Bella Vista Beer Distributors

Expansive store with a huge beer selection. Really nice bottles available, including big sections of lambic, mead and cider. Well-laid out and easy to find. Definitely worth a stop when in Philly, as it's very central.

Has a nice selection of cases and kegs. It is set up like a small supermarket. No one on the floor to help but aisles are marked by manufacturers location. Easy to find things if you know what you want. I asked the cashier about Hopslam around the time it is released and she had never heard of it. Worth a trip if in the area.

After visiting here I realize that they are serious about distributing and sales from the store are gravy ... Not a soul said hi to me but he its a friggin distributor .... aisles are clearly marked local micro, west coast micro and macro; they had a great variety of all their exclusive brands (Dark Horse, Ballast Point, Alesmith, Boulder, Voodoo, etc) and all local Philly breweries as well as a very nice selection of Origlio brews (Stone, Russian River, Port/Lost Abbey, Unibroue, etc.) ... prices are decent and clearly marked .... if your buying in bulk its the way to go over a bottle shop. They also have weekly tastings and carry some rarities

Much better value than bottle shops because they only sell in cases. selection is quite good. Also a nice feature is swapping out a bottle to try something new up at the front. Weekly tastings are cool, too. Be sure to check the dates, though! I have seen beers on sale that were 5 months past the recommended drink before date.

I stopped in here earlier today after the Monk’s - Cantillon event. Upon entering I realized that this is not a small place. Lots of aisles filled with all kinds of beers from all over the world. Most of the beers were clearly labeled with the info and prices but some didn’t have either. As far as the service goes, I didn’t see a single employee the entire time I was inside the store. It wasn’t until I was leaving that someone finally came out of their office to help a fellow customer who had been waiting at the register for quite some time before they even noticed him. The quality was very good. Most of the cases I was interested in where pretty fresh and reasonably priced. They also had some pretty cool glasses up at the register. While the quality was good, the selection was great. From cases of Russian River, Founders, and Bells to cases of belgians like Rochefort 10 and Saison Dupont, you would be hard pressed to find a better selection of cases. Overall they have one of the best selections of case beer I have seen but the service can be a bit hit or miss it seems. I will return in the future.

could be marketed better. Too spread out

Big warehouse in south Philly. They sell cases only according to strict PA law. Quite inconvenient for a tourist. Prices though are consequently very good and selection is quite ineteresting.

We walked by this place which is just across the street from Hawthorne, so we popped in, but really, this is not designed for ratebeerians. It’s one of those PA beer distributors that only sells by the case. The good news is that they sell quite a lot of stuff including beers I have not seen elsewhere in PA like Cascade fruit beers and Maui brewing for instance. Obviously, the prices are discounted accordingly. If you want cases, I’d recommend it, but for singles, go to the Foodery, Hawthorne or Devils Den where take outs are allowed.

In terms of all PA beer distributors/beverage centers, this one feels a bit cleaner and nicer than others that I’ve been to. They redid the place sometime in 2009, I believe, and that is the main reason for the cleaner look of the place. The selection is quite good, local crafts, belgians, and the staff is friendly and knowledgable. Something that I have not seen at any distributor I’ve been to was the option to swap a beer out of your case at the counter. There is a case filled with various single beers and when you buy a case you can swap out one of your beers for one of the beers in the singles case as long as there isn’t already one of your types of beers in the singles case.

A big warehouse of beer in cases only. WTF?? Fortunately, Hawthorne’s Cafe just opened across the street, where you can buy individual bottles, fill growlers, eat, and drink.