Tuesday 25th of May 2010 03:02:16 PM

link
Located on the intersection of 2 big streets, it is pretty easy to spot. It is a fairly large sized store.

The entire back wall is beer, but mostly macros, with imports to the right and craft in the middle. Off to the far right corner is a mini-cooler with some very good seasonals at reasonable prices. There is also a growler filling station. They had Newcastle Summer Ale, Capital Tett Imperial Doppelbock and another. They also had the awful people from Horny Goat doing a tasting. It was so bad watching so many people walk out of there with their product, but hey at least they're trying.

The beer aisles are at the far end of the store. The have a glut of eastern Euro imports, Three Floyds at 2 for 8.50 for Gorch Fock, Alpha Klaus, and Broodoo, an okay selection of Belgians, a nice selection of Germans and another whole aisle of American Craft.

The service is helpful and friendly. Overall this is a great place.

Wednesday 18th of March 2009 02:12:01 PM

link
This place has a very clean small warehouse feel with lost of neon signs and its own parking lot. Inside there are coolers along the wall with more neon. I would say over 3/4 of the beer is in coolers with a smaller two isles of beer warm and in the back of the store. They have most of the WI beers you could want with lots of the one-off/limited release beers aswell. They had a good amount of Stone beers and a lot of the other big named American craft breweries along with a few European breweries aswell. It felt like a well stocked store catering to Illinois beerhunters. Staff was mostly chating at the checkout but I didn't need help finding the beer. This will be a definite stop when I'm in the area.

Monday 20th of August 2007 11:28:46 AM

link

11/10: GROWLERS!!1!
There are six lines, three on either side of the coolers. On the right side, near the seasonals cooler there's a dry erase board with the 6 taps and their prices. One line is devoted to soda i'm told (Sprecher Root Beer). I lucked out with O'so Hop Whoopin', after learning they didn't have Lupulin Maximus in yet. Also on tap was Celebration and a few others. They would do well to emphasize the local WI craft beers... Quality wise... I didn't see any sanitation of the caps and hoses, hopefully it's not an issue.

12/2009: Every time I stop here the service is great, and they carry your beer to the car for you. I asked about a case discount, and they gave me 5% off my entire purchase. The guy stocking coolers was helpful with info about seasonals and stock questions. Great independent store.

04-05-2009
Stopped here today and found the selection much improved. Expanded imports and plenty of local micros to be had, including Ale Asylum Ballistic IPA that I was hunting for. Deep discounts on past seasonals (a CASE of Weyerbacher Winter for $12) "Past code" Pikantus (tasted fine) and St. Louis Cassis (bleh) for $0.99. Seemed to be many more Belgians than I remember from a year or two ago. A few things here that weren't to be found in the surrounding area...

Original review: 08-20-2007

After finally finding the beer aisle at the back of the store, I was relieved. The beer coolers start in the back once you walk in, and the shelves are the very last ones, in the back corner of the store. Cold selection of Bells, New Glarus, Sprecher, and other locals. On the shelves, there were a few more seasonal selections and bombers not found in the coolers.

Strong selection of Smuttynose (6), 3 Oskar Blues, 4-5 Tyranena, 4-5 Three Floyds, most of the New Glarus line, including the latest Unplugged Bourbon Barrel Bock, and current seasonal, Dancing Man Wheat. There were a couple limited release Sprecher items, that i've only seen before at the brewery.

Imports were mainly German and Eastern European, some UK singles on the top shelf above the mediocre import 6-packs. Belgians were mostly on an endcap facing the registers, maybe 20 at most. That's an area they could definitely expand. What they had was good, including Dulle Teve, Rochefort 10, Barbar, Chimay, & Duvel.

A few glasses were on the back shelf, but nothing remarkable. Stacked cases on the floor of the back wall, with a sale sign on a few. Register was easy, quick with no hassles. They boxed up my haul and carried it to the door for me. Recommended if you're in the area, hunting for WI micros.