The Davis Beer Shoppe

The Davis Beer Shoppe, which opened in March of 20011, is a small bar and beer store located in downtown Davis, near Woodstock's. The hours are Sunday: 11am to 7pm. Monday through Wednesday 11am to 10pm, Thursday 11am to 11pm and Friday and Saturday 11am to Midnight.

The Shoppe has 8 rotating taps, and one nitro tap. They also have about 600 different beers for sale - a healthy mix of American craft, Belgian, German, UK and some really random brews. The Shoppe is split into two sections, the retail in the back and the "tasting room" in the front. The tasting room might fit about 20 people. When we visited it was easy to find a seat, but by the time we left a line was forming outside to get in.

The tasting room offers the rotating taps and about 50-60 bottles chilled and ready to serve. However, you can drink any beer in the place for a $1 corkage fee. The staff indicated that the kegs usually rotate once a week. This is a good sign that the beer on draft is fresh.

The beers on tap are served in 20 oz pint glasses. You don't necessarily get more beer than a regular pint glass, but the extra space allows for a healthy head to form, which is good for flavor. The pints are reasonably priced.

The bottles for sale in the tasting room are also reasonably priced, while there are many to choose from they are well organized into categories (i.e. hoppy, malty...) If you buy a few bottles to drink there, the staff are more than happy to store them behind the counter to keep them cool.

There is also a daily themed tasting flight special. The themes range from a specific brewery to a specific style to seasonal. The tastings are available from 5pm to close. Their facebook page is regularly updated with their tastings

The retail portion has prices that range from very reasonable to slightly more expensive than a grocery store.

The Davis Beer Shoppe is a unique space, although it shares many similarities with Pangaea Two Brews. Both feature sit down areas and a bottle shop. The Shoppe leans more toward the bottle shop while Pangaea the sit down area. Pangaea is more focused on the beers that the skilled and knowledgeable owners like, while the Shoppe has a shotgun approach that tries to have something for everyone. I like both approaches and glad that they both exist

Also, like Pangaea this isn't a place to go get trashed. It's a place to enjoy beer and good company. You'll find beers you had long ago and have been searching for and reasonably priced favorites. The Davis Beer Shoppe is a Must Have It.

The staff are friendly and down to earth and fairly knowledgeable on beers. There are even beer tasting and other beer books on hand to help assist you in your tasting. I suggest getting there as early as possible before the crowd arrives.