Julio's Liquors

Heading out of MA Monday morning, Rollie Fingers kept filling my head & telling me that I should see this place. We chatted about other things, but this inevitably kept coming up. Breakfast was still hard in place in my mind's queue though, & it would have to be appeased with something more then leftover beer & week-old bananas left outside the cooler.

So after a half-ass search for eggs & bacon(really just going through the motions), we pull into a little mall complex that encompasses not only a breakfast shop, but Julio's too. :)

Breakfast was decent enough. Had trouble walking, so I think I was pretty satisfied. Drove to the other lot where Julio's was, admired the view, then proceeded to get lost in the recycling machines at the left of the store. We managed to find our way out & in before being suffocated by construction bags & sawdust. Dorks.

Aisles & aisles of alcohol. :D As a direct comparison, the Oak Tree Buy Rite in Jersey has a pretty similar layout, though this place is probably twice the size. Though Julio's doesn't only sell vices. A whole aisle devoted to jerky, hot sauce, & marinades. A couple aisles for booze, but lots more wine then I would of expected. Sign up for their newsletter, & there's practically always a tasting in the calendar.

Though much larger, the beer selection isn't drastically different from Buy Rite. Lots of cases & storage means better prices, but as far as selection, both places remain at the top of their class. The ten ft. long(or so) shelves here reach about shoulder level for my short self, lined vertically through the store , skipping space for walking & a few floor displays of Sierra Nevada, Lost Abbey/Port, Long Trail(just die already), Weyerbacher(never too early for an Impy Pumpkin), etc. Imported Belgian 750s first, American sixers opposite the coolers, with American bombers/750s close to the front right corner. Not complete lineups, but close. Big surprise there was the dedicated section to ciders. You know how I love cider. Saw some Sam Smith organic here for the first time. Some awful artificially sweetened pear cider that I've had before, a sampling of meads, including the almighty Jadwiga. No bottles from local West County though, disappointing. The shelves here looked a little neglected when compared to the rest of the store. Don't neglect us. Ciders have feelings too. :tear:

Coolers lined the right wall front to back with dopplegangers. Near the end though, plenty of Bekshire & Opa-Opa growlers, at least 3-4 varieties of each. Three+ hours to NYC, hmmm... maybe. :) Dates were within range for most things. A few Belgians & Hop Devils across the room were sporting winter coats though.

Service wasn't offered, but we weren't looking, so maybe the geekyness was that obvious. Loonies shopping for beer at 11am on a Monday. Approach with caution.

So, I pick out some regionals to take home, & step up to the counter. The man at checkout reminds us to mix a six & get 15% off. Before those words, prices seemed pretty ho-hum. Rollie gives me one of his bottles to take advantage, & I get ready to burn some green. He takes my ID, scans it(comes back legit), is about to give it back, when he notices that it's expired. No other ID, he kills the sale. Wow. It never gave me problems before, but it put the guy on edge. Confiscated both our carts & practically made us cry. The ID was legit, came back on the machine as legit, but the guy played it safe. Ehh. Let's go home. :|

How have I not reviewed this place until now?? Without a doubt the best craft beer store in central Massachusetts, by both volume and quality. Big emphasis on local breweries. Over the years they’ve reduced the European selection because it was collecting dust but they’ve expanded the selection of other crafty alcoholic beverages. Always fun to come in and spend an hour or two poring over their extensive and well-organized selection. Great prices, too!

Great place. Liquor store with an impressive craft beers offering. Plus international beers. Always find something good and they sell singles. Prices are also good . Recent exampl, bought a Toppling Goliath Citra double dry hopped Pseudo Sue at Craft beer cellar for $16.99 ( 4.5+ BA rating). Julios price was $11.99. Beers are sorted by region. Highly recommended and now my @1 go to place

Update 9.24.21- stopped in Julios to pick up a specific brew for a Bif. They didn’t have it ( brewery release schedule doesn’t have it in production). Listened to the beer guy walk a customer from Montana which beers to buy based upon his preferences . Excellent customer service. I picked up some Other Half. First time I’ve seen this brewery in Massachusetts

I can't say enough good things about Julio's! When I started working at Tufts in Grafton in 2001 and a colleague told me about the amazing beer selection at this place in Westborough, i had to check it out. A couple years later, I moved to Westborough and I was in heaven! Since then, we've moved back to MN, and although there are some decent packy's (liquor stores) here in MN, there is only 1 Julio's. My kids miss the free candy they would get from the checkout clerk's, and i miss everything about it!

 

 

Calling Julio's a liquor store doesn't really do it justice. Julio's has an amazing selection of beer, wine, spirits, cheese, cigars, hot sauce, and I'm sure other things I can't remember. Julio's staff is extremely friendly and knowledgeable about the product so don't hesitate to ask about very specific items or good pairings with an item. Aside from all of that, I believe they also host a podcast at the store every once and a while which may be intriguing if you're interested in booze talk.

One of the best beer stores I have ever been to. Incredible selection. 15% discount for buying 6 or more singles. Tim is the beer manager and was generous with his time talking beer and showing me what not to miss. Worth 30 minute drive out of Boston.

 

 

 

 

Really nice selection with great staff. They frequently have beer tastings, hold beer releases and have a great rewards program to help reserve those hard to get beers.

Large liquor store with a good selection of beer. Had some good New England offerings and also had a nice selection of other beers from all over the country. Overall a top tier beer store. Prices are high though.

 

 

Yesterday was the second time I visited, and I spent a considerable amount of time browsing. I ended up leaving with a few beers that I hadn't seen much of in Western Mass too much: Logsdon and Jolly Pumpkin.

The staff seemed pretty knowledgable and were willing to offer suggestions and information about some of the newer brews they had in stock (one of which was Kung Fu Hobo from Smuttlabs), which I added to the mix six. Speaking of the mix six, as soon as you hit the 6 beer or more mark (any size... bomber, 750, 12 ounce bottle, etc), you automatically receive 15% off each beer. So if you were in there looking for something that only comes out once a year, or is pricey, that could be a good way to save some money. The best part is that the mix six doesn't all have to be the same size. Theoretically, you could buy 5 really cheap beers and one really expensive beer and still get the discount.

The organization of store could be a little better, but once you do a walk through, you can kind of see why certain beers are placed where they are; however, I have seen it done much better (Table and Vine of West Springfield for example).

Overall, it's a place that is definitely worth stopping if you are in the area in search of "good" beer.