Best beer store in the East Bay (Oakland)?

I will be in Oakland today and am looking for suggestions on a store with a good selection and prices on beer. I need to stock up before heading back to Utah.

Saw this too late - sorry!

Ledger's Liquors in Berkeley has an excellent selection. Lots of great harder-to-find brands, like Russian River and Goose Island. Berkeley Bowl groceries also have solid selections.

Beer Revolution I hear has great selection

Anyone know of a liquor store that sells Pliny the Elder in San Fran/Oakland area? SWMBO was just there a month ago and all the stores she went to claimed Pliny was discontinued which I think is BS! I was very disappointed when she came home empty handed.

steinsato said:

Anyone know of a liquor store that sells Pliny the Elder in San Fran/Oakland area? SWMBO was just there a month ago and all the stores she went to claimed Pliny was discontinued which I think is BS! I was very disappointed when she came home empty handed.

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I can usually get Russian River beers at Whole Foods.

Perry's Liquor in Livermore is the best I've been to. The owner knows his Crap too.

City Beer Store in SoMa in SF is great. You can even drink the bottles you buy there. They have a lot of Russian River, including Pliny. Beer Revolution is the same (beer store/tasting bar) in Oakland. For a straight up liquor store, try Ledger's Liquors in Berkeley near the college if you're in the East Bay. EXCELLENT selection, though you'll want to make sure the beer you get is fresh, since their stock seems to see less turnover than the other stores.

Whole Foods has a decent selection, including Russian River, though Berkeley Bowl (the local Whole Foods variant) has better beers if you're in the East Bay. I see lots of beers there I've never seen in person before, or even heard of, and the quantity is immense.

I hear the Jug Shop in SF is good, though I'm not sure if they have Pliny.

steinsato said:

Anyone know of a liquor store that sells Pliny the Elder in San Fran/Oakland area? SWMBO was just there a month ago and all the stores she went to claimed Pliny was discontinued which I think is BS! I was very disappointed when she came home empty handed.

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I was just in bay area for the weekend.. I had pliny on tap.. so it's def. not discoutinued..

here is exactly what you are looking for to find pliny.
http://www.russianriverbrewing.com/pages/accounts/norcal.html

Shooter said:

I can usually get Russian River beers at Whole Foods.

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Ouch. My wife works for Whole Foods and I get a discount of sizeable proportion, which does me very little good in Utah.

I had ended up parking next to Berkley Bowl but was running late and had no time to buy beer anyways. I did manage to visit 5 breweries on my trip though.

Pliney is still around, I had it with Dinner in Napa.