Beer Store in Malvern

This place is the worst beer store I have ever been to and I'm never going back! Although it looks pretty, I have many quams and here they are: 1.) Stale, overpriced beer all over his shelves. 2.) Raffled bottles of beer you can find for 30-50% less at Wegmans right up the street 3.) The lights on his shelves are harmful for volitile hop oils and unfiltered beer, and cause skunking. 4.) He lists 6 O'clock for releases, but actually means 5 O'clock. 5.) His taplist is typically a day behind, so don't make a special trip for something unless you call first. 6.) The Ballast Point Big Eye I was required to purchase before I received my glass of Grapefruit Sculpin tasted like a locker room smells. 7.) He raises prices on event days. Etc, etc, etc. Don't fall into the rare beer trap that I did. Wegman's, Whole Foods, and Pinnochios all the way!!

 

I haven't ever been but was going to head up today when they listed the Founders, FW, etc. There's no way I will go for a 'raffle' for a chance to buy a beer. And really? $10 for a glass of KBS AND you have to buy a growler of Rubeaus for $15.

Any time you need to buy something to buy something else, I will never shop at your store.

 

I love how he says "fesitivity" in his post. It's festive to him as he is celebrating the chance to overcharge a group of people at once! I wonder what the firecode is in that place??? I'm sure he pushes occupancy levels and doesn't even care as he sees dollar signs when people walk in. Haaaa

 

Yeah i'm not thrilled by the place either. I also heard the FWXVIII, if you win the raffle, are $30. I wouldnt buy at that price anyways. Also, whats the deal there? Its not really a bottle shop. i dont think there are 192oz limits, at least, i havent seem them enforced at all...

 

Never been to the Southampton store but I followed their shenanigans on Facebook. Seems like this location is no different, and I guess that was to be expected. I can see the occassional raffling of a Rare beer, but they seem to raffle any and every limited beer. I'm not going to stand in line just for a chance to win a beer only to find out I didn't win anything. I mean, how dumb is that??

The Rubeaus growler thing I also don't get. Is that for real or are they just saying that it a special if you buy both?

 

I can't wait to not go to this store. I'll stick to Whole Foods and Wegmans.

 

Wow... Just... Wow. After hearing all this, I have absolutely zero interest in ever patronizing that establishment. You have to buy a growler to get a pour of KBS? Raffles for Shape of Hops and Spring House stouts? And the prices... My god. These guys can go f*ck themselves.

 

I wonder about the legalities of requiring you to purchase "beer A" in order to buy "beer B"? Akin to extortion, no? They are not the only place doing it either.

 

I've only been to the Southhampton store. Heard good things at the time (especially about the customer service), but the every time I went there (3 or 4 times) I was shocked at how blatantly rude they were. The first time, I thought it may have been just an unlucky time, but it kept happening and I stopped going. Hearing this doesn't surprise me after my experiences. I'll stick to Trenton Road Take-out & Wegman's in PA and Joe Canal's when I'm in Jersey.

 

Perhaps then the Foodery's prices are not ridiculous in comparison... ? But here is the triangle: TOP = beer guys who know what the deal is, MIDDLE = people getting into beer who don't know the deal, BOTTOM (which is the biggest piece) = people with too much money who don't care, and possibly don't even know what they're buying. Ask yourself, who lives near Malvern?

 

I've only ever gone to the Southampton store but I'm not surprised by this. When the original store opened, they were the nicest guys ever, but they quickly started jacking up prices and just started being all around rude. Their selection is impressive, but outside of the more popular beers, nothing is price tagged at all. Their growler prices are a complete joke and stuff stays on tap forever, which is why they're probanly pushing rubaeus on people since it's not selling. They also own a beer distributor in the Philly area as well, and Im sure prices are high there too.

I'll stick to Trenton rd, whole foods, and weis. The blind sheep can continue shopping at Darren's stores and refinancing their mortgages in order to buy a bottle of BCBS for 12 bucks.

 

You know I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt but today at Southhampton was just bad you had probably 15-20 people there. The first 12 pulled took one of everything. One guy even had his name pulled twice he should have had his beers pulled back for being a scumbag

 

Back in the spring they had some beers for sale at open on a Saturday. No raffle but a line formed. There were a lot of Cascade beers, 4 Hands and Bell's Black Note. I was only there for the Black Note as I'm not a fan of sours (nor did I want to pay the $$$ for those other beers). I was the only person in line there for 1 beer and the look I got from Darren when I just asked for the 1 Black Note you would have thought I was wasting his time.

 

and i thought Pittsburgh had it bad sometimes (we do but this all still sounds ridiculous). This past year I went to a bar here and had 12 oz pours of KBS for $5.50. No limit and i was the only one at the bar drinking it at the time. This is certainly not the norm for us here, but it still shows how some stores take advantage of people.

 

I asked myself and determined that *I* in fact live near Malvern. More importantly, so do many of the people who support TJ's, McKenzie's, Flying Pig, Pourhouse, Drafting Room, Ron's, Station Taproom, Victory, Iron Hill, Sidebar and others located within 15 minutes of this place. We're not all wealthy, apathetic idiots, though, in fairness, I am sure many of us are.

Now, I am not disagreeing with the overall views expressed here. I used to frequent the Southampton store when it opened (near my work) but rarely go for all the reasons stated by others. There were still bottles of a White Birch beer from 2010 sitting on the shelves last time I was in a couple months back.

 

This store makes you buy other stuff just to get to purchase what you want?

 

I believe it.

The other night I stopped in right before they closed, and overheard one of the employees who was finishing up, trying to buy some beers - one of which was an Eclipse Elijah Craig. You would have thought he was asking for Darren's first born. He wanted him to put it back for the "customers". Didn't really eavesdrop further than that, but I would assume the reason he went off was because he wanted full price for that bottle.

I follow them on Facebook and saw that he posted that they had Double D on tap, along with the audacity to say "Best prices in town". HA!

 

Great reply.

I too live in Malvern, and I only wish I had enough $$ to blow that I didn't care about the price of beer!

The Beer Store is too high class for me, I will continue to shop at the discount stores (Wegmans & Whole Foods)

 

I have only been in the Beer Store in Malvern once. My first impression was that is was extremely cramped. The aisles suck, and you can't browse without side-stepping for someone to get by every 5 seconds. Prices seemed on the higher end, too. I didn't stick around for any drafts, nor did I purchase anything. Whole Foods and Wegmans will continue to get my business in that area for bottles.

 

Are there actually price tags on everything at the Malvern location, or is it like the Southampton spot, where the majority of the non cooler stock has no price tags at all?