Woodman's

Woodman's is a chain of super-sized grocery stores in Wisconsin and northern Illinois.  I was first introduced to Woodman's by my cousin, John Wehrle, when he was living in Milwaukee.  He said, "If Woodman's doesn't have it, they probably don't make it."

The layout of Woodman's stores is one of a massive warehouse style store.  While most grocery stores are in the range of 50,000 to 75,000 square feet, Woodman's stores range in the area of 200,000 square feet and larger.  Cindy hates to shop in the place.  "It's too friggin' big and you can't just go in there and get something and get back out." 

Woodman's began in Janesville, WI, when a young meat cutter, Willard Woodman, opened his first store in 1918.  Over the years, Woodman expanded his store and opened a second location in Janesville.  After Willard Woodman retired in the 60's, his sons, Phillip and Daniel Woodman, expanded Woodman's to a third Janesville location.  This time, it was the warehouse floor lay-out all Woodman's Food Markets employ today. 

Woodman's began to branch out in their selections of food items.  They began to carry ethnic and international foods on their shelves.  Their meat department was four times the size of meat departments you'd find in a normal grocery store.  And being they're based out of Wisconsin, each Woodman's has at least two large cheese aisles.      

In the 1990's, Phillip Woodman orchestrated the purchase of Woodman's by their employees.  There are now 11 Woodman's employee-owned locations, eight in Wisconsin and three in Illinois.  They're planning new stores this year in suburban Milwaukee and in far southwest suburban Chicago.  Phil Woodman remains as the CEO of the stores.    

To me, Woodman's is two stores in one.  There's the huge grocery store that literally has every food stuff available to buy, but they also have one of the most massive selections of beer, wine and liquor in the Midwest. 

Actually, the liquor stores at Woodman's operate separately from the main store.  The keep their own hours and you can't go into the liquor area and pick up beer or wine, then take it to the main Woodman's check-out area.  You have to purchase it before you leave the liquor area. 

As I said, they have a large selection of beer, wines and liquor - and all at a good price.  But be forewarned, they don't take credit cards at Woodman's.  So if you're going to a Woodman's to stock up on some good deals on beer or wine, take cash.  Actually, they do have an ATM in the liquor stores if you do forget your cash, but Woodman's takes a percentage fee from the transaction.

Now, I told you that story to tell you this one -

As I wrote earlier about the demise of Capital Brewery's 1900 beer, I asked the girl at the Capital Brewery if she had any of their Winter Skal seasonal beer on hand.  Since they only brew it from November 1 to February 1, she said they'd long since sold out of it.  However, she was nice to pull a bottle out of the cooler in the brewery's bier stube and she gave it to me. (It was a nice little gesture, considering I just bought four cases of beer from her.)

Last week, I was in LaCrosse, WI, to meet with a dealer.  The dealer was at a job site and was late for the meeting at his store.  So while I waited, I decided to trek down the road to the Onalaska Woodman's store (see map) and check out what they had for beers on their shelves. 

As I walked in, I looked at a cart full of discounted and priced to move wines and beers.  And to my amazement, there were seven six-packs of the Capital Winter Skal.  And even more amazing, they were $4.99 each.  Considering that a six pack of Capital beers run any where from $7.69 to $8.99 a sixer, $4.99 was a significant deal!

Not to be too piggy, plus the fact that I'd just brought home close to 10 cases of beer from Wisconsin the week before, I grabbed a case box and loaded up four of the six-packs.  With tax, the case cost me $21.06.  That's significantly better than paying close to $29 bucks a case at the Capital Brewery or $32 bucks most every place else for a case of Capital Beer.  Plus I got some Winter Skal.

In both 2005 and 2006, Winter Skal garnered the award and designation of a Grand Champion beer in the United States Beer Tasting Championships.  It is amber in appearance, and has a forceful and flavorful hoppy taste with a smooth finish. 

When I told one of my beer snob friends that I had picked up a case of Winter Skal last week, he sniffed, "Aw, it probably isn't going to be any good.  It's well past its prime selling time." 

I told him that because the Winter Skal is such a hoppy beer, it will still be good tasting for months after it's been brewed.  It's very similar to Boulevard's Irish Ale in texture, body and taste.  I've had Irish Ale in my beer fridge for up to six months after they've brewed the last of it and it's still good. 

Woodman's always has nice little surprises when I walk into any of their liquor stores.  The Winter Skal was another of many great buys I've found over the years at Woodman's.  Woodman's is highly recommended if you're ever hunting for beer in Wisconsin.