Huge messy ugly store with about 1/5th of the place dedicated to beer. Poorly organized. Staff is the supermarket type and know nothing about beer. The American selection is nothing to write home about. Basic USA beer available in Massachusetts, no special find (Moylan’s, Southern Tier, Allagash, Victory, Bruery, Jolly Pumpkin, etc.). Just the standard lineup, no special find. Import selection was surprising and I though it matched Julio’s. A lot of unusual Italians, Japanese with some stuff I didn’t know existed. Plus the Nogne, BFM, Panil and friends. Prices are good, probably the best prices in Boston. Multiple old vintages of Gales Prize Old Ale. And so on. All in all this store has a very large selection (probably the largest selection in Boston) but it doesn’t have “the right” stuff. You can tell that no effort is made to get the less regular interesting releases and I also doubt the freshness of some of their items.

Charles Street has been lagging behind on new stuff, and this place seems to have rushed in to fill the void - probably the most extensive selection I’ve seen in the Metro area (ie. accessible from the T), tied with Downtown Liquors in Sommerville - not as much as Julios, but damn close - however, their prices on some stuff were a bit high (for example, 19.95 for Allagash Black, when the average in other local stores is between 12.99 and 14.95) - so unless you can’t find it in other stores, you might want to shop around for prices - otherwise, a nice store.

I just happen to see this place as I was on my way back to our hotel after a long day on the Freedom Trail. Pulled in to see a few racks of good beer and a ton of macro stuff. I talked with the head beer guy for about 15 min or so. He has been doing the beer side for about a year now and is still working on it. It looks like he is out to make this place a good beer store someday. I hope he can do it.

Moderate selection of bottles, decent belgians, lots of local micros (allagash especially). Not a huge selection overall, no singles. Prices are very good though, lower than many of the big bottle shops in the area. Only real reason to come, however, is the low turnover. I found some 5 or 6 year old Belgians and local stuff that was very cool. Batch 1 Allagash Grand Cru anyone? Big update: Well, after being increasingly annoyed by Downtown Liquors’ increasing prices and decreasing selection, along with Martys always high prices and less-than-spectacular selection (and I live too far from the mecca, Julios), I tried out Blanchards again. Shit! This is by far the best beer place in Boston, hands down. Only Charles St puts up some competition, but I think these guys have almost as much as Charles St at much, much better prices. They are the only ones out of Martys and Downtown and Blanchards to have AleSmith Decadence 2006. All the new Italian stuff, Cantillon, BFM stuff. Just missing the more rare Shelton Imports (Olfabrikken, Mikkeller, Struise, etc...). Great prices, wow.

Less than a block away from Sunset Grill. A good amounts of imports and domestics. I picked up a few imports I haven’t seen anywhere else. I think the prices are A BIT high. I didn’t talk to any of the staff, but the cashier at the checkout was unhappy and looked like she wanted to be anywhere but at work. I will give it another look just on the imports alone. Maybe I will look for the beer manager next time and see what he got to say.

$40 kegs of Bud, how can you go wrong?! That’s basically all I expected until I took a look inside. Their business plan seems to be to carry a lot of stuff at decent prices, which includes a good beer selection. Not a FUN place to shop like City Beer in SF or Chevy Chase in DC, but they will sell you good beer if that’s all you care about. No singles is always a little drawback, but there are plenty of bombers of good stuf to keep you happy. I still like Charles St better, but for pure practicality/economy you can’t go wrong here.

Nice beer selection. Most Belgians, quite a few smaller microbrews. Pricing is reasonable to expensive. Nothing was really cheap unless you are getting a 30 rack of garbage. The two rarer finds I got there were Stoudt’s IPA and older version of their Imperial Stout.

I used to go here all the time in college, and coming back a few years later, I have some changed opinions on it. I used to only buy six-packs (with occasional exceptions) and this place has a pretty good selection of them. As for singles, I have looked through them a few times, but only on my most recent visit have I given them the serious consideration they deserve. There is a rather large selection (for example, there is no place in DC that comes close to this). In general, the prices are a bit on the high side. Things cost about a dollar or two or ten more than New Beer Distributors in New York. That being said, you can get some things for good prices. They put seasonal stuff on sale (one memorable moment was $5 Yulesmith... yeah it tasted great). I’ve never talked to the staff about beer. Most are college students who love drinking. I heard the manager interviewing one guy who actually seemed to have some good beer experience though.

My first time to Blanchard’s since Marty’s closed down last year. I was very impressed by the selection: both international and domestic. Basically a big warehouse with most of the hard to find beer sold warm - but the selection can’t be beat. I visited Charles St. and left empty handed. I continued to Blanchard’s and selected 12 bombers that I have not seen in any other Boston stores - and I left another 10 or so on the shelves. No help offered whatsoever - but I wasn’t looking for any. Prices seemed a bit steep, but it is Boston.

Wow.. this place has improved, big time. Mostly liquor and wine, with an increasing beer selection. Lots of locals, lots of Allagash, Smuttynose, Rogue, Stone.. loads of belgians, some Cantillon. Nice parking lot, although driving around Allston can be a pain. This place has a prime selection and very fair prices.