McCoppins

Whenever my friends and I are heading off camping or to a BYO music festival, our first stop is always McCoppins.
Here you will find ENDLESS supplies of beers in cans — perfect for a ‘no glass’ music festival or if you are headed to the bush for a weekend. They bring in more stock over busy weekends such as Easter or before Meredith Music Festival and stock more than just Melbourne Bitter. You’ll find heaps of delicious imported and craft beer in cans.
They also have an extensive wine area but really, it’s all about the beer.
Sure, McCoppins isn’t as cheap as, say, Dan Murphys, but you’ll find a way better selection here (and for only a couple of coins more, it’s worth it.)

While this isn’t the place to come to buy a wide selection of wine for your cellar, it’s a great pit stop on the way home or on your way to a BYO restaurant.
The selection of local and craft beers is really good and the wine selection doesn’t just stick to the boring big names. You’ll find some unique bottles here ranging in price to cheap and cheerful to hefty and impressive. I’ve bought all sorts of booze here when I’ve been in a rush and need a quick and local option, but the reason I come most often is to buy bottles of mineral water (on those boring alcohol-​free nights) and snacks!
The selection of quality snacks is small, but will keep all your munchies at bay. There’s delicious blue corn chips and fancy-​pants crisps, chocolate bars, nuts, protein balls and a range of organic sodas. They clearly know that most people want snacks with their drinks and so they seem to do a good trade in these items.
Pro tip: Throwing a party? McCoppins does glass hire!

This laid-​back bottleshop supplies the Fitzroy neighbourhood with beer and wine options. Top three reasons l like shopping here:
1. Their beer selection expands beyond the Lion & Carlton range.
2. They are open late
3. The staff is easy going.
I’m still having a heart attack over Australian alcohol prices. ($ 27 for a six pack of Sierra Nevada here vs $ 7 for the same beer in my USA hometown.) At least McCoppins offers a 10% discount on mixed bottles of six. That means the more I drink the more I save, right?

Wine, I never have a problem with. I live near tons of great wine stores. Beer on the other hand is trickier, if you can believe that. It’s not that beer is hard to come by, but when you know that craft beer isn’t limited to three brands, having the same options at every local bottle shop can be annoying.
Whenever I’m looking for a specific beer or have tasted something interesting at a bar, I know I can walk in and find it at McCoppins without even having to ask.
If you’re looking for a smaller batch brew, imports, or something not owned by the big guys, chances are you’ll find it here. If you’re looking for something different like alcoholic ginger beer or iced teas, I have no doubt that they’re stocking it too. Actually I purchased both two weeks ago.
If I’m ever in the area, I never leave without stopping by to stock up on something I know I won’t find at the local chain bottle shop.

I’m glad that I don’t live closer to McCoppins. I drive past every day for work, and luckily for my savings it isn’t open then, because a trip here other than if we just pop in to browse/​drool/​make mental notes of what we want to buy usually results in quite a spending spree.
As anyone who has read pretty much any of my reviews will know, I like beer. A lot. McCoppins has a great selection of craft beers, both local and imported. Most of the beers can be found in other places around the city, but there is the occasional gem here that you might not spot elsewhere. The beers aren’t cheap, which is to be expected, but a lot of the bottles are cheaper than I have seen elsewhere.
There is a large selection of wines here too that I’m sure is impressive, but it usually just serves as an obstacle in my way of beer. The staff here are friendly and helpful and there’s a car park out the front that just makes McCoppins even easier to pop in to and push yourself that little bit further towards being broke.
Broke, but incredibly happy, that is.

McCoppins, located on Johnston Street, is probably the best bottleshop in Fitzroy. With a great selection of wine and beers, they are my go to for anything alcoholic.
In terms of beers, they have a good selection — lots of Belgian beers, lots of Australian and New Zealand microbrews, and lots of cider (I’ll put cider in the beer category). They do have a 3 for $ 15 deal for Coopers longneck, which is always a good deal.
But I really like their wine selection — they offer affordable old world wines. I purchased a bottle of Barbera d’Alba for $ 29 the other day. A bottle of the Australian wine, Massena (shiraz blend), is $ 25, which is $ 29 at some of the other bottleshops I go to.
The guys that work here are quite friendly. I’ve never asked them for help because I go to bottleshops for a purpose and an alcoholic beverage in mind, but I don’t doubt that they will be helpful. They’re quite knowledgeable about beers — we talk.

Ah McCoppins, you are responsible for many of my hangovers.
Generally when I leave a bar, it’s because I’ve had enough to drink and am ready to stroll home, sipping some water, and go to bed. But unfortunately, a lot of these strolls home seem to be along Johnston Street, and if McCoppins is open I can’t help but pop in to grab a wee something for a nightcap. Damnit!
But McCoppins is also well positioned for grabbing a bottle of wine if you’re on your way out to dinner in Fitzroy or Collingwood. The selection is pretty good for what is essentially a drive-​through — they stock some of my favourite white wines like Pike’s Riesling and the Punt Road range, which are perfect with Thai.
It’s slightly more expensive than Dan Murphy’s, but a) there is no Dan Murphy’s in this area, and b) everywhere is slightly more expensive than Dan Murphy’s, so I don’t mind.

McCoppins has always been there for me when I’ve been in a taxi on my way from home to somewhere in the Fitzroy/​Collingwood area and needed to pick up a bottle of wine or a six-​pack of beer.
The car park out front makes it easy to pull in and pick up some booze quickly then dash out again without holding up traffic or having to stop further away and walk.
There’s loads of beer and wine to choose from though so I do spend longer in there than I should (what with the taxi metre ticking) but I’d rather have a too many good beers to choose from than end up with a watery-​whatever.
Thank you, McCoppins.

It’s weird but I don’ dislike this McCoppins nearly as much as the Clifton Hill ‘deli’ style one. This version just does booze and softies with no real attempt to be a rich-man’s supermarket. The prices are a bit steeper than some around, but their ranges of wine and beer are pretty decent and they always have deals on slabs of beer for those who are inclined (not leaning, more like thirsty).
What I like here is the staff are always these dudes that you know just love a beer and love working in a beer shop. It makes me want a job at a bottle shop. Seriously, they just have a laugh and shit. Beer also makes me happy, so y’know, we’re kindred in that way.

McCoppins is the biggest bottle shop in the area by quite a long way. It can be fairly expensive for beers as other reviewers have pointed out. One of the best beers they do value wise is the Mexican Lager Tecate. You can get a slab of cans for around $ 40. It’s refreshing, tasty and way cheaper than other beers.
The level of choice is what sets McCoppins apart from other bottle shops. The space is massive and you can get a huge range of boutique beers. Their selection of wines is also very large and the prices are not that expensive.
The dudes that you always see at McCoppins are very relaxed and make it an extremely friendly shop to be in.

If you’re around Johnston St (or the cross section of Johnston and Brunswick St) and need a bottle shop stat, McCoppins is the closest full-​scale bottle-​o. It’s massive, with a large selection of wines and beer (lots of local brews) as well as some snacks (chips, nuts, jerky, etc) and even a bowl of limes at the counter. The spirits are kept behind the counter and are decent prices, and there’s a cold room for cartons of beer.
Best of all, it’s open until midnight seven days a week, which means if you’re on your way to a party or just hanging out, it’s a great late-​night stop-​off. Two thumbs up.

It’s a pretty simple, bottle shop with a HUGE selection and a walk-​in cooler so you can get any slab of stubbies ice cold.
TIP 1: they are very expensive for beer. Very.
TIP 2: they have a pretty decent wine selection, and are quite low-​priced on a lot of it, if you can comparison shop.
Moral of the story: don’t go for beer unless you need mass mass quantities.