Total Wine

I think there's two in MA (Natick and Everett), though more may be in the works.

Normally, they put most stuff on the floor. The only time they haven't had it out that I can remember (this is Everett, btw) was Goose Island on Black Friday. Had to ask at the desk, and they did one BCBS and one Barleywine per customer. I haven't run into that with others beers, but I'm curious if KBS will be like that when it drops. The Total Wine Everett is fairly new, so admittedly, I don't have much experience with it yet.

Cheers, and happy hunting!

 

The third MA location just opened in Shrewsbury. The Total Wine in Natick has always put the rarez out on the floor in my experience. Wasn't there on Black Friday, but that weekend they had cases of regular and Barleywine sitting on a pallet.

I've said this before, but I treat Total Wine as the place to go for seasonals, dark beers and some of the more sought after stuff because it's not people's first thought and stuff usually sticks around. Over the weekend they had cases upon cases of SMS sitting out. And the same was true for High Westified when that was around. For me, Total Wine is not really the place to buy hops because of lot of that stuff is old. Good selection nonetheless, just make sure you check dates.

 

+1 for being a good spot for darker beers/seasonals. And they have plenty.

I generally go to Total Wine for buying in bulk, for get-togethers, etc. But, I go to the mom and pop shops for specialties and fresh, hoppier beers.

 

The Natick location keeps Lunch in the back. I only know because the customer next to me asked an employee about it and they guy said they have them in the back. Couldn't believe that beer still warrants that treatment. I also don't understand the point of keeping beers behind counters for only the customers who say the magic word.

The Natick store is pretty terrible for hops. Lots of old stock and the vast majority of it is sitting warm. They're also surprisingly not great for Belgians either. They're better for domestic darker styles and bigger beers. Can also be good for something like JA House Lager since it's $2 cheaper than at the brewery and the JA stuff seems to move more frequent than others

 

Pretty sure you had to ask for KBS when they first opened Everett. I was able to grab Bretta Rose off the shelf. I've gotten some decent stuff there even though I have only been in 2 or 3 x (sucaba, kbs, bretta rose, bcbs, bcbbw, ba ten fidy, DB big bad baptist, big bad baptista). Nothing crazy, but they get good allotments of national releases.

 

Was in the Natick store last night. I was surprised how many hoppy beers were sitting warm with canned dates in early January or Dec, No thanks.

Did see some NS Whirlpool in the cooler, didn't check dates though.

Great prices on wines though....which is why I went in.

 

I will say TW is good for an occasional fire sale of something that doesn't need to be super fresh. Last winter they were selling 4-packs of Wyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin for $3.30, I guess because they thought it was getting out of season. It's an 8% malt bomb so it's fine that it was 4 months old. Amazing purchase as I love that beer. I've also seen St. Bernardus Christmas Ale on sale out of Xmas seasons - another huge favorite of mine. Bottles of that can join my cellar anytime of year.

 

That's awesome! There's a cheap ass store near me that sells busted up, way out of date cases for just a dollar or two off of the original price, and another that doesn't discount until about a year has passed. Bizarrely, people actually buy the stuff.

 

I was in the West Hartford location recently and happened to peek into the walk in cooler and saw some Sea Hag next to some other cases. When I entered I found G Bot right next to it. Haven't seen that in about a year. I don't remember the other cases but not sure why Sea Hag needed to be hidden.

 

Do they hide it or put it there in order to avoid making room on shelves for a beer that will be gone in a short time? I am not sure which it is...

 

Picked up BA Ten Fidy with no limit last year in Natick. Guess I know where I'm headed when's KBS drops. None of this 2 bottles per customer BS. Any other places close to Waltham that don't limit you like that? Not looking for a case, but a couple 4 packs would be great.

 

No clue

 

I've had pretty good success at the one in West Hartford. Usually a pretty good selection of broken up single bottles/cans of things i'm interested in trying but don't want to commit to a 6 pack for. They also have a pretty good selection of stouts and sours.

A couple of weeks ago they had 6packs of High-Westified for like $13 and tons of Weybacher SMS to go around.

 

From what I've heard, sea hag is back on allocation. The case price went up too. Same thing happened when they expanded.

 

The Norwalk CT Total Wine has a shit ton of fresh Sea Hag selling at $7.99/6 pack. Pretty great deal.

That said you do usually need to check dates on hoppy stuff. Sip, GBot, etc goes fast (immediately) but less sought after stuff can sit a while.

 

$9 at the west hartford store. What is the logic there o,O

 

That's at or below cost at 7.99 per 6 pack. Total Wine has been toeing a fine line with CT minimum pricing laws. Seems like this one may be close.

 

it's what they do, they always mess with pricing for sticker shock. I've seen Sam Adams Boston lager and seasonal dirty cheap and then variety pack and other 12pks $2-3 sometimes $4 higher; which makes no sense..... They put little mom and pops out of business and then they start raising their prices because there isn't anymore competition. Plus all those no name wines and spirits they carry and try to push on you every time you go in because it's their "exclusive brands" is crap. I like my normal house hold name brands and I'll pay a little extra to a mom and pop then give them my business.Say goodbye to having that relationship with an owner of a mom and pop and sell hello to just being another number.

 

I have frequented the West Hartford (Westfarms) TW location since it opened in 2016 and have had great success in scoring the good stuff. BCBS Regular on Black Fri, BCBS Barleywine a couple weeks later on a random drop, FW Bravo, Evil Twin Double Barrel Jesus and BBA Maple Jesus to name a few. The prices are always a couple dollars less than the smaller bottle shops too.

After living in Charlotte for years and hitting the 3 TWines and bottle shops down there, I'm impressed with the allocations that this CT Twine gets, compared to the smaller bottle shops. In NC, it seemed like the rare stuff went to bottle shops first and TW second, if at all. In CT, TW always gets theirs it seems.

Now that being said, if TW didn't have their current "beer guy" and it was a bunch of dumbasses that didn't know anything, then I'd probably quit going and stick with smaller mom & pop shops.