Maximum Beverage

Maximum BeverageMaximum Beverage
Maximum BeverageMaximum Beverage
Store

333 N Main St
West Hartford, Connecticut, 06117-2506
United States

(860) 761-2541 | map
maximumbev.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.3
Reviews:
12
Ratings:
26
pDev:
17.21%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Duffman79:
Photo of Duffman79
Rated by Duffman79 from Connecticut

3.75/5  rDev -12.8%
Employees are nice, selection is better than average, but the prices are rediculously high.
Nov 09, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of dbl_delta
Reviewed by dbl_delta from Pennsylvania

3.98/5  rDev -7.4%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 3.75
Visiting Hartford CT from PA and wanted to sample some local brews, so I consulted BA for advice. Maximum Beverage scored very high. It's located in a pretty nice shopping center - I had to convince the wife not to go shopping elsewhere ($$$) while I checked out MB. Fortunately they have a massive selection of wines so she stayed entertained while I browsed their beer selection. Which is good - not world class, but good. What's there is reasonably fresh. I found beers from numerous New England breweries so it met my objectives. Prices seemed reasonable but hey I'm jaded.
Bottom line: beer is a small part of their inventory, but they have a decent selection.
Oct 16, 2016
 
Rated: 5 by Jbmaxbev from Connecticut

Jul 29, 2016
 
Rated: 3.69 by happyreefer from Connecticut

Jun 14, 2016
 
Rated: 4.25 by JLK7299 from North Carolina

Jun 07, 2016
 
Rated: 4.38 by GregWolf

Nov 14, 2015
Photo of BillPullman32
Reviewed by BillPullman32 from Connecticut

5/5  rDev +16.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
I'll start this by saying I'm a huge fan of these guys (or gals) but its mostly guys working here except for the occasional "looker" at the front register. This place is called Maximum Beverage for a reason, they have it all. The selection here is always changing, and everytime i've been in there i notice a new beer (im there 2-3 times/week). The two tall younger guys are always really helpful and know their stuff. The pricing is pretty fair for the area -- this isn't east hartford so im not expecting rock bottom prices -- i'll pay an extra buck for a 12 pack of victory if it means i dont have to walk on a dirty linoleum floor and receive no more than a grunt from the staff. Selection is great here too, it really can't be beat. Some of the more "big box" stores might have more of something but ive never gone somewhere else and not seen an item at MB. Also, they recommended BA as a site to check out so i thought i would give them a well deserved review -- cheers guys!
Oct 14, 2015
 
Rated: 3.51 by xtonytx from Connecticut

Oct 10, 2015
Photo of WeHaBeerMan
Reviewed by WeHaBeerMan from Connecticut

4.79/5  rDev +11.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.5
Maximum Beverage is a pretty sweet place. It definitely caters to the wine market as their selection of wines seems massive, but they carry a lot of beers and whiskeys/bourbons too. The beer section is tucked in back but they manage to cram a lot of items in there. I've been to the other beer stores in town, and caves of beer or not, Maximum Beverage has everything you'd be looking for. I recently saw they added all these black shelves next to the coolers of craft beers in 4 packs and singles. It makes the place look completely full. Helpful tip, they announce the arrivals of hard to find beers on Snapchat. You get an alert when it comes in so everyone has a chance to get it.
Simply put, Maximum Beverage is a beautiful looking store with friendly guys who love chatting about beer.
Jul 21, 2015
Photo of sippingsunshine
Reviewed by sippingsunshine from Connecticut

5/5  rDev +16.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
While it appears to be a wine store, beer selection is impressive. I now follow them on snap chat and get notices of hard to find beer selections. The beer guys, Conor and Doug, are always helpful and know there stuff. The best store in the area with Harvest and Wise Old Dog not far behind.
Jun 21, 2015
Photo of Nav71292
Reviewed by Nav71292 from Connecticut

1.76/5  rDev -59.1%
vibe: 1 | quality: 1 | service: 1 | selection: 3.75
If you're in West Hartford, go to Harvest.

I went here last week for my bi-weekly SoS. One employee didn't recognize me, I guess (the fact that they need to peg you as a regular to sell it to you is bad enough in and of itself), so he lied and said they were sold out. Another misheard the exchange and offered to get it for me from the back.

I reached out to them and they just continued to lie, lie, lie. Between this and the KBS price gouging ($9 a bottle?!?!?) I don't know why anyone would go here for beer.
Jun 14, 2015
Photo of AaronF
Reviewed by AaronF from Connecticut

3.76/5  rDev -12.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5
Great wine, whiskey, and liquor selection. Beer selection could be better. There are some aged stock so keep your eyes open and check dates. The store focuses on wine and liquor. Other places in town better for beer but still solid store.
Dec 28, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by DA84 from Connecticut

Nov 14, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by Jabroni

Aug 07, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by tylergoov from Connecticut

Jul 23, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by AGust82 from Connecticut

Jun 28, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by ScotNH from New Hampshire

Apr 14, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by ChrisChagnon from Connecticut

Jan 27, 2014
Photo of mnrider
Reviewed by mnrider from Connecticut

4.67/5  rDev +8.6%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5
The store is pretty large with most of the area being devoted to Wine. The impressive beer area is in the back of the store. They have a good amount of coolers and shelves. The selection is eclectic and I wouldn't be surprised to see them go out of their way to order a beer for you. The prices seem about the same as other places around. Some of the single bottles seem over priced. The only real negative is that a good amount of the single bottles on the shelves are out of date and dusty, so I would check the freshness dates before you buy. The service is good and they will go out of their way to help you.
Jan 02, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by beer-to-relax from Connecticut

Jan 02, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by Resuin from Massachusetts

Dec 31, 2013
Photo of KevinCowan514
Reviewed by KevinCowan514 from Connecticut

4.93/5  rDev +14.7%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.75
Maximum Beverage is a really unique place. It's not your typical package store and it's not your typical liquor depot. Aesthetically it is extreme attractive and you'll be able to appreciate that the moment you step in. The staff is friendly and almost always greet you and ask if you need any assistance finding something. It also seems like they are offering a complimentary tasting of wine or beer every time I walk in. That was probably the most impressive aspect of the store to me. I felt comfortable there and wanted to browse the entire selection and spend more time in the store. If you're looking for something really specific, just ask up front. They may not have it displayed but it appeared like they would go above and beyond to order a product for a customer if it was not in store.

When I moved to West Hartford last year I knew I had to find a spot to buy my drinks and it was pretty obvious that Maximum Beverage was the best choice in the town. I went across the street first but that place seemed dull and impersonal. Maximum Beverage is an experience just as much as it is a liquor store.
Dec 12, 2013
Photo of VictorWisc
Reviewed by VictorWisc from Massachusetts

4.9/5  rDev +14%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.75
For an out-of-towner this was like finding the Holy Grail. The location is a bit nondescript, in a suburban mall, but the store is big, nicely setup, with a tasting station with three taps -- quite unusual, especially given the selection for tasting that would beat an average bar. The main beer guy was out, but the second go-to guy clearly knew what he was doing and very helpful. The selection is exhaustive, but with some minor gaps -- it seems they go out of their way to get everything that's carried locally, but some customers work faster than the buyers. Particularly impressed that they seem to be on top of supply fluctuations -- noticing that one item was being switched from 4s to 6s, they bought quite a few cases where most stores only hold one or two, and were willing to pass the savings to customers ($42 a case where a 4-pack goes for $12+ everywhere else). If the location weren't in the middle of nowhere I'd expect the place to be buzzing. As it is, it still attracts knowledgeable customers (good reviews here help). Bonus: wine selection is extensive, although I did not have time to shop for wine or even compare prices. Solid on-line presence as well. Negative: for some of the more rare and expensive products they tend to split multipacks and double the price per bottle. Not practice I would encourage, but that's how they roll. Singles, in general, are considerably pricier than multipacks and bombers.
Jun 26, 2013
Photo of BeerDude203
Reviewed by BeerDude203 from Connecticut

5/5  rDev +16.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
Just found out about this place, one of the employees said they've been around for about 8 months or so which was news to me. Pretty big store and probably the nicest wine shop/liquor store I've ever seen. As you walk in you notice the massive wine selection separated by country in nice wooden racks. The beer selection is no joke either though. The beer cooler is all the way in the back containing a very impressive selection of 6pks and 4pks. A wall parallel to the cooler contains 12pks on one side and about 8 shelf units of bombers and singles. As I went back to the front I noticed they had beer a kegorator with beer to sample; they included anchor Christmas, dogfish chicory stout and captain Lawrence Imperial IPA. The captain Lawrence was deliciously fresh and extremely good, a new favorite of mine. Awesome store with a friendly, helpful staff.
Jan 16, 2013
Photo of Gordon79
Reviewed by Gordon79

4.86/5  rDev +13%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5
Great Selection..One of the better import selections I've seen around, by far the biggest craft can selection anywhere, awesome dogfish head tasting going on while i was there, really enjoyed the black & blue, haven't had that one before. Beautiful store to the point where you would almost think it would be over priced, But that couldn't be further from the truth, fantastic pricing. Very helpful staff, spent some time chatting it up with Conor the beer manager there. Over all very impressed. Would definately recommend!
Jul 14, 2012
Photo of redhook
Reviewed by redhook from Connecticut

4.86/5  rDev +13%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5
This is the old dotcom wines. I gave it a good rating when it was the old place...but hold on, this place is awesome. They have tons of wine and spirits but they had to have tripled their beer section. They must have close to 1000 beers including many hardto find items. I didn't even know Goose Island was in Connecticut but they were sampling Goose Island Sophie and Honkers yesterday and the prices are amazing. I don't drink Bud but they had 30 packs for $19.99...the lowest I have ever seen in Connecticut. Check it out
Apr 29, 2012
Maximum Beverage in West Hartford, CT
Place rating: 4.3 out of 5 with 26 ratings