Total Beverage

qchic

Maryland

3.85/5  rDev -3.5%
quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Having read previous reviews, Total Beverage was not the beer mecca I was hoping for. Someone might be more impressed if they were shopping for imports, but I was looking for micros not available on the east coast. It certainly is a big, clean, and well-lit store with a better than average selection, but I didn't find any rarities. The great selection of singles should give out-of-towners the opportunity to sample many local brews with a discount on mixed sixers. Good thing, because the prices were a little higher than other stores in the area. I'd return if I was passing by.

02-08-2008 05:06:29 | More by qchic

GJ40

North Carolina

3.96/5  rDev -0.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Total Beverage is your typical box store with lots of space, a variety of products (beer, wine, spirits, etc.) and an emphasis on function over form.

They pack a pretty impressive beer selection. They had Pliny and a few other RR offerings, loads of Belgians and a lot from the west. Quite a bit of it was refrigerated though a good portion was at room temperature as well. They also had a mix-a-six section.

Total Beverage lacks the charm you want from a great bottle shop but they have a pretty decent line up.

01-26-2012 01:23:23 | More by GJ40

HOPPYKC

Kansas

4.05/5  rDev +1.5%
quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I was traveling to Breckenridge, Colorado for a skiing trip with my friends from oklahoma, kansas and washington. This is probably the bast place i've seen as far as selection goes. I have to admit i'm a bit biased because of the selection that Colorado offers compared to Kansas. The entire Left side of the building is made for craft beer lovers and selection. They have plenty of cold quality brews, and the next 2 aisles over are for single bottle specialty bottles. If you' going through the Colorado/ Denver/ Boulder/ Fort Collins area take an extra 30 minutes to explore.

01-19-2011 05:50:27 | More by HOPPYKC

MilwaukeeCrusher

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev +0.3%
quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

When I walked into this place I knew it was going to be expensive. I had just arrived to Colorado and thought this would be the place to stop. Had tons of bombers and six packs, cooler to floor ratio was about half and half and prices were reasonable to possibly beyond reasonable. The place inside in clean and a modern facility. I didn't get much help as far as service, but then again I tend to work quickly and maybe they think I didn't need it. They had pretty much everything including some of the rare releases by the usual suspects, but some of the smaller breweries might have been a little unrepresented and some breweries from other areas. Still a great start to a beercation in the greater Denver area.

01-08-2011 22:45:41 | More by MilwaukeeCrusher

alli4051

Colorado

4.2/5  rDev +5.3%
quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I'm lucky enough to be temporarily staying directly in the middle of both Total Beverage locations, which staff at both stores swear they are in no way related. The Thornton version is generally clean and well stocked. The hours are nice too since they are open till 11pm if I'm not mistaken. Every time I have been in there have been staff in the beer section and they have always acknowledged me; however, since I have always had an idea of what I was looking for I can't really speak to their knowledge. Overall a great selection and prices appear to be pretty average for the area.

02-27-2010 02:10:35 | More by alli4051

onecrazybreeze

Colorado

3.4/5  rDev -14.8%
quality: 4 | service: 2 | selection: 4 | $$

I must say as far as selection goes, they've got it. I managed to come away with quite a few good and hard to find beers at a reasonable price (and a few discounted because of the "old date" but i'll get to that). Like the other one, all the bombers are kept on the floor, not in the coolers, and some seem rather dusty and dirty. If that's a problem for you, then shopping there would not be recommended, I understand the quality control issues involved and it did make me a little weary to buy beers that needed to be aged because they were not being stored properly. Also the staff around the beer was nonexistent and those at the cash registers clearly knew very little about the beer on their shelves. I received a discount because the vintages on the bottles, the cashier thought they were "old" and therefore "no longer good" which is fine with me, I'll take the discount... However I think I'd rather pay full price for something knowing a knowledgeable person was helping me along the way. The selection is awesome, but the lack of staff and the lack of knowledge is such a let down that if that's important for you or want help finding beer a different store would be worth looking at first.

12-30-2008 07:33:34 | More by onecrazybreeze

Crosling

Colorado

2.6/5  rDev -34.8%
quality: 2 | service: 2 | selection: 4 | $$$

Really nice selection of beer. Unfortunately, due to their poor sales overall and the fact that they keep most of their beers on the warm shelf (including IPA's and Belgian's,) I hesitate to buy beer from them. Like I said, the selection is good. One of the top 10 in the state. That being said, they keep IPA's on warm shelf and their import selection just seems very dusty and old. I've been here several times and the staff sucks. Due to the poor knowledge of the staff and the fact that it seems like several of their beers are past prime, I have to give this store a poor score.

11-18-2008 07:02:53 | More by Crosling

denflyr

Texas

3.7/5  rDev -7.3%
quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

I set out to find beer primarily on this trip to Total Beverage, but they do offer a nice selection of just about everything else.

The beer selection is on the left side as you walk in. Pretty much a soild wall of beer. In the back corner there are 2 full coolers with single beer that if you make up a sixer you will get 27% off the individual price. There were some nice selections in there. Of course this is coming from someone who does not have a place like this in Houston where I live (what was I thinking in leaving Denver!).

There was a nice selection of Belgium's in bombers primarily. The bomber selection also had a nice selection with everything from local breweries to the bigger PAC NW breweries and stuff like Allagash.

As far a service, it is a fine line between someone bothering you and someone not knowing a thing. I asked about a specific beer and they deer in the headlights look was very evident. That's alright though....you can't expect a full-time beer guy there at all times!

I will visit here again next month and look forward to the offerings. Hope the selection continues to improve expecially considering this is my favorite time of the year with the autumn offering and the winter warmers just around the corner...now if I could just get it to cool off down here in Houston!

09-17-2008 02:32:22 | More by denflyr

GilGarp

Colorado

4.15/5  rDev +4%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I stopped by Total Beverage after hearing good things about it on BA. I don't usually get down to Denver but, since I was in the area, I figured it was worth a look.

The place is huge, very similar in layout to Wilbur's in Fort Collins but flipped (beer on the left). A lot of the same sort of selection too.

Despite being busy, I did have someone as if I needed help finding something. I asked if they had the Black Butte XX but he didn't know what I was talking about. He was nice enough to try to find it but to no avail.

The prices were reasonable but I expected better from a place of that size. I left with a bottle of Erthel Hop-it which was on sale - $3 off.

I still prefer Wilbur's since it seems cleaner and better laid out. They also have a very knowledgeable staff.

07-12-2008 14:32:39 | More by GilGarp

Traquairlover

Virginia

4.2/5  rDev +5.3%
quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

This is close to our CO offices, so I hit it on each of my visits every couple months or so. It is a supermakret atmoshere, so service while good when you get it is spotty while you wait for someone to help. Selection is very good. Lots of relatively limited release beers, lots of unexpected imports, great micros. They have many singles so you can build your own 6-packs. Before I found this place I had just been hitting local grocery stores for a 6-pack. This is not only better than that, but better than most other liquor/beer stores I have been to.

05-13-2008 01:31:04 | More by Traquairlover