Keg and Bottle #2

September 15, 2008
Keg and Bottle is convenient because of its proximity to the San Diego State University campus. They have a fairly wide selection of beer, and a really wide selection of liquors. The store is rather small and cramped, with alcohol lining the walls from floor to ceiling. It is a little dirty and the staff didn’t seem very friendly. My major gripe is how expensive everything there is... seems liked they jacked up all their prices at least 25% above retail, most likely because of its proximity to campus. Because I don’t have a car, I would occasionally drop by, but I would much rather go to BevMo.

October 29, 2007
Visited July 13, 2007. Tall wall of liquors and many coolers of micros and imports, including: Anchor 06’, Bigfoot, Alaskan Winter, 3 Rogue ceramics, 7 Lost Coast, lots of Alesmith, Unibrou, Stone, Coronado, Ballast Point, Avery, HOD Adam, Collaboration, Alaskan IPA, Victory Monkey 6-pk $7.99, Cantillon Iris 04’ $22.99, Deus $29, Bufflos Stout $8.99, Affligem Noel, Brasserie des Rocs Triple Imperiale $9.99, Val Dieu Brown, Val Dieu Winter $9.99.

September 14, 2007
First thing I notice is the floor to ceiling booze on every conceivable surface. The variety of singles on hand was wide. Lots of standard west coast favorites, nice array of Belgians and European beers. The entire selection seems to be in coolers. They have a few here I haven’t seen elsewhere in San Diego. The coolers have ultra bright florescent light bathing the bottled beer with copious amounts of UV. BEWARE! This place is still under the assumption that their proximity to SDSU allows them to get away with marking up the beer an additional 40% because the students who don’t drive can’t make it over to Bevmo in La Mesa. They figure if they put BA ratings on all their beers rating higher than 80 maybe somehow that would also justify their prices. The place is sort of dirty and disorganized with bottles stacking up on their sides on the floor of the coolers. They could care less that I was there and on the surface the help was trying to look as scary as possible with their homeless looking garb and “tough guy” attitude. The whole experience makes one feel most unwelcome. I won’t be back.

July 30, 2007
Very interesting place to visit with bottles covering the wall all the way to 20’ ceilings. Can you imagine a bottle falling from up there. Good selection of beers, including some older stuff. Bought a 5yr old Hair of Dog Adam that had gone sour, and some other common stuff.

June 15, 2007
Good selection of brews. Alot of stuff I haven’t seen anywhere else. Lots of imports from everywhere. Lots of micros as well. Some stuff looks ancient. Be wary on some of the prices. Some good deals and some toatal rips. Overall they have some pretty interesting stuff.

January 2, 2007
The selection at Keg and Bottle seems to vary depending on the time of year...I’ve been in there when they have a great selection, including pretty much every Cantillon beer available in california. I’ve also been inthere when they didn’t have anything exciting at all. The one thing I definitely noticed is that they are a little pricey.

February 7, 2006
Odd liquor store. Everything is a little overpriced, but there are some solid finds here. A good selection, with a lot of rarer beers. I found a 2003 MacTarnahan’s Bourbon Cask Cream Porter last time I was there. This does mean some stuff is really old, though. Good selection of Rogue products and Belgians.

November 13, 2005
This is my favorite beer store when I don’t want to drive all the way up to Escondido. I can get many different imports there plus tons of micros. Great place.

March 26, 2004
This place has seen some changes over the years, but it still remains fairly solid, with a good selection of West coast micros, English, German, and Belgians. The owner is personable, and seems enthusiastic about improving his selection. However, like Mesa Liquor, some of the beers have been sitting on the shelves for awhile. So, take your chances on the older ones. The prices can be ridiculous on some items, but it's still one of the better stores in the main SD area.

January 20, 2004
My new most favorite liquor store in San Diego. Bought a ton of stuff and negotiated a 10% discount. He actually gave me a little more off. These guys are just great. Yeah, so Double Bastard was selling for $6.99, but he said he had to buy it from somewhere else just to service his customers. Nice, large Belgium selection and just about everything local that's available in 22's.