Almost reluctantly, I have to tell you about Binny's Beverage Depot with 18 locations in the greater Chicagoland area. Reluctant, I say, because Binny's may have the best selection of beer - domestic, imported and micro-brews - in the Chicago area. And with that, they also have the highest prices.
Binny's has been in business since 1949 and was one of the first liquor stores in the Chicago area to feature wines from around the world. As they grew over the years, Binny's became synonymous with wine, beer and liquor to thousands of customers.
As I said, Binny's doesn't have the best prices in town. Their wine and beer prices are higher than you find at Sam's Wines or at Famous Liquors, but they certainly have, arguably, the best selection of beer in town.
We were recently invited to a "Mardi Gras" dinner party at the house of a co-worker of Cindy's. I wanted to take a Louisiana beer to the dinner, but couldn't find any at a number of places I looked previously in the Chicago area. As a last resort I went to the Binny's Superstore in Schaumburg. I was looking for either a Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager or something from the Abita brewery.
I will say the guys at Binny's are very helpful. I was told by a very knowledgeable beer guy there that the Dixie Brewery didn't survive Hurricane Katrina, but was scheduled to start shipping beer that was brewed under contract with another brewery in Louisiana. And he found a couple different kinds of Abita beer for me - Abita Turbodog and Abita Amber. But they weren't cheap - $8.49 a six pack.
Even a six pack of Old Style that is usually $3.99 in most places is $4.59 at Binny's. I don't understand how they can sell beer for those prices and get away with it.
The guy told me the Schaumburg Binny's location had beer tastings for members of their beer mailing list on Friday and Saturday nights. He told the guy who checked me out to get me signed up for the mailings. When I told him that I lived in the Quad Cities, he said, "That's all right. There may be something that you may want to come in for. Let the wife shop at Woodfield (mall) and you come over here for the tasting."
Like I say, Binny's may have the best selection of beer in Chicago, but if you can find your favorite beer elsewhere I can almost guarantee you that it will be much cheaper than what it is at Binny's. The only thing is that Binny's has the hard to find stuff, and with that, they've got you over a barrel.
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