BevMo! - Camden

BevMo!  - CamdenBevMo!  - Camden
BevMo!  - CamdenBevMo!  - Camden
Store

14800 Camden Ave
San Jose, California, 95124-2817
United States

(408) 369-0990 | map
bevmo.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.63
Reviews:
12
Ratings:
15
pDev:
10.19%
View: Place Reviews
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Rated: 4.23 by chrisjws from California

Apr 26, 2015
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Reviewed by CJNAPS from California

3.76/5  rDev +3.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.25 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.25
One of the better beer selection at a bevmo I've been to. They get some rare stuff at this one and will hold a beer for you if you call. Which was pretty cool.
Mar 02, 2015
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Reviewed by Plasmafunk from California

3.46/5  rDev -4.7%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.25 | selection: 3.5
Clean, well-lit store in a suburban strip mall. Safety not an issue.
The selection overall is a bit better than the average BevMo.
The temp in the beer section seemed warmer than normal- say around 72-73 degrees. Obviously doesn't bode well for the beer if it sits there for awhile and it's not in the coolers.
Staff is friendly but not all that knowledgeable.
Feb 01, 2015
 
Rated: 3.12 by brywhite from California

Sep 04, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Liverocks from Delaware

Aug 09, 2014
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Reviewed by shwillivanilli from California

3.28/5  rDev -9.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 4
out of the few BevMo i been to, this one is the better. i can usually find something i want for a good price. can get alaskan, lost abbey/ port brewing, deschutes, ballast point, firestone walker and so on. not a huge selection of limited or rare bottles, but you can find a few. some of the selection of bottles have been there for a while, old angles share and older viscosity are cool. but, questionably old ipa's and dipa's scare me. all in all i always leave with something i was looking for, or someone is. you can just never go in thinking of something specific!
Aug 31, 2011
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Reviewed by djeucalyptus from Oregon

3.45/5  rDev -5%
The Camden BevMo is one of the largest in the company, which means that there's always going to be a decent selection and they get limited releases that other BevMos in the area don't. A small cooler section, most of which is dedicated toward 6 packs... a good chunk of which is BMC. which means most brews are on the shelves or in stack-outs. which bothers me a bit, especially when there's plentiful IPAs & IIPAs sitting on the shelves, covered in dust. Not a great sign. And stock doesn't get rotated all that often... out of date bottles are unfortunately, not all that uncommon.

They do have a somewhat knowledgeable beer staff (I believe the head beer guy just changed, and in the right direction, from what I've heard). Service is run of the mill from BevMo - occasional people half-assedly asking if you're doing okay. But it's okay... there are enough shelves for me to browse on my own. One aisle faces the windows, which means a good bit of light exposure, but it's not craft so it doesn't impact me all that much.

All in all, if you're looking for a one-stop beer shop in the San Jose area, this is your spot. Great selection trumps the concerns with storage, coolers, and the often lack-luster service.
Nov 21, 2010
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Reviewed by illidurit from California

3.65/5  rDev +0.6%
Medum sized BevMo with a nice several-aisle selection. The beer is out of direct sunlight but I suspect the unrefrigerated shelved beer gets little turnover and just sits around going bad. Lots of Stone, Rogue, Moylan's, etc. Basically all the stuff with lots of distribution. Not a place to go hunting for rarities. This particular store helped me cut my teeth on Trappist and west coast beers before Santa Cruz developed a better array of beer stores, but nostalgia can't save this from being just another generic BevMo.
Feb 15, 2009
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Reviewed by RunDWP from California

3.55/5  rDev -2.2%
The BevMo is at the intersection of Union and Camden in an older strip mall. Like a lot of BevMo's, it has a fairly large selection, with domestic micro brews heavily weighted towards California and West Coast breweries and a fairly large and diverse import selection. As with big box stores, the store help is rather sparse and not particularly knowledgeable. Most of the beer inventory isn't refrigerated, and while I've purchased plenty of warm bottled that tasted great, buyer beware. A pretty low percentage of the inventory is kept cold, lower than most BevMos I've seen.

On Fridays weekends, they often have beer or wine tastings of 2-5 selections, and I would often time my visits to the store with these tastings.

You can also order a fairly large selection (30+)of kegs in advance at this location from places like Anderson Valley and Lagunitas in addition to large, industrial brews.
Dec 07, 2008
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Reviewed by RblWthACoz from Pennsylvania

3.7/5  rDev +1.9%
Maybe it's because I came here when not a lot of special stuff was in, but I swear I've seen a much better level of selection here in the past. That being said there was still quite a bit of nice stuff to choose from. It could have been more exciting, yes. But I don't really think that this particular area really has the demand for a consistently wider selection of rarities. Service is about what you'd expect. Overall if you are in the area for whatever reason, go for it. If you are looking for rarities, you might want to trek to San Francisco or other spots besides this.
Jul 21, 2008
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Reviewed by Lothore from California

3/5  rDev -17.4%
This seems to be the largest bevmo in the area, bigger than their Santa Clara and Willow Glen locations and pretty comparable size wise to their Sunnyvale store. Despite the size of the store, the beer selection is about average for Bevmos. While the service isn't attrocious I have never entered this store and been helped by anyone who had more than a basic understanding of the beers they carried. My main point of contention with this store is their beer always seems to have been sitting on the shelf for a while. I have never entered a store (bevmo or otherwise) where there has been a thick layer of dust on as many bottles as this location. This fact in general has made me avoid this bevmo like the plague. Whether or not the beers quality has suffered isn't the biggest issue for me, it just seems like they really don't care. The prices are inexpensive compared to pretty much anywhere else.
Aug 13, 2007
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Reviewed by willjschmidt from California

3.3/5  rDev -9.1%
This is the only place that I've found in my area that stocks a good selection of beer. It is your standard Bevmo, clean and well laid-out. They have a cooler that is stocked with 6 packs and bombers. Everything is on the shelves. I'm a little concerned that some of their stock is old and not well cared for. The selection is very good but falls well short of great. They get in the limited release beers but they sell-out quickly. I haven't tested their customer service out much but it seems to be average.

This is definitely not the best Bevmo that I've been to. The ones in the city are much better. I'd also like to see more beer in the coolers. However for the South Bay, I don't think there are any places that are better.

Update on 4/12/07: I've noticed a few things about this store after many visits and comparing it to other Bevmo's in the area. They do not have enough beers in the cooler. Yesterday I noticed that they have all their Stone IPA and Moylan's Hopsickle on the floor when they are marked "keep refrigerated" on the bottle. I then noticed that their entire stock of Stone IPA and Ruination are all expired and past the "enjoy by" date that is marked on the bottle. No wonder the last Stone IPA that I bought here tasted bad. I don't think their beers get a lot of turnover. I will be avoiding this place in the future. Please let me know if there is a better place to get beer in the South Bay! There must be!
Mar 26, 2007
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Reviewed by bradybeer from California

3.7/5  rDev +1.9%
My wife and I stopped off here yesterday afternoon.

The beer selection is very good but not great. There is a cold case with various 6,12s,and bombers. Our first impression was there are some excllent beers but not much we can't get in Santa Cruz.

However, we then began to walk down the aisles-one for British, one for German/European, one for Micros and one for Macros. There we discovered some beers we can't get on our side of the hill-beers such as Stone!!!

We ended up gettig a case and 1/2 of various winter beers-Sudwerk, Big Sky, etc. and a couple of bombers-Stone's Smoked Porter and one from Rogue.

Picked up some bubbly for the new year then we were on our way.

Service was good we were asked several times if we needed help-however once we were in line chaos ruled-as there were no employees directing customers to the next available checker.

We will be back I just wish there were more CA beers-Russian River, Ballast Point, etc.
Dec 20, 2006
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Reviewed by poluti from Virginia

4.15/5  rDev +14.3%
It's my go-to store since I live in Campbell. I have found it to be the only stop in the area which carries a good selection of beer. The place is kept pretty clean and the staff seems to be moderately knowledgable. Sometimes they comment on the craft beers I pick up which is nice. The selection of beer ranges from macros to micros, with an interesting selection of out-of-state micros occassionally. The prices are very reasonable for the quality of the beers. They have a lot to offer in terms of beer munchies as well. I tend to pick up a good root beer from their soda section for the ride home as well.
Jul 18, 2006
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Reviewed by Bierman9 from New Hampshire

4.16/5  rDev +14.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4
Stopped in briefly while Alewife and daughter #1 were touring the nearby Winchester Mystery House.... Lots of bier, sorted by country of origin.... nice Belgian and German aisles (Hopf? Cool!!), and lots of US craft stuff.... was looking to score some good Cali biers not easily available back east.... but no Russian River, and I don't recall any Alesmith (did I miss it?). Asked about Stone VE 06.06.06 and the guy said it would be in during July. Huh? Service was still good overall, as one nearby customer was getting loads of helpful tips from an employee. Very good offerings, though I thought they could (should?) have had more local stuff.

Prosit!!

overall: 4.16
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

140
Jun 28, 2006
BevMo! - Camden in San Jose, CA
Place rating: 3.63 out of 5 with 15 ratings