Want to drink great beer in Oakland? Join us at Drake’s Dealership on April 20 for Juicy Brews WestFest! More info and tickets here.
While thoughts of Oakland typically bring to mind the A’s ballpark or the equine cranes at the docks, locals know that Oakland hosts a trove of great parks and fantastic hillside hiking that makes it a wonderland for outdoor enthusiasts. No matter where your daily adventure will take you, Oakland is littered with bottle shops that sell the city’s best craft brews, which pair perfectly with an outdoor excursion. These joints ensure your preferred buzz-maker is convenient for home consumption or on hand for while you adventure around the Bay.
Read on for the five best bottle shops in Oakland.
Beer Revolution
464 3rd St, Oakland | (510) 452-2337
With fifty constantly rotating taps and hundreds of bottles, Beer Revolution has whatever you need to keep your fellow insurrectionists bamboozled. And when we say constant, these regime changers aren’t joking. Their expert bartenders ensure that nary a single tap runs dry, and their draft offerings can literally change by the hour. Come by and order something simple like a nice hefe and work your way up to the barrel-aged stuff. They’ve got it all and more.
CRAFT Beer & Wine
2526 Santa Clara Ave Ste A, Alameda | (510) 769-9463
CRAFT, true to form, focuses on providing Alameda with access to some of the best brews in Oakland and, more broadly, California. Ale Industries is well-represented, and at least one of their bottles should be among your purchases. Alameda Island Brewing Company is fittingly available in 22 oz. bottles. Get their Sea Haggis, a big, bold, and beautiful Scotch ale.
Alchemy Bottle Shop
3256 Grand Ave, Oakland | (510) 488-3637
Granted, Alchemy is devoted to providing access to top shelf spirits. But there are a few low-proof alcohols like beer and cider on their shelves. The beer that is available represents a cross-country assortment of brewers exploring the sweeter side of the palate. Among those brewers is Barrelhouse from Paso Robles, as well as a few beers from Chicago and Oregon. Alchemy provides an interesting counterpoint to beer-centric bottle shops by showcasing only a few with a very specific point-of-view.
Bay Grape
376 Grand Ave, Oakland | (510) 686-3615
Located near beautiful Lake Merritt, Bay Grape focuses on wine but does feature a keen selection of quality local beers. Faction is among their most notable Oakland-based breweries, and is available alongside an international assortment of suds from as far afield as Estonia. Like Alchemy above, Bay Grape’s beer selection is another unique, almost outsider’s view highlighting what a devoted wine drinker might find fascinating in today’s macro-beer market.
The Good Hop Bar & Bottle Shop
2421 Telegraph Ave Ste 102, Oakland | (510) 338-6598
The Good Hop is one of the largest repositories of California beer in the state. They offer sixteen rotating taps and more than four hundred different bottles and cans. An updated list of taps is available on their website, replete with an up-to-the-minute reading of how much beer is left in each keg. The sheer volume of bottles and cans is a beautiful sight for any beer geek and all but guarantees even the most devoted of California beer fans can find something they haven’t tried.
Liked this article? Sign up for our newsletter to get the best craft beer writing on the web delivered straight to your inbox.
