Friday 4th of June 2010 06:16:09 PM

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This was stop #2 on my holiday beer run extravaganza through the NW burbs. The sign on the building had an old-school charm, and the area seemed to be in transition. It was easy to find on the main drag, Hwy 120, and ample parking around the store. The place was pretty quiet inside, aside from two employees and one other customer besides myself.

There wasn't a clear "beer" sign that I could see when I entered, but there were about a dozen other signs for wine and spirit varieties. The coolers were my default, so I headed that way, then towards the back right corner of the store. About half to 3/5 of the cooler space was devoted to craft beer, including some interesting 5L minikegs like Shlenkerla Urbock ($40) and Monschof Schwarzbier ($20). At the right end of the coolers there were some free standing racks with craft bombers and 750s. Around the corner there were wooden shelves with a bunch of seasonal xmas ales. Along the wall there were a ton of imports, then US craft like JP Roja & Oro, with interesting laminated info sheets, complete with pictures of the barrels at the brewery. Port and Lost Abbey were at the end of the shelf in the corner. Glassware in different styles were located towards the end of the shelves. I counted ten Dark Horse beers on the wire rack shelving in the middle of the beer area. There were quite a few 3Floyds bombers, also Bear Republic, Rouge, and many more. Grabbed a couple singles of Hop Rocket that were still lurking around, since its my favorite Arcadia beer, and acme tells me they held up well. This store is obviously craft focused with plenty of variety.

The one employee I saw did ask me if I needed any help on his way back to the storage area, then got me a box after I went through the checkout. This Binnys is worth your time if you're in the area.

Tuesday 25th of May 2010 02:49:47 PM

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This is the closest Binny's to my house, it is housed in a building that looks liek it probably went through a few name changes/owners. Its not the cleanest store. Its heavy on the spirits but in the far corner theres a nice beer nook with a ton of imports and craft. The prices were pretty fair, especially for an Illinois store.

Cashier were nice and boxed the beers. Though I didn't receive any help when i was browsing, didn't really need any though everything was pretty well organized.

Overall they had a few brews I haven't seen elsewhere, not too many but enough to make another trip back. I'd go back for sure.