Friday 4th of June 2010 09:55:40 PM

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2010: This was a highlight today on a trip through several north suburban liquor stores. A Grand Teton beer tasting was in progress and featured on an endcap, also several limited items like Bells 25th, Oarsman, SN 30th Ann. Black Barleywine, giant Paulaner mugs, among other things. The homemade deli goods were in ample supply, and a lady was offering free food samples. In the parking lot there was a farmer selling fresh produce, and they were doing brisk business on a Saturday afternoon. I heard Mr. Byron broke a hip and is recovering, hopefully to return to work by the holidays.

2/07

This place was on my list of uncharted stores in the North/NW burbs.

Went around noon on a saturday, and was very pleasantly surprised by the service there. The minute I walked in, I was greeted by an older gentleman (Mr. Byron) hosting a beer tasting (every sat.) of Stouts and Porters. He waxed philosophic about them, and even described the Goose Island Oatmeal Stout as "chewy". He told an interesting story of how the last three early 20th century breweries in Chicago were bought out or eventually closed, and even threw in his two cents about New Glarus returning to Chicago someday. This alone made my trip worthwhile, and on top of that, there was a good beer selection.

The first aisle when you walk in contains the craft & import selection. Take note of the ancient wooden signs hanging above the aisles. Coolers are along the back wall. Overall they may have around 125 choices, fairly modest, but good in representing regional micros. Sprecher, GI, 2 Bros., 3F all had several in their lineups represented. Picked up some Black Bavarian and GI Matilda. Only import I reached for was a Duvel 750, they had mostly standard quality imports. Another nice touch was that if they were out of something on the shelf, there was a hangtag stating when it was expected back in. No dust, things seemed pretty well cared for. Checkout was ok, same as a grocery store.

Be sure to check out the deli, they stock certain homemade items, and I can fully endorse the artichoke dip.

They don't have rare items, or a bigger selection than Binny's nearby, but they are definitely enthusiastic about beer...Be sure to check out the saturday afternoon tastings.