Total Bev, a review. Or, why PJ shouldn’t be given a shopping cart.

View from the outside (from their website)

Remember, last week, when I said

I don’t have the wallet to walk in to a bottle shop and walk out with a case of what I want. However, I also don’t have the will power NOT to do that. So, I tend to be careful when entering a good liquor store.

Ya. Oops.

First, advice. Unfollow @TotalBev right now.

Just kidding.

Follow them. Yes, Total Bev is full of every variety of alcohol, and any variety of varietal. What I’m trying to say is, they have options. Their Twitter account, however, likes to interact with the beer geeks. So follow them, you won’t be disappointed. Unless you go visit, and Bess brings you a shopping cart. In which case you might need to unfollow them to save your wallet / liver / fridge space. Follow?

Anyway. I got a message from Bess, the in-house beer geek and in-house social media guru, that they had a select few bottles of Life & Limb waiting for special beer geek pickup. I drove up there, went to the wrong store first (there’s also a Total Beverage. Don’t be confused. Total Bev is what we’re talking about here), and eventually found my stopping point.

Domest Island

Once inside, I found Bess and fellow employee/beer geek Tristan. I dropped off a few bottles of homebrew (Oak Scotch Ale and a Black Butte Porter clone), some stickers, etc., and grabbed my bottle of L&L. Wandered over to the beer section, just to see what was there. Noticed some Stone Vertical Epic 09.09.09. Grabbed two bottles. Realized my hands were full. Picked up a basket. See where this is going?

Then I found the Lost Abbey shelf.

Domestic Island, the sequel

Which shares space with it’s sibling, Port Brewing.

This is about the point when Bess brought me a shopping cart.

Total Bev - Shopping Cart

And then it was pointed out to me that I hadn’t yet seen the Belgian section.

Close up on the Belgians

Total Bev’s selection is impressive. Let’s start there. You know the frozen food section at a supermarket? How ever many cooler doors are in one of those, that’s about how many are at Total Bev. And there’s probably only 6 (out of 40 or so?) that aren’t craft beer.

The coolers

The coolers are full of 4-packs, 6-packs, 12-packs, sampler packs, brewer’s choice packs, singles, bombers, and other packaging options, from every brewery available to Colorado.

Then there’s the island where I found Lost Abbey, Port, Stone, Rogue, Dogfish Head, The Bruery, and other domestic heavy hitters.

Then there’s the long shelf of Belgians and other imports.

A long look down the import shelf

And then there’s another island of seasonal choices, currently stocked with Christmas ales.

Imports and seasonal island

So, in summary, if it’s available in Colorado, you can find it at Total Bev. The staff is super knowledgeable about beer, and have tried most, if not all, of their selection. They have a discount card that saves on 6-packs and the likes. My 19 item order didn’t have too much of a discount, but that’s what you get for buying bombers.

If you’re curious, here’s what I bought:

My collection

Moral of the story: I won’t be doing another bottle shop post for a while, while my wallet recovers. But I highly advise a visit up to Total Bev in Westminster.

Bottle Shop Info:

Total Bev Westminster – totalbev.com
303-426-4800
9359 Sheridan Blvd
Westminster CO 80031
(map)

8 Comments to “Total Bev, a review. Or, why PJ shouldn’t be given a shopping cart.”

  1. Taylor 4 December 2009 at 9:07 am #

    How does it compare to Argonaut? Westminster is a ways for me, but if there is a drastic difference I may try to make monthly trip.

    Reply
  2. Tweets that mention PJ Hoberman » Total Bev, a review. Or, why PJ shouldn’t be given a shopping cart. -- Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by hookedonwinter (PJ) and Jim Dean, Denver Beer. Denver Beer said: 1 of my favorite beer stores. Great mix 6 selection. RT @hookedonwinter: New post on hop press: a look at @TotalBev –> http://bit.ly/6Xuwva [...]

    Reply
  3. ubermajestix 4 December 2009 at 10:00 am #

    LiquorMart in Boulder also has passionate beer geeks on staff and an impressive selection of craft beer.

    They don’t have as much craft shelf space especially considering their proximity to one of the top party schools in the country, which fills a lot of the beer section with bargain basement beers.

    But I still can find lots of Belgian beers, craft bombers and even craft Japanese brews along side a “make your own six pack” section (which boasts a 20% discount off single bottle prices).

    Definitely my choice beer store in Boulder.

    Reply
  4. Markets | Make Mine Potato

    [...] love this post on the dangers of beer shopping. Thank goodness I didn’t make it to this store during our [...]

    Reply
  5. The Beer Wench 4 December 2009 at 12:19 pm #

    Awesome.

    I need a job so I can be a beer buying baller like you :)

    Reply
  6. markdredge 6 December 2009 at 9:33 pm #

    Man, we need beer stores like this in the UK!! (preferably with the same selection of beer too!)

    Reply
  7. PJ Hoberman » I like beer. It makes me a jolly good fellow! (Rackhouse Pub Review)

    [...] showed up around this point. Phill, a friend from college, and Bess, of Total Bev. You know, the one who forced a shopping cart on me at the awesome liquor store. Ya, [...]

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  8. PJ Hoberman » Storing Beer

    [...] collection was pretty small until my visit to Total Bev. I think I had about four bottles of commercial and one or two homebrews. Then I gained another [...]

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