brew supply section in here now.
They recently just put in a couple racks of AMAZING chocolate bars. Chocolate and Beer, what else do you need in life?

Obviously this place has an amazing selection of beers, but it’s sort of a pain in the ass to get to and really is only worth the trip if you live in the area or if you’ve exhausted your search at every other beer shop. We drove by it two or three times because it wasn’t clearly marked on the outside as being the «Best Damn Beer Shop» and we just happened to luck out and get parking that wasn’t a disgusting distance away.
I personally didn’t find anything there that knocked my socks off, but my husband picked up a couple bottles. I was actually very disappointed in their selection of single beers. They had very few and the ones they did have were $ 5+ for a single 12 oz. bottle. I like to get a variety of single beers but I’m not going to pay $ 8 for one little beer. I’m not impressed enough to pick this shop over our favorite local craft beer store (Helix Liquor!), but it’ll be a fun place to bring some friends when they come in town to visit.