The Davis Beer Shoppe

Are you a beer nerd? If so this is for you. If you don't like beer then why are you reading this review. What to expect: about two dozen beers and a cider or two on tap but then a HUGE selection of beers you can drink there or take home. Not good for big groups but a date who like an IPA and a sour could be a good spot to meet up.

I really enjoyed this place. Lots of California small operation taps! Plenty of room to sit and enjoy a pint with a loved one. I didn't feel like I was annoying the tender by asking for taste testers. Non corporate vibe. I'm going to head back here frequently for a pint!

Staff are all highly knowledgeable about beer. They will be able to help even the pickiest of beer-drinkers find a beer that is suitable for them. With hundreds of beers available, and over a dozen beers rotating on tap there is a beer for everyone!

This is a great place offering both an excellent selection of beer and cider to go as well as beer on tap. They currently have an outdoor seating area to enjoy your cold snacks.

Great beer selection on draft and for retail. Can get pretty busy during the evening sometimes, though. Usually fairly quite during the day with people working on their laptops.

Great selection of beer from local breweries to international. Friendly folks and if you want to sample one, they have a nice area set up outside.

Wide selection of popular and local brews. Staff was friendly, professional and offered good assistance. They have tables for open tasting. Definitely will come back.

When the bartenders at the place across the street were too busy smoking a cigarette to acknowledge me, I got up and wandered over to the Beer Shoppe instead. There, the beertenders were personable, knowledgeable, and helpful. I got into a friendly conversation right away with some people there, and well into the conversation found out that one of the guys in the group was also a beertender there, hanging out in his time off. I think it says something when people like to hang out at the place they work. Davis Beer Shoppe has the best selection of Belgian imported bottle beers that I've ever seen anywhere outside of Belgium. They also probably have the most extensive variety of craft beers of anywhere I've seen, and great selection of beers that rotate on tap. And prices there is reasonable as anywhere I've seen. Sharing covid, they even have a 32 oz off-sale (to go) deal on their tap beers. There's lots more to like about this place, but I suggest finding out for yourself.

Visited after lunch on a Wednesday. Located on one of the main blocks of Central Davis. Outside patio area as you enter, with additional bar seating inside. 22 beers on draft along with a bottle and can selection that was pretty crazy and most everything was available as a single. Wish I had time to hang and have a beer, but was happy enough to buy a few great beers to go.

A great place to try different beers. Many beers on tap to taste in the front of the shop. In back there is a great selection of beer from around the world and the staff knows about the beers. And you can buy individual bottles so you try different beers then come back and buy more of what you like.

Pretty fair prices by Bay Area standards, and a great selection. Cool glasses too! Big selection, although not very well organized - I think that makes it a bit more fun to search through. They’ve got most things under the sun, but definitely prioritize in local breweries. They seem to keep stock really well, the rotating selection must help that. It was Covid times when we came, but the stuff they had on tap looked interesting. The guy working when we came in was awesome, but seemed way overworked and probably a bit underpaid. Maybe that’s just symptomatic of Davis... Great spot! I hope that guy gets a fat bonus at some point.

My beer-loving friends adore this spot. Super friendly staff, easy space to hang out in and you can bring food in. They have a great beer selection in the back and a solid non alcoholic beer section which I appreciated.

Jake

Pretty fair prices by Bay Area standards, and a great selection. Cool glasses too! Big selection, although not very well organized - I think that makes it a bit more fun to search through. They’ve got most things under the sun, but definitely prioritize in local breweries. They seem to keep stock really well, the rotating selection must help that. It was Covid times when we came, but the stuff they had on tap looked interesting. The guy working when we came in was awesome, but seemed way overworked and probably a bit underpaid. Maybe that’s just symptomatic of Davis... Great spot! I hope that guy gets a fat bonus at some point.

Talia Karasinski

My beer-loving friends adore this spot. Super friendly staff, easy space to hang out in and you can bring food in. They have a great beer selection in the back and a solid non alcoholic beer section which I appreciated.

Perfect place for craft beers. They have a huge selection of cold beers ready to go or to drink in the bar area. I think there is an extra charge for that, but they generally have frequently rotating taps, so that's really nice. Big bottle selection and some glassware too.

For the NA beer drinker like myself this should be your go to place while visiting Davis. It’s not often you can sit down with friends and partake of a nice cold NA beverage, that’s not just standard fare. This shop has about a dozen NA beers to choose from and all can be enjoyed in the shoppe or taken home. Cheers to you for being ahead of the rest!

Always an interesting selection on draft, most all the staff is friendly and welcoming. Always fun and pretty chill place to enjoy some good beers. Retail selection let's you buy singles which is great. Still important to check dates on your ipas, I've bought a few recently which where on the old side. Still top notch place.

Great selection of beers, both bottled and on tap. The selection is constantly changing. Staff are friendly and knowledgeable. The atmosphere is relaxed and mostly friends getting together or grad students relaxing. It's more of a neighborhood pub than bar. I love this place. It's my favorite place to drink in Davis.

The selection of beers on draft and bottled/canned is great and the staff are knowledgeable and easy going! The new outdoor additions are really nice, especially once it's warm out it becomes a great place to hang out with friends and knock back some beers.

The ambience, selection, and pricing at Davis Beer Shoppe is all excellent. If you want to taste something new and delicious in a low-key setting, this is the best place to do it in Davis! And the bartenders are always happy to let to try plenty of options before you purchase. Highly recommend for research meetings!

This is one of the best tap rooms and bottle shops that I've ever been to. Their selection of beers on draft numbers over two dozen and their bottle selection is superb. You can drink any of the bottles in house for an extra dollar. Jocelyn and Phil are great beer tenders and they know their stuff. The seating is sparce, ambiance is very low key, and they don't serve food, but they do allow outside foods in. Pro tip: Ask for their in house vintage bottle selection or choose the taster of the day.

Very friendly staff both days I stopped in. The taps rotate daily (I was there both Friday and Saturday and the taps were different each day). Selection was excellent, with lots of unique items you wont see many other places. Good Bruery selection and had Cascade's "the vine". Keep up the good work!

Perhaps my favorite place in Davis. Returned for maybe the first time in 5 years and was told I was recognized and didn't need to be carded, but needed to check my friends. It's a great beer selection, but it's the great people that really make the Beer Shoppe what it is.

After a grueling all-day drive from Portland, I could not have been happier to stumble onto the Davis Beer Shoppe. Fantastic selection of microbrews from across Northern California and beyond, and terrific customer service from the very professional bartenders. Excellent outdoor seating area for enjoying yourself safely even during COVID.

Happy hour from opening to 4pm. Good beer on tap for a good price. Also an excellent selection of bottles and cans, and you can pay a dollar or two more to drink the bottle/can you bought there in the store. I'm visiting from out of town but you can tell - this where the true craft beer lovers come to enjoy beers in Davis.

Excellent beer selection both on tap and in bottles. The turnover in their taps is really good, so the section is always fresh and changing, there are not enough bars like this. Service is friendly and prompt and the prices are fair. The tasting room is small and often pretty busy, but definitely worth a visit.

A great place to get a decent beer and relax, and one of the two left in Davis that still carry liter size mugs - but you gotta ask for it (: I'd like to see a better assortment of not-IPAs and hopefully the wave is going to be turning soon

Xagec “Hades” Xagecoff

A great place to get a decent beer and relax, and one of the two left in Davis that still carry liter size mugs - but you gotta ask for it (: I'd like to see a better assortment of not-IPAs and hopefully the wave is going to be turning soon

Andy

Happy hour from opening to 4pm. Good beer on tap for a good price. Also an excellent selection of bottles and cans, and you can pay a dollar or two more to drink the bottle/can you bought there in the store. I'm visiting from out of town but you can tell - this where the true craft beer lovers come to enjoy beers in Davis.

JR

For the NA beer drinker like myself this should be your go to place while visiting Davis. It’s not often you can sit down with friends and partake of a nice cold NA beverage, that’s not just standard fare. This shop has about a dozen NA beers to choose from and all can be enjoyed in the shoppe or taken home. Cheers to you for being ahead of the rest!

David Mihm

After a grueling all-day drive from Portland, I could not have been happier to stumble onto the Davis Beer Shoppe. Fantastic selection of microbrews from across Northern California and beyond, and terrific customer service from the very professional bartenders. Excellent outdoor seating area for enjoying yourself safely even during COVID.

Alex Rossbach

The selection of beers on draft and bottled/canned is great and the staff are knowledgeable and easy going! The new outdoor additions are really nice, especially once it's warm out it becomes a great place to hang out with friends and knock back some beers.

Brendan Edwards

Perhaps my favorite place in Davis. Returned for maybe the first time in 5 years and was told I was recognized and didn't need to be carded, but needed to check my friends. It's a great beer selection, but it's the great people that really make the Beer Shoppe what it is.

Paul Waters

Always an interesting selection on draft, most all the staff is friendly and welcoming. Always fun and pretty chill place to enjoy some good beers. Retail selection let's you buy singles which is great. Still important to check dates on your ipas, I've bought a few recently which where on the old side. Still top notch place.

Justin Wiltshire

The ambience, selection, and pricing at Davis Beer Shoppe is all excellent. If you want to taste something new and delicious in a low-key setting, this is the best place to do it in Davis! And the bartenders are always happy to let to try plenty of options before you purchase. Highly recommend for research meetings!

Ian Winbrock

This is one of the best tap rooms and bottle shops that I've ever been to. Their selection of beers on draft numbers over two dozen and their bottle selection is superb. You can drink any of the bottles in house for an extra dollar. Jocelyn and Phil are great beer tenders and they know their stuff. The seating is sparce, ambiance is very low key, and they don't serve food, but they do allow outside foods in. Pro tip: Ask for their in house vintage bottle selection or choose the taster of the day.

Jonathan Minnick

Perfect place for craft beers. They have a huge selection of cold beers ready to go or to drink in the bar area. I think there is an extra charge for that, but they generally have frequently rotating taps, so that's really nice. Big bottle selection and some glassware too.

Dante C

Great selection of beers, both bottled and on tap. The selection is constantly changing. Staff are friendly and knowledgeable. The atmosphere is relaxed and mostly friends getting together or grad students relaxing. It's more of a neighborhood pub than bar. I love this place. It's my favorite place to drink in Davis.

Dave Vannette

Excellent beer selection both on tap and in bottles. The turnover in their taps is really good, so the section is always fresh and changing, there are not enough bars like this. Service is friendly and prompt and the prices are fair. The tasting room is small and often pretty busy, but definitely worth a visit.

Matt DeKorte

Very friendly staff both days I stopped in. The taps rotate daily (I was there both Friday and Saturday and the taps were different each day). Selection was excellent, with lots of unique items you wont see many other places. Good Bruery selection and had Cascade's "the vine". Keep up the good work!

There is good beer here. Their occupancy rules are pretty nonsensical though and they refuse to expand despite huge demand for their beer. As far as bars in Davis go, it's the best.

Great selection of beers, some you can only get here. Employees are helpful. Highly requiremend if your looking for a good beer.

Great place to watch a game and enjoy a beer. Really sad the street renovations make it hard to get to and closed the patio

I would've given 5 stars if they have more selections of German and English style beers, not just IPA's. So much IPAs out there! Come one people, craft beer ain't just about higher IBUs and super hippy tastes!

I’ve been here a few times, not a huge beer fan but I like sours, the staff are always helpful in pointing me in the right direction! This place is rather small and can get pretty packed during peak time.

Small shop with a big selection. The staff have always been helpful and even amusing at times. The selection is one of the better selections in the Sacramento area, especially considering the size of the place. The location is a quite small and can be quite busy in the evenings as a result it can be loud and often has a particular smell of exhaled consumed alcohol, which doesn't bother me but may bother some.

Great idea in theory, but the prices are pretty high and the atmosphere is not conducive to chatting, staying for long, relaxing, or getting properly drunk. Beer Shoppe isn't great for anything, but is alright for everything.

Beer selection is GREAT but staff attitude is POOR, as others have mentioned. My gut feeling is they don't really like operating as a bar (just a beer depot), so best to just buy the beer to drink it home :)

Patricio Cruz y Celis Peniche

Beer selection is GREAT but staff attitude is POOR, as others have mentioned. My gut feeling is they don't really like operating as a bar (just a beer depot), so best to just buy the beer to drink it home :)

Selection is great. Owner is a complete arse, but seemingly owns the universe. If douchebaggery is not your concern, then this is a place you can relieve money from your person. Since I value common respect before knowing someone, I will not shoppe there again.

I have been coming to the Davis Beer Shoppe for 4 years, ever since my daughter started at UC Davis. Never have I run into a situation like I did today, and because of that I have spent my last dollar at this establishment. There was a line to get into the tasting room, however I was simply purchasing beer to bring back to my hotel. My oldest, 22, had left her ID in her car. My youngest was with us and would have been declined access simply because of her age - Only on Picnic Day. I have been into this establishment many times with both kids as well as with my youngest who is 8, never had a problem before, but again this is picnic day. The young lady at the door lets me in, my daughters literally take a seat at the curb in front of the store. After I have made my selection, a six pack of Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin and 2 22oz Kilt Lifter Scottish Ales, I am making my way to pay at the counter when the girl from the door comes in and says, "Since you came to the door with two girls who did not have their ID, and they walked away, we cannot let you purchase the beer." -- WHAT? I ask to speak to a manager, who I get and who initially refuses to give me his name, only after threatening to file a police report for being discriminated against does he give me his name, which I will not post because he is simply a powerless minion. I explain to him that my oldest is 22 and my youngest is 19 and has a condition that prevents her from being able to even drink beer. Mind you I am only buying 116 ozs of beer, not a case of keystone. He continues with he will not let me purchase the beer, even if my oldest goes and gets her ID. I ask what law I am breaking, and the manager said I was breaking no laws. So I ask why he is discriminating against me and he says because he thinks that I am buying beer for under age girls. I eventually take his name, but only after asking if I needed to have the police come down so I can file a police report for discrimination. I leave When I get outside, the girls are sitting right there, on the curb. I fully understand and appreciate the sentiment, however some times people need to not let paranoia cloud their judgement. I ended up at Whole Foods a purchased the same beer with a student discount and no troubles. Davis Beer Shoppe, you have lost my business. Sad for me because I really liked your establishment, I am sure you could careless.

Was not served beer cause I did not have an American ID. Showed them passport and UC Davis ID card but was told that they only accept "American Passports". Apparently being American helps if you want beer at this place. Dont really know if being white would help but the prejudice was quite astounding. Never had to face something like this in any part of USA.

Davis is dog friendly, but this place is not. Lame. They don’t even serve food. 8lb little guy not welcomed. If you want to have a chill time and have your pup with you while drinking some beer check out University of Beer instead.

Eva Zapien

Davis is dog friendly, but this place is not. Lame. They don’t even serve food. 8lb little guy not welcomed. If you want to have a chill time and have your pup with you while drinking some beer check out University of Beer instead.

Excellent beer selection. However, the rudeness of staff and the insane price extortion make what would be an otherwise great place rather atrocious. Our group of 4 came here after walking over from Root of Happiness Kava Bar. We purchased three beers, walked away for about 15 minutes, came back and sat down at a table on their patio. Immediately a staff member (bald guy with a beard) approached us and said we had to pay a "corkage fee" to use the bench. We said okay, and then he informed us that it was $2 per open drink. This was in addition to what we had paid for the beers to this establishment already. Further, he charged us the same corkage fee for a half-drunk plastic cup (again with beer purchased from this establishment). A total of $6 extra just to use the bench at the place of purchase. Needless to say this struck us as needless extortion. When a female member of our group went inside to pay and noted that the same "corkage fee" for the half full plastic cup sounded a bit unfair, this same man acted as though she was being unreasonable and quipped "I didn't mean to offend you ma'am." We paid the fees (we needed a place to sit as one of our party is handicapped and walks with a cane). The staff is incredibly rude and insulting. The whole experience was absurd. Needless to say we won't be back as it seems this place is not a welcoming environment and there are better options.

Much better places in Davis. They didn’t let me buy a beer because of my Canadian driver’s licence. I was 23, and it was my birthday :(… I had a photo of my passport that they wouldn’t look at. Then my friend offered me some of his and the workers came up and threatened to kick all of us off their patio if they saw me drinking. Really ruined the night for us.

It pains me to write this review, after I had such high expectations for Davis Beer Shoppe. The rating is strictly for the staff, one woman in particular. The selection is great, and many staff are very friendly. On this occasion, my international friends and I took our time picking out beers after I had told them about the great selection. Once we arrived at the bar to pay, the staff member seemed to be in a rush and asked us for our IDs. I held mine out, but she told me to hold onto it while she finished something. She finishes what she was doing, checks my ID, but has an issue with my international friends' IDs. We are all well over 21. She says she cannot serve them due to their foreign IDs (understandable), but says she cannot sell to me either because we came in together (here is where the issue lies). We stood there baffled as she told us this rudely and unapologetically. She then tells us that she is very busy and we have to leave. If she had told us kindly that she was not able to serve us due to a policy with foreign identification, I would have been understanding and accepted it. Instead, she came off as unprofessional and xenophobic. I felt I had to apologize to my friends for this bad experience. I'm disappointed to say I won't be coming back and will not be recommending Davis Beer Shoppe to anyone.

Momchil Gavrilov

Much better places in Davis. They didn’t let me buy a beer because of my Canadian driver’s licence. I was 23, and it was my birthday :(… I had a photo of my passport that they wouldn’t look at. Then my friend offered me some of his and the workers came up and threatened to kick all of us off their patio if they saw me drinking. Really ruined the night for us.

Chris Preston Rubio

It pains me to write this review, after I had such high expectations for Davis Beer Shoppe. The rating is strictly for the staff, one woman in particular. The selection is great, and many staff are very friendly. On this occasion, my international friends and I took our time picking out beers after I had told them about the great selection. Once we arrived at the bar to pay, the staff member seemed to be in a rush and asked us for our IDs. I held mine out, but she told me to hold onto it while she finished something. She finishes what she was doing, checks my ID, but has an issue with my international friends' IDs. We are all well over 21. She says she cannot serve them due to their foreign IDs (understandable), but says she cannot sell to me either because we came in together (here is where the issue lies). We stood there baffled as she told us this rudely and unapologetically. She then tells us that she is very busy and we have to leave. If she had told us kindly that she was not able to serve us due to a policy with foreign identification, I would have been understanding and accepted it. Instead, she came off as unprofessional and xenophobic. I felt I had to apologize to my friends for this bad experience. I'm disappointed to say I won't be coming back and will not be recommending Davis Beer Shoppe to anyone.

Matt Kramer

Excellent beer selection. However, the rudeness of staff and the insane price extortion make what would be an otherwise great place rather atrocious. Our group of 4 came here after walking over from Root of Happiness Kava Bar. We purchased three beers, walked away for about 15 minutes, came back and sat down at a table on their patio. Immediately a staff member (bald guy with a beard) approached us and said we had to pay a "corkage fee" to use the bench. We said okay, and then he informed us that it was $2 per open drink. This was in addition to what we had paid for the beers to this establishment already. Further, he charged us the same corkage fee for a half-drunk plastic cup (again with beer purchased from this establishment). A total of $6 extra just to use the bench at the place of purchase. Needless to say this struck us as needless extortion. When a female member of our group went inside to pay and noted that the same "corkage fee" for the half full plastic cup sounded a bit unfair, this same man acted as though she was being unreasonable and quipped "I didn't mean to offend you ma'am." We paid the fees (we needed a place to sit as one of our party is handicapped and walks with a cane). The staff is incredibly rude and insulting. The whole experience was absurd. Needless to say we won't be back as it seems this place is not a welcoming environment and there are better options.