Total Wine doesn't get it (yet another freshness rant)

Honestly, I'd still have picked that up - RuinTen was absolutely amazing. It's already been aged for you =)

 

Maybe we should not be surprised that "Total Wine" does not handle beer well.

 

Again, I think that the one in River Edge NJ does a pretty good job.

My takeaway is that even for a chain, it's not all that useful to make blanket assumptions about them.

 

Yeah, never been to a Total Wine (their NJ stores are too far north or south of me) but whenever I see someone say "But be sure to check the dates!" (including me) about any retailer, I always think - and sometimes even reply:

"Yeah, OK, good advice. But at what off-premise retail establishment is that NOT the case?"

There might be some retailers who will now respond, "Well, you've never been to my store," and they're right. Pre-pay a rental car for me (sorry, I get motion sick on buses, trains and planes) and I'll gladly visit and drop a hundred bucks or so...

 

And recently there have been more and more purchasing of packaged beers directly from the plethora (and expanding number) of small, local breweries. The 'complexion' of beer retailing is changing.

Cheers!

@RobH

 

From a BA student I’d say that’s true, but they get a lot of help from the Distributors, and the guys receiving beer that are a bit above min wage, might not drink beer, poorly trained, the store staff might not even know they date the cans. So its a corporate problem as much as anything, and individual stores might vary. But still a good many of the 6 the month old beers are still in date and sellable, and this is where they lose it. Most beer drinkers don’t know about dates and then they might decide the beer isn’t so great and it’s expensive. So the best way to buy beer is from the brewery if that’s possible

 

And I can report that is happening more and more in my area at the ever growing number of small. local breweries that opened last year and are continuing to open this year.

Cheers!

 

At least you can control your own beer destiny by making sure it’s optimal. It’s a double win if the brewery has talent though, never a given.

 

Agree. Noticed this at a lot of beer distributors. They do not seem to care either!

 

Same for Bevmo. I have not been in years. I am stuck in a hamster wheel. Since I haven't been going I no longer know what is fresh, yes I could check for dates. However if I need to check dates I am out

 

Unfortunately you should always check dates, if Ca uses a three tier system the Distributors just want to push beer out of their warehouse. The only place I don’t check dates is if I’m buying right from the brewery, but that’s the only exception on time sensitive beers. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy Stouts from TW, I’ll find the best price. This is the best and worst beer market I’ve ever seen, best because our distro is expanding bringing in lots of great beers, the worst because there’s so many beers on the shelf aged beers are very common.

 

Yup, I agree with you here.

In past threads I have even discussed that maybe it would be 'better' if beer retailers limited the number of brands that they carry with the hope that a lesser amount of brands results in quicker turnover and fresher beer on the shelves.

Cheers!

 

I've been burnt to many times in the "mix in match" aisles in a few stores, I won't do it anymore. I recently bought a local beer I love that was on the loose shelf and had a date of only 3 weeks old that was skunked. The sad part was I could have drove 10 minutes from where I was and bought it at the brewery. I'm betting someone broke a 4 pack out of the cooler and the store put the leftovers on the room temperature loose shelf. I'll buy only cold or full 4 packs from them from now on.
I have been in more than a few bottle shops that sell "craft beer" only to find the dates over 6 to 12 months old. I guess it's hard as a vendor to anticipate supply and demand.
It has to be rough for local bottle shops to keep up with all the new beer tends recently especially with all the small breweries popping up.
Maybe Total Wine, because of their volume, stands out but stores aren't going to eat 100's of dollars of shelf turds we "beer snobs" pass over. Just my opinion and we aren't really beer snobs just educated consumers. Cheers.

 

It's certainly the case at all the best beer retailers around me.

It's simply not possible to stock the 500+ labels these stores want to carry and not end up having old beer out on the floor, judging by the fact that no beer retailer seems able (or willing) to pull it off. Maybe the answer is to carry fewer labels, or at least to be willing to run out of stock on things until you can get new, fresh stock in - but even that is dependent on having a good quality distribution partner who is supplying you with consistently fresh product.

In other words, it indeed happens everywhere and is probably never going to change.

 

Just got back from San Jose and, yeah, I think of BevMo as the "Pacific Total Wine" now. I did luck out and got some month-old Heretic Evil Cousin, but had to be a malt-maid and check the dates!

 

I was at a Total Wine today, and I noticed that they had a number of 4-packs of FW Gen-1 sitting on the shelf with a canned on date just beyond 6 months: it was dated at mid-November of 2018 (I think it was 11-15-18). When I told the manager he said, "Oh. They told us that it was fresh. I'll make sure to destroy these." I am guessing 'they' was a reference to the distributor. Not a bad response, but ultimately the responsibility for stocking old beer is on Total Wine--even if they have the distributor actually put the beer on the shelves.

That same visit I was looking for a local IPA that I checked the date on and noticed was bottled in the middle of January of this year, and there were cases of it stacked nearly eye-level (NOT in a cooler). I'm sure it's still drinkable at four months old, but I passed on it. It's sad, because those that try it will not be drinking it anywhere near it's best, and it will only continue to degrade.

As others have mentioned, something will have to give. I realize it is a delicate balance for the retailers of not running out of the product VS having old product sit and slowly degrade. And I'm guessing the brewer/distributor loves that Total Wine buys so much of their beer; but at what point is having too much of their old product sitting around on the floor at all of the Total Wines in the area going to end up hurting the brewery? I remember about the same time last year seeing a similar beer (I believe it was an IPA) from this brewer sit around in stacks on the floor in a different Total Wine in the area that was I think roughly 4-5 months old.

 

Yesterday I peeked into TW to get wine for SWMBO. I noticed some Oozlefinch cans had the TW stick on barcode adhered OVER their canned on date on the can (theirs is printed on can itself, not the bottom). You have to take your fingernail and peel off the barcode to get to the date.

Things that make you say HMMMMMMMM

 

Ouch! Our hyvee in Johnston IA used to be kinda like that. But that is Unacceptable.