Farmer's Harvest

Farmer's HarvestFarmer's Harvest
Farmer's HarvestFarmer's Harvest
Store

19111 Beach Blvd
Huntington Beach, California, 92648-2307
United States

// CLOSED //
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.75
Reviews:
19
Ratings:
19
pDev:
6.11%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of UCLABrewN84
Reviewed by UCLABrewN84 from California

4.44/5  rDev -6.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5
I have been to Farmer's Harvest a few times now and it never fails to impress me each time. Walking in, you get a small community market with a homey Whole Foods feel to it. There is obviously food and fresh fruit and vegetables in the store and a cluster of coolers for beer on the far wall. The workers are always super nice and helpful with everything. Their beer selection is pretty amazing as is the freshness and rotation of beers. Prices are reasonable compared to other places and I am always sure to find stuff here I can't get anywhere else. It's a bit of a drive off the freeway but it is worth coming here at least once.
Oct 12, 2011
Photo of MiloHoP
Reviewed by MiloHoP from California

5/5  rDev +5.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
Where can I begin to describe this store. First off I have shopped other shops but all seemed distant with interactions with staff. When I first stepped into this store was greeted with smile and "how can I help you" from staff. Wasn't till I met a good friend now Mike (the beer guy). I make sure to visit the store and Mike once a week, he always has some secret surprises waiting every week. He keeps the beers stored correct in fridge and always has them stocked. You can find all the standard and limited releases here guaranteed. If you are in the area make sure to make a stop and say hi to Mike and staff at Farmers harvest.
Aug 22, 2011
Photo of aziadeh
Reviewed by aziadeh from California

4.72/5  rDev -0.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5
I am very fortunate to live very close by and visit at least once a week. Just like everyone says, great selection, able to by singles without committing to a six-er, blah, blah. What makes this place great to me is the fact that they are open till 10pm! Most of the other sources of fine craft beer greatness in the area close at 8 or 9pm. Mike is a great guy and fun to talk to.
One tip is to get on the e-mail list. They send out an email about once a week and it usually will have some sort of discount on the produce and most importantly a discount on the beer. Usually in the form of $5 off $30 worth of beer.
Aug 13, 2011
Photo of beersoaked
Reviewed by beersoaked from California

5/5  rDev +5.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5
Farmer's Harvest has been my secret spot for beer ever since it opened up. It's a little farmer’s market with fresh produce, natural foods, and over 300 craft brews along their refrigerated beer wall. Ask for Mike or Elie, both will help you to choose some unique beers from their huge selection.

They recently closed down their tasting corral to make more room for groceries. But according to Mike McCullah they are working with the city of Huntington Beach to get permits for parking lot tasting events. I went to a bunch of the in-store tastings and am anxiously waiting for the next tasting event. Until then you can find me wandering up and down the beer wall looking for the next great beer.
Aug 12, 2011
Photo of jmgrub
Reviewed by jmgrub from California

4.58/5  rDev -3.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5
I made my first trip to Farmers Harvest this past weekend, as I had decided to go on a traffic-less Memorial weekend beer run to Stearns Liquor in Long Beach and thought hey, what's another 15 minutes each way. I was not disappointed. When I first walked in, I saw the area where they hold their tastings-looked like they had a few good options on tap. I then made my way over to their megafridge beer section. Beers are arranged by style, making it easy for hopheads or maltworms to choose from a great selection in their favorite style. Didn't see anything crazy in the fridge, but previous posts have mentioned that the special stuff is kept in the back. Amateur move on my part to forget that question!

I was approached not once, but twice to see if I needed help, and the guys in the beer department were more than happy to chat with me for a few minutes. The fact that they sell in singles gives the customer a great chance to sample without taking the risk on a sixer. I walked about with a few bottles of Doggie Claws, which were on sale for $4 each-what a deal! I believe there is a slight discount for mix-a-sixer and mix-a-fours, but I don't remember exactly what.

When I told them I had driven all the way from up in LA, they were shocked. If I lived in Huntington, this would be my regular spot without question! Look forward to hitting it again soon!
Jun 02, 2011
Photo of maxportman
Reviewed by maxportman from California

5/5  rDev +5.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5
Honestly I'm not a beer connoisseur but I must say that Farmer's Harvest beer tastings have helped me take enormous strides in the right direction. I've followed Mike (McBrewdude) McCullah from his former employer to FH's Huntington Beach tasting corral to help further educate my pallet. His personal experience and history in the liquor trade make Mike a true expert. If I only develop a small percentage of his knowledge I'll consider myself lucky.

As for the beer lineup, it's second to none. There are a number of core brewers that makeup its heart and soul. No JV beers here. IPAs being my personal favorites. What keeps me coming back is that I can count on finding new and exciting entries into the market. Stop by, odds are if you love beer you won't be disappointed.
Mar 04, 2011
Photo of Callmecoon
Reviewed by Callmecoon from California

4.65/5  rDev -2.1%
Wish I lived a little closer to Huntington Beach cause this place is awesome. Love the quaint, small-town neighborhood feel when you walk in. Great selection and fantastic layout. Hadn't read the other BA reviews before going to know that the beers are displayed by style, so at first I thought it was arranged somewhat haphazardly. Picked up on the pattern soon enough and now I wish other the stores would follow suit.

I was immediately approached by a really cool, young, female beer enthusiast employee (Ellie, maybe?) who really knew her stuff. She recommended a few different bottles that I hadn't tried before and was glad to spend as much time as I wanted for help.

She also let me know they keep the good stuff in the back for those in the know, so definitely ask about that when you go in. Here's a phone picture from the day I was in:

http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m543/callmecoon/fh.jpg
Jan 18, 2011
Photo of dan72beerster
Reviewed by dan72beerster from California

5/5  rDev +5.3%
Farmer's Harvest is an excellent place for beer. They may not be as large as some of the "mega marts", but they sell their beers in singles so they can have a much larger selection. This is also an advantage, because as stated previously you can mix and match your beers to try different selections. Both owners, Joe & Joel, are beer fans and knowledgable. "Beer guy" Mike really knows his stuff. He'll help you find something new, give you a run down of some of the ingredients, the proper way to drink certain types of beer, and even recommend some food pairings.
Their tastings are awesome also. You can enjoy the football games while trying some great beers.
I've gotten everything from Alba Scots Pine Ale (awesome), I think all of the Oskar Blues, several Bootlegger's and Bruery beers, Noble beers along with several seasonal and limited edition specialties.
They also have a good wine selection along with organic produce and other specialty foods.
Jan 15, 2011
Photo of Rjhami
Reviewed by Rjhami from California

5/5  rDev +5.3%
This store has an excellent selection of brews. One huge perk is you can mix and match your 6 or 12 packs with any single, allowing you to try a lot of different beers. I have picked up Russian River Pliny the Elder, Alpine Pure Hoppiness and Kern River JO to name a few. The owner Joe is extremely knowledgeable and friendly as are other employees. I have not taken part in any tastings or events but I am sure they are a great time. Prices are as competitive as I have found. The store also has a nice wine selection and fresh produce.
Jan 09, 2011
Photo of shoegueuze
Reviewed by shoegueuze from California

5/5  rDev +5.3%
The guys down at Farmer's Harvest have everything you'll EVER need for any of your beer needs. I LOVE the tastings, and Mike McCullah knows everything there is to know about beer, he can answer all questions and is the most competent beer salesman I've ever met and it's instantly obvious he's been in the business for decades. They always manage to bring in the best breweries and their best beers, "The Bruery," is one that comes to mind, and some very rare beers were featured. They also debuted Great Divide breweries to South Orange County and hosted a killer Stone 10.10.10 party. If all that wasn't enough they have over 500 beers on hand at any given time and they even carry those hard to find allocated beers like Pliny The Elder, Just Outstanding, and many of the brews in the Russian River line.
Nov 01, 2010
Photo of msmezher
Reviewed by msmezher from California

5/5  rDev +5.3%
Farmer's Harvest is easily the best grocery store/liquor store to buy beer in Huntington Beach, maybe even in Orange County. Hi-Time is the only other place I would recommend, and that's not really a comparison considering Mike at Farmer's Harvest used to order beer for Hi-Time. Everything is refrigerated and sold in single bottles (discounts for 6 and 12 pack purchases of 5-10cents/bottle) and their selection is huge. A strong range of styles and prices, ranging from a dollar or so up to 20. Beer tastings are also held in store, and from what it sounds like these events will be top quality (think Pliny good). Oh, and there's a high end grocery/produce store somewhere inside, i'm not too sure where.
Sep 14, 2010
Photo of CRQuarto
Reviewed by CRQuarto from California

5/5  rDev +5.3%
Found out about this place by accident, and finally decided to check it out today. The guy who runs the beer department previously was in charge of the same at Hi Times Wine Cellars, so needless to say the man knows beer. Outstanding selection, great prices, and extremely helpful staff. I was amazed at the cleanliness of the store as well as the wonderful organization. The beer is all loose bottles (no six packs here, which removes any excuse you had not to try something), and organized by type, rather than brand, which made it much more fun to pick out new beers. This place will be a regular stop from now on. Heck, I'm even going to grocery shop there, it gives me an excuse to go more often!
Aug 11, 2010
Photo of fadzero
Reviewed by fadzero from California

5/5  rDev +5.3%
Where do I start?? When I heard that the old bookstore (Bookman 2) was being converted into a grocery store in the strip mall behind my house I was like, hmmm OK? I wondered how such a small space could support a grocery store. I was thinking it would be more like Farmboy or something. Well, they certainly did more than that... The place looks awesome!! Kind of a mini-Sprouts or Whole foods, it actually Reminds me of a store that used to be here in HB in the early 80's called Bells California Farms. Farmer's Harvest has some pretty cool features, 3 self-serve peanut/almond butter machines, and a self-serve juicer for OJ or Tangerine juice. A cool little tasting area for beer, wine, and champagne. The produce section is insane! They sell all the basic produce plus a lot of hard to find items such as lychee, dragon fruit, rambutan, etc. They also carry grocery items, a nice dairy section, flowers, lots of candy, gourmet cheese/sausage, and a newly added meat section!!

Ok, this is beer advocate so i'll cut to the coup de gras of FHM (for me anyway) the ENTIRE east wall of the market is dedicated to beer!! (there's also a nice wine section but I'm not a wine guy so I don't know much about that) Mike runs this section and is very knowledgeable (i heard he comes from Hi-Time, another well known store in the area) They sell Lost Abbey, Bootlegger's, Russian River, avery, Caldera, to name a few, as well as many great imports. I was even lucky enough to be there one night and get my hands on a bottle of PtE (first time i ever had it)!! About twice a week they have beer tastings which helps me because I'm fairly new to this scene! They arrange the beer by style, not brewery, which is kind of cool. All the beer is sold in singles which makes it easy to mix and match. THey offer discounts for 6, 12, 24, etc.. They've recently added some 12 packs of more common beers like Blue Moon, Pacifico, Steinlager etc.. But that's not their primary focus as CVS is right next door.

The service here is outstanding!! These guys really go out of their way to help. The Owners are always willing to drop what they're doing to steer you in the right direction on produce, wine, beer, whatever you need help with. (I've even seen Joe bagging groceries on numerous occasions!!) Yesterday he gave us a little mini-seminar on their new meat section, that was pretty cool!! They also take a lot of customer feedback/requests and are very thorough about meeting Those requests (within reason of course :) So I highly recommend this store to anyone in the area who truly want's an exceptional shopping experience!!
Jun 30, 2010
Photo of SpdKilz
Reviewed by SpdKilz from Illinois

4.7/5  rDev -1.1%
Stopped here last night at 9:00pm (how great it is open 7am-10pm seven days a week?). The store was empty and Mike was restocking some of the beers from the weekend. As others have stated, there was nothing specifically "out of the ordinary", however, I did find two Jolly Pumpkin beers I was yet to see out here in California (and two that I enjoy) so I did pick those up. However, those two beers were a bit overpriced in my opinion. The other beers (I freaking love they sell singles) were reasonably priced and I spent, as always, way too much money while there. Mike was extremely helpful and after I chatted for a bit let me know of a few special beers they had in the back. I need to make a day trip to that area of California again because there are so many great beer stores around there versus where I live, and again, it was great being able to pick up numerous singles so I can give them a try without having to buy a six pack. I would defiantly go here again.
Jun 22, 2010
Photo of opwog
Reviewed by opwog from Minnesota

4.85/5  rDev +2.1%
Let me start with something short for the short attention span crowd by saying...WOW!

Now as far as Farmer's Harvest, I have a feeling that there are going to be two different customers that they will have. 1 - people who care enough about their produce that they don't simply pick it up at the grocery store and they then may also grab some good beer. Then there is customer type number 2; which is me and probably more likely anybody reading this review on Beer Advocate...people who want a great beer selection and who may also pick up some snack mix or veggies that their significant other may need to complete dinner.

But as far as the beer, these guys have gotten into this about as full blown as anybody I have seen. There is a very impressive selection already (only been open for a few months) and the pricing is consumer friendly. The one thing that I saw here that I rarely see is that the beer is completely laid out by style. That means that it does take some getting used to when searching for specific beers, because breweries are split up all over this long cooler. I would say that if we could turn back the hands of time, this would have been the better way for all beer shops to lay out their beer, but now it is a matter of retraining how we look for beer. Only time will tell if this lay out will work or not for most customers. I like the idea, but if Joe wasn't there helping me find certain beers, I would have left with only half the haul that I went in intending to buy.

The staff there are all incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. On my first visit, they didn't have a beer that I wanted, so the clerk noted it. That beer was there on my next visit! Also, they have price breaks at different quantities on many of beers, so definitely look closely at the price tags of your favorite beers. This is a must stop for people living in or visiting HB.
Jun 09, 2010
Photo of DoubleJ
Reviewed by DoubleJ from Wisconsin

4.06/5  rDev -14.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5
I can't believe how small Farmer's Market is. There's produce, a tasting area, dairy, some assorted "grocery" goods, and a beer/wine aisle. Nothing else.

As for the beer, it's a good selection that should excite beer geeks. The beer is kept in a cold box, and it was very neatly organized. The fact a fair amount of space was still open in the cold box only leaves optimism in how the future beer selection will look. Beers from Bootlegger's, The Bruery, Lost Abbey, St. Bernardus, Cascade, Oskar Blues, Victory, Erdinger, O'Hara's, Mikkeller, and Ommegang represent just a small amount of the beers available. I even saw a small selection of basic beer glassware.

I got the beers I wanted and checked out quickly. It would be have great to run into the head of the beer department, but today wasn't the day. Maybe in the future.

Update 9/13/11: The selection seems to have expanded, lemme up the score.
Jun 02, 2010
Photo of brokensail
Reviewed by brokensail from California

4.5/5  rDev -5.3%
This is not your typical beer store. As the name implies, this is a grocery store that focuses on fresh and local produce and "craft" products (ie. candy, snacks, drinks, etc.).

The beer selection is currently pretty impressive, especially considering the fact this store has only been open a couple weeks. A lot of the usual CA beers from Stone, Bruery, Lost Abbey, and Russian River. Some stuff from up the coast a bit too (Cascade, for example) and throughout the country. Quite a nice selection of imported beers as well (mostly German and Belgian).

The prices are at or below average, which is always appreciated and the service was very friendly and helpful.

I would definitely stop in frequently if I lived anywhere near Huntington Beach.
May 28, 2010
Photo of dcgunman
Reviewed by dcgunman from California

4.5/5  rDev -5.3%
My first visit to Farmer's Harvest was on Sunday May 16. When you first walk in it reminds me of a very small Trader Joe's type store. Fruits and vegatables, nuts and other products are visable throughout. Walking towards the back (eastside) of the store you come up to a good size refridgerated shevles of craft beers. All in single bottles and some cans. I was a bit confused at first. I am used to looking at breweries or by country when buying beers. They have a section of good German beer. Some good Heffenweisen beer. Then its all craft from there on. Sectioned off by types (ales, stouts, IPA's, some sour, etc.) I met Mike while selecting my brews for the evening. Had a good conversation of what he has stocked and what he is expecting to stock in the very near future. Cant wait. He mentioned that they will have a facebook page online soon (hopefully by the end of the week). The plan is to have at least one taste testing during the week. Maybe two tasting per week. All the craft brews are sold in singles (12oz bottles, 22 oz bottles or 750ml). You will recieve a percentage discount when you buy a 6 pack (mix or match), 12 pack or a case. The discount will be a little more the more you buy. Being this store is just a few minutes from where I live, it is now my new goto place for craft beer.
May 20, 2010
Photo of Halcyondays
Reviewed by Halcyondays from California

4.2/5  rDev -11.6%
This new store just opened last Saturday so I went over to check out the beer selection. Walking in it's a rather small market, more of a Trader Joe's look than a Whole Foods.

The beer is back against the wall at the very left/east end of the store, 100% refrigerated. What I really like is that everything is sold in singles. The beer is arranged by style not country, state and brewery which threw me for a loop, but soon I got used to it. Very good selection filled with a lot of CA, they had a lot from the Bruery and some Russian River - Consecration, Blind Pig and Damnation. I saw some Angel's Share as well. I talked to Mike about PtE and they said they were working on it, I guess they're in the same boat as the rest of the Orange County bottle shops. Import selection is solid as well. Nothing super rare, I was hoping maybe for some Cantillon and Alpine, but to no avail. Saw some Cascade sours though which I have only seen at The Wine Country and Hi-Times. I picked up a Meantime Coffee Porter (small bottle/never seen this), Allagash Tripel, Victory Golden Monkey and a Bootlegger's Golden Chaos. Everything I've opened so far has been in prime condition.

Prices are at worst standard and at best really good deals. For example I saw some Ten Fidy and GUBNA for $2.79 a can. Not as good collectively as Liquor Warehouse, but nice. If there was a $1.5 option that's what I would put. All and all a welcome addition to the Huntington Beach beer scene, I just wish it wasn't in the southern part of the city.
May 12, 2010
Farmer's Harvest in Huntington Beach, CA
Place rating: 4.75 out of 5 with 19 ratings