Warners At The Bay

Store

320 Hillsborough Road
NSW
Warners Bay, 2282
Australia

+61 2 4956 6066 | map
warnersatthebay.com.au
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.11
Reviews:
3
Ratings:
3
pDev:
12.9%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of MrKennedy
Reviewed by MrKennedy from Australia

3.63/5  rDev -11.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 2 | selection: 4.5
Had about half a dozen visits to Warners at the Bay bottle shop, so time to review it.

Located in an unlikely place across Hillsborough Road from the business park of Warners Bay and down the hill from the Germania Club.

Decent enough parking for the times i've been there and the ability to park in the adjoining tavern's car park would ensure that this should never really be an issue.

Very good layout, clean, great presentation is a definite high point.

The staff service detracts a great deal. Disinterest from all bar one staff member that i've encountered leads me to believe there is more style than substance and detracts from the overall atmosphere of the place.

Impressive selection, logically laid out between Australian beers and imports and then seemingly grouped into countries or regions makes browsing and selecting purchases easy.

Currently 6 growler stations (not counter-pressure though) and looking to add a further 2, it certainly is the best stocked bottle shop within the state.

Currently no mail order system is in use and prices are on the expensive side of things and service is very ordinary. I expect stock turnover to be an issue, given the breadth of stock and locality, so advice would be to check best before dates before purchasing and i can't imagine the staff do this if serving is not something they enjoy.

If you are after range, this place has it in spades. However there are plenty of areas that this place could improve on and i certainly hope they do.
Jul 20, 2011
Photo of heygeebee
Reviewed by heygeebee from Australia

3.86/5  rDev -6.1%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 5 | service: 2 | selection: 5
I found myself near here almost by accident, and MrKennedy had highlighted this place to me, off the F3, branch off along the lakeside for a few Km, and a few minutes later, you are in the least obvious area to house possibly the best bottleshop in NSW, Big call, I know, as I have not been to them all. It's aligned to a usual NSW beer-barn of a pub, in an semi-light-industrial area. The sign outside (just under the massive NEW sign) claims 900 beers.

However, walk in, and wham! First bottle-shop I have seen that has more floor-space for beer than wine. almost 2/3 beer, and fridges as far as you can see. Everything laid out to browse, and browse I did. You can just wander up 'n' down, looking at stuff you've never seen before. From Aus, and overseas. No point in listing the brewers, they are all there, US possibly excepted, tho Sierra Nevada, North Coast and Rogue were in.

Best points? Single bottle sales of small brews, not usually available - e.g. Murrays. Some moderate specials. Range. 10% off a mixed-six, but no more than that. Growler fills.
Worse points? Well, after being in while, you realise a certain vibe is missing. Nothing you could put your finger on, but it is a bit sterile.

And last and sadly least...why, oh why with all that goodness, is it staffed with people who look, and talk, like they'd leave the place at closing and go home and have a VB? They did NOT want to talk about beer. Like really. Almost disparaging about the variety, as if it caused the guy headaches.

Must-see.
Jul 11, 2011
Photo of rjimlad
Reviewed by rjimlad from Australia

4.85/5  rDev +18%
WatB is in two parts: the tavern and the bottleshop.
The tavern is a typical new style Oz pub/tavern with extensive dining and kids area. Unlike many, though, it has a great range of tap beers from Erdinger to Grand Ridge which they rotate periodically. Food is generally of a good quality but fairly typical of high standard pub food.
The bottleshop however, is beer Mecca for Novocastrians with a massive array of pretty well anything. THe fridges are extensive with Oz crafties on one side and imports on the other. They carry a broad range of German, English, Czech and other Euros. For October they manage to land a good assortment of Oktoberfestbiers and they always have new focus beers to choose from.
Warners run the Australian Craft Beer festival each year and this coupled with knowledgeable staff educate scores of converts to the real beer cause. God bless 'em. I love this place and spend lots there. If only we could get some good quality American beers in the shop it would be perfect.
Nov 07, 2008
Warners At The Bay in Warners Bay, Australia
Place rating: 4.11 out of 5 with 3 ratings