Total Wine has arrived...

My experience with the TWs that I’ve been to is that wine is first, spirits second, beer third. Tempted to make an LIRR trip some crappy winter weekend to fill up on the first two.

 

I've checked out the new store. I have no idea why anyone would say that the selection sucked. Are they looking for Other Half? Some Total Wines are better than others and this one is not bad by any stretch (at the moment). It's odd to shop in such a big store with so little dust. I have no idea how people can expect all that beer there to actually move. There's just too much of it from my outsider perspective. Yeah, some beers were already past their best by date, and this will get worse in time. There must be some deal with Barrier given their presence in the store (and good for them). Prices were very good for what I was looking at. Their wine side of things was clearly getting much more business when I was there though. I left with more beer than I was planning to buy. I'll be back.

@Greywulfken

 

That is definitely the case for the TW that I shop at (Claymont, DE).

In fairness there is a wide selection of beer but once you eliminate the 'old' beers there is often not much to purchase. I will go to the store with about 8-10 beer brands on my shopping list and come home with about 2-3 of those brands since they were the only non-old ones there (the other brands are typically on the shelf but the beers are too old to be worthy of purchase).

Cheers!

 

Curious, what did you grab beer-wise?

 

I will also say that the TWs I've been to often hold special release bottles on/behind the customer service counter, so keep that in mind when you walk in.

 

Chartreuse and three red wines in the main tent.

Beer-wise: Rodenbach Caractère Rouge, Maine Another One, a four pack of Barrier Reverse, a handful of German beers, and a lot of various craft singles.

What local breweries were you looking for?

 

Thanks- Just trying to make some suggestions to my friend who lives near by. He was walking down the aisle reading them off- that got old

 

But to answer your question...Finback, Greenpoint, Industrial Arts....

 

Those aren’t generally available in stores on Long Island. Finback and Industrial Arts can be easily found in certain Deciccos in Westchester. I’ve only ever seen Greenpoint cans in NYC.

 

My general way of shopping at TW is to concentrate on 3 sections: local beers, seasonal and imports. The first two will have no freshness issues, and for the imports I focus on, it doesn't really matter . Their prices are great, and they regularly carry beers that I don't see anywhere else, like the Traquair beers.

And if you're into limoncello their Bellini brand kicks ass.

 

I don't really know how to respond to this, is this a joke? There are tons of liquor stores on long island that carry far better bottles and the beer side does have a one off barrier beer surrounded by shelf turds. The limited section has a Garbage bruery bottle sitting there.

It's a great store for someone that is just getting into beer and bourbon or someone just looking to get drunk on the cheap.

 

You bet! You're not wrong about them being more retail than beer, though, so who knows if my experience will hold true. Hopefully it does.

 

East Park Beverage in Long Beach gets Greenpoint frequently btw. It's usually $17-$20 a 4pack depending on the beer.

They get Singlecut too but it's stupid expensive ($24/4pk I think).

 

What other Barrier beers did they have? Better prices than elsewhere?
What type of IPA is Reverse, not a NEIPA I hope?

 

I think they only had Reverse... and they had a ton of it. Yeah, it's not only a NEIPA, but I'd say it's in the subset of "low-bitterness" NEIPAs. (Perhaps I'm in the minority who think that typical NEIPAs are actually very bitter... don't get me started.) I wouldn't be surprised if they had an exclusive deal with Barrier for this beer, because their 4 pack price was essentially equivalent to other stores' prices for a single (as if those other stores were re-selling beer bought at the brewery).

 

... or perhaps someone who appreciates beer and other alcoholic beverages. You are coming across as someone who primarily trades or waits in brewery lines. There's a lot more out there to be appreciated.

 

No thanks then - I wish they had a bit of a description about their new beer releases.

Yes I think the original NEIPAs had that bitterness with a dry finish but now a NEIPA means a mushy fruit alcoholic beverage.