Top 5 craft beer bottle shops

Slow Beer

Welcome to beer land. Chris Menichelli’s store stocks 1000 local and international craft beers by the bottle, has four rotating brews on tap which you can take-away in a growler, and, since they’ve moved digs, you can now drink on site armed with cheese and charcuterie. 468 Bridge Rd, Richmond. Open 7 days, noon-9pm.

Harvest Wine & Liquor

Even the bottle shops are indie in Northcote. Harvest has one of Australia’s largest boutique cider collections (try the French Dupont range), but we heart them for tirelessly sourcing decent Belgian pilsners and ciders in cans for music festival season. 207 High St, Northcote. Sun-Wed noon-8.30pm; Thu-Sat noon-9.30pm.

Blackhearts and Sparrows

At this boutique booze haus, they run brewer tastings, stock 300 boutique beers and sell 2L growlers (aka flagons). Follow them on Twitter to see which limited microbrew is on pour for the weekend. 113-115 Scotchmer St, North Fitzroy. Mon 11am-8pm; Tue-Fri 11am-9pm; Sat-Sun 10am-9pm.

Acland Cellars

While they do stock the local legends, Acland’s claim to fame is it’s international collection – they’ve got a beer from every country! Stock up and impress the pants off any backpacker lining the St Kilda shore. 187 Acland St, St Kilda. Mon-Sat: 9.30am-11pm; Sun 11am-11pm.

Prince Wine Store

Prince covers all bases. They have all the prime international craft gear like Hitachino Nest (pride of Japan) and the award winning Nonge-O range from Norway sitting alongside seriously serious wine. 80 Primrose St, Essendon. Mon-Thu 10am-9pm; Fri-Sat 10am-10pm; Sun 11am-7pm.