Shenandoah Hops

A pleasant, moderate size store with an emphasis on craft beer. Most beers at room temp. but a few in coolers in the back.
Singles available at a small, reasonable upcharge.

Surprising little shop in Staunton. Not the biggest selection but a good representation of offerings around Virginia, some of the bigger national brands, and a few brews from across the pond. Certainly a nice local place to have, good friendly people working there, and a pleasant vibe in the store. The growler fills is certainly nice, as well as the weekly beer tastings. I'll be a regular customer here.

 

Outstanding selection of local and Virginia beers as well as some of the best breweries from around the country. The owner John was generous with his time and was quite helpful in picking out a variety of styles from breweries new to me. Draft beer on tap with growler fills available. Can't wait to go back.

 

 

 

 

This place took me by surprise.

I ducked in during a road trip pit-stop -- my first time in (what was it called again? oh yeah) Staunton. It's kind of tucked away and after finding it and parking (not hard at all) I walked in. Honestly I thought I was in some kind of hipster home design store or either a bad art gallery entry or a really nice eye doctor's reception area. But I quickly realized this was just the entryway when I saw all the cases of brew through the store's windows.

There was a ton of beer in this place..a really wide range of breweries..all the regional and national-distributing breweries and a bunch of local ones as well. Quite a few Belgian and other European brews as well.

It seemed like if they stocked one offering from a particular company, they stocked pretty much all of them. This is great as long as stuff doesn't sit around. I checked about 10 (D)IPAs that were dated and they were--on average--about two months old. Which isn't great, especially since many aren't refrigerated, but you can work around it pretty easily because of the large selection. There was some Double Jack that -- at five weeks old -- was the freshest I had seen it in the last half-dozen stores I was in.

The best part about the store is the owners. These folks are great. You'll have to go in and see for yourself..I guarantee you'll end up staying to chat for a while.

The second-best part is that they do growler fills and tastings. I think you can get a brew from tap to sip on while you browse..but I'm not familiar with the laws in VA so I'm not sure if that is the case.

I left with a pack of Double Jack, a 2014 La Folie and a bottle of KBS. Not a bad stop at all. Prices are quite reasonable as well.

My first review of this store is below, I made another trip by here.

Since they moved to a bigger place the selection has vastly improved. The 6/4 packs are well organized by style. John the owner was there again. We talked beer and how the shop has grown. They have lowered prices and done away with a frequent customer cards as a result. Still have the mixed 6 pack selection, except now its three coolers, and a room temp shelf. The local crafts and goods are still represented well on the other side of the store. Again John gave me a beer to try and pointed out some new bottles I had not seen before. Overall this is the place for beer in Staunton, with Red Beard Brewing 200ft away its a fantastic shop.

Original:
This small hole in the wall place has a lot to offer in Staunton. The store's owner is the same as Shenandoah Pizza. They also offer local crafts. Many local farms also are represented.

The selection of beer is mostly 6/4 packs. A small refrigerated selection with a mixed 6 pack going at $12 and a few bombers priced individually. The owner was there on my last visit and talked beer with me and even gave me a freebie for being a repeat customer. This a rare store for this area since they are a beer store first not wine. If you are in the area you should make a stop here to see what you might find. With any luck this place will take off and need to double in size.

Finally made my way into the shop. It's in a great area, Redbeard Brewery is right across the street and there's a homebrew supply shop a couple doors down. It has the best selection I've seen in Staunton or Harrisonburg, and is in my opinion the best shop outside of Charlottesville. Has a decent selection of most of the styles, the woman working in there tells me that they order based on product reviews found on BA/RB, which is pretty nifty. If you're a beer fan that lives in the area or is just passing through, it doesn't get much better than this around here. All the beers are easily visible, I went through and spot checked on the freshness of various beers and all were fresh. I'll make it a point to stop in whenever I'm in Staunton from here on out.

For being such a small town you wouldn't think a true craft beer store would be downtown but there it is, Shenandoah Hops! It's small and cozy but has just about all you need in the form of 6packs, 4packs, some bombers, a cooler with singles and they even started doing tastings recently. They have a great selection from Stone, Bell's, Lagunitas, Green Flash, Oskar Blues, Troegs, Bear Republic, etc...The owners Cheryl and Johnnie are really great people who try to please their customers. Anytime they don't have a beer that I want they try their best to get it.

They also own the pizza shop around the corner, Shenandoah Pizza, and sell all their craft beers there as well. And the pizza is EXCELLENT! If you're in Staunton visiting or just passing thru down I-81 or I-64 and are looking for a bottle shop and some tasty pizza, check out these hidden gems in downtown Staunton, VA.

Cheers!