Wine Hotline Updated

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The Wine HotlineBe sure to check out the brand new update to the Wine Hotline. And goodness, this update is a big one, including hard-hitting issues:

 

exotic, but not too exotic ♦ what California chardonnay should be ♦ wine and food from Nantucket to Washington State ♦ a buyer’s vintage ♦ a bit of chantilly cream ♦ a wisp of creamy smoke ♦ spring flowers, crushed rocks, smoked game ♦ steamed buns ♦ what Oregon pinot is all about ♦ Walla Walla 

 

Yes! So for all that and more, be sure to check out the newly updated  Wine Hotline.

Whiskey Hotline Hits the Road: Scotland Days 4-6

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Coleburn Distillery

 

Been a while. Day 4 was a travel day, but we got some stuff done early. Drove the A95 to near Fogwatt and discovered the small drive that leads to Coleburn distillery. A distillery from 1897 until 1985, it was important for production experiments for DCL (now Diageo) but lost as so many others were to the economic downturn and sinking popularity of whisky in the 80′s. It’s now being renovated as a B&B/Restaurant/event space for live music by a Scottish musician called Mark Winchester. The grounds will make a beautiful resort, alas, no distilling will take place.

 

Next we went to Aberlour, a pretty place set at the Aber (east coast Gaelic for “opening”) of the river Lour, where it flows into the Spey. This reminded my just how good a’Bunahd (original) is. Drove all day after that to Ayr.

 

 

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Binny’s New Brew: Goose Island’s 25th Anniversary Ale

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Binny’s Beverage Depot would like congratulate Goose Island on a fantastic 25 years! We’re celebrating by picking Goose’s 25th Anniversary Ale as our Binny’s New Brew. Adam Vavrick, Beer Manager at Lincoln Park gives us his insight on why the brew is something to celebrate.

 

vav_nick

 

What type of beer is it?
Goose Island 25th Anniversary is an Extra Special Bitter based on an obscure pub recipe called Honker’s Deluxe, which was basically double Honkers. The final recipe is a collaboration of three minds: Brett Porter, the current Brewmaster, Greg Hall, the former Brewmaster, and Nick Barron, the pub Brewmaster.

 

 

Why an ESB?
It harkens back to the original roots of Goose Island, namely founder John Hall’s trips to England where he fell in love with the those classic styles that inspired him to open Goose.

 

Where is it brewed?
Right here in Chicago…in fact, there are two variations: the one brewed at Fulton available in six packs on our shelves and the batch Nick brewed at the pub, which is available on cask (!!!!!!) for the month of May.

 

What’s it like?
It’s a lovely, stylistically accurate ESB. It pours a russet orange/amber with a fluffy bone white head. The nose is toasted grain and green, floral hops, with a hint of sweet orange peel. It has a medium body with an onrush of toasted white bread, which melds into a honey on biscotti kind of flavor, finishing quick with snappy, herbaceous hops.

 

What kind of food would you enjoy it with?
This is just begging for a herb crusted pork loin with asparagus, but if you want to go traditional, shepherd’s pie.

 

Drooling… thanks Adam! You can stop by Binny’s in Lincoln Park on Saturday for a Chicago Craft Beer Week event with Goose Island. Current Brewmaster Brett Porter, Former Brewmaster Greg Hall and Pub Brewmaster Nick Barron will be on hand to talk everything Goose Island and sample some of Goose’s award winning beers. We will sample two special beers as well, Bourbon County Baudonia & Sofie Paradisi.

 

Be sure to check out all of the Chicago Craft Beer Week festivities going throughout the week, including our very own.

Beer Buzz Hits the Road: Belgium Days 2 and 3

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We spent day 2 of our journey through Belgium exploring the city of Antwerp with our friends from Troubadour. The biggest news of the day was Nate Hadley’s arrival. Our poor Naperville beer manager was bumped on his flight over due to the flight being overbooked. The flight he was hoping for standby on was also overbooked and then cancelled due to mechanical problems. He spent a night in Washington DC and finally got to us today. His luggage, however, did not. At least he’s here!

 

troubadour

 

Troubadour beers are outstanding across the board. They have a Blond, Obscura (a light stout), Magma Triple IPA, Westkust (a black IPA), and an imperial stout. It’s great to see a Belgian brewery embracing US Craft brewery ideas and creating hop forward beers in a country typically completely devoid of them. If you haven’t had Magma, do yourself a favor and pick one up. There also may still be some of the limited edition Sorachi Ace Magma floating around at some of our stores.
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Wine Hotline Hits the Road: Walla Walla, Washington

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A group of Binny’s wine staff visited Walla Walla, Washington. Jon Kaiser reports from the road:

 

Long Shadows Barrels

 

Most of the Walla Walla wineries we visited, with the exception of Woodward Canyon, source their grapes from the Columbia, Cascade, and Yakima Valleys. The vineyards in Walla Walla have to be in elevation above 600 feet to avoid damaging frost when the vines start to bud. A primary characteristic of these valleys that create such rich and full bodied Cabernet Sauvignons, Syrahs, and Cabernet Francs is that during the warmer months the valley floors get very warm but the vines enjoy drastically cooler nights. The sun warms the soil during the day so that it radiates heat throughout the night, keeping the vines active even when the temperature cools. Average rainfall in Walla Walla is only 17 inches per year, so most of the agriculture in the area is dry farmed wheat while vineyards utilize drip irrigation.

 

Several of the wineries we visited in Walla Walla are located on the property of the Walla Walla Regional Airport. It was an Army Air Base during World War II where pilots learned to fly B-17 bomber aircraft. While the airport still flies small commercial planes, The Port of Walla Walla overtook ownership of the property in 1989 and the older barracks, firehouse, hangars, and buildings associated with the base are now home to 20 plus wineries including three of the biggest. We got a chance to visit Tamarack Cellars, Buty, Dunham. The quality of product and volume of production coming out of these small facilities is astounding, with production on the scale of both very large and very small. From 100,000 case production wines to just a few thousand. We tasted barrel samples at many of the wineries we visited, and one of our favorites was at the Long Shadows vineyard. Customers will love Michel Rolland’s 2012 Pedestal Merlot when it finally hits the shelves at Binny’s – in a few years.

 

Long Shadows Fermentation Tanks

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Beer Buzz Hits the Road: Belgium

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We started our day with a little sightseeing in Brussels. We hit the usual spots, including the Atomium, which is a remnant from the 1958 worlds fair. It’s over 100 meters tall. Pretty cool, especially considering that all we have leftover from the worlds fair in New York is some rusty flying saucers in Jamaica Queens.

 

 

We also checked out the iconic Mannekin Pis. It’s very small, maybe 20 inches or so, and not much to look at. So I did what any forward thinking beer nerd would do and popped into Mort Subite for a glass of their house blended lambic, whose deliciousness words cannot describe.

 

 

Then we went to the Brewers Guild house in The Grand Place, the central square of Brussels surrounded by city hall and guild houses for all the trades. The brewers guild is the richest and their building is adorned with gold. There is a small brewing museum inside and always beer on tap from one of the Belgian Family Brewers.

 

 

We then left Brussels and headed to Brouwerij Boelens in small town of Belsele. It is a rustic, family owned brewery. Boelens only has one beer in the states, Bieken, a honey ale. We got to try two of their new offerings, Triple Klok and Dubbel Klok. The triple is fruity, yeasty and dry. It hides its alcohol well and pairs fantastically with some local cheeses. I really like the double, it has the expected dark fruit and yeast character, but with a very dry finish and not a hint of alcohol. A session dubbel? Sign me up. Expect to see them within a few months.

 

 

While at Boelens were were served a homemade dinner of salad, frites, a beef and veal stew made with the dubbel, and homemade ice cream. I really enjoyed this brewery, tiny and rustic. Their brew system is 30 hL capacity, but the brewer hinted that they never see that yield for any of their beers. They have a smaller copper and brick brew house that is still working and they use for special brews from time to time. They had a small bottling and labeling line, maybe 15 feet long. Great to see that after the 50,000 square foot monolith we saw at Abita a few weeks ago.

 

 

22nd Annual Skokie Festival of Cultures – May 18 & 19

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Every year, Skokie throws a big multicultural party, with folk music and dance, food, arts and crafts, games, merch and a whole bunch of displays celebrating cultures spanning the globe. I’ve been there; it’s fun. It is aptly called the Skokie Festival of Cultures. This year, for the first time, Binny’s is excited to join in the celebration.

 

Binny’s International Beer Tasting
at the 2013 Skokie Festival of Cultures
May 18 & 19, 2-6 pm
Oakton Park, 4701 West Oakton St.
$10 for six international 3 ounce beers and a free beer mug

 

Leave it to Binny’s to mix things up. We’re featuring different beers across the two days. We worked out the tasting to have some fun with different and similar styles.

 

Of course, all beer has an international background. Europe has its classic styles; the US has taken those styles and put their own twist into them. Each day, we’re featuring three domestic and three imports. Imports include the UK, Germany, and Austria. Domestically, we will pour beers from Chicago, Oregon, Hawaii, and Kansas. The lists:

 

 

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Jim Beam Seminar in Champaign

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This ain’t your Grandpas Bourbon! When Jim Beam started distilling in 1795, bourbon was pretty simple. Now it’s more complex and lots of fun! Join us for an evening of sippin’ and learnin’ with Kyle Gilligan of Jim Beam Brands this Friday.

 

Jim Beam Bourbon Seminar
Binny’s in Champaign
Friday, May 17th 7pm
RSVP (217) 355-0625 or champaign@binnys.com

 

During this seated seminar, taste several of the Beam family whiskeys, and to learn how they are made. See how this family is changing the way we think about this traditional American spirit.

 

Space for this event is limited so sign up early! The seminar will begin promptly at 7 and is free with your Binny’s card. If your plans change and you are unable to attend please contact us as we always have a waiting list.

 

 

RSVP by email by sending your name, phone number and # in your party to champaign@binnys.com and we will contact you to confirm your reservation, or call us at (217) 355-0625.

 

Katharine Schenck is a Wine Consultant at the Champaign Binny’s.

Binny’s New Brew: Sculpin IPA

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We are excited about this week’s new brew. Pat Brophy, assistant buyer for specialty spirits and beer, as well as The Whiskey Hotline representative, puts our curiosity to rest about Ballast Point and the future of the beer industry.

 

BP_Blog_BNBTell us about Sculpin.
I think it’s one of the best examples of the West Coast style IPA on the shelves. Nice malt balance, sticky and resinous hop profile and extremely bitter finish. The 7% ABV is barely detectable. It’s a world class IPA, expensive, but it’s in bombers too and is worth every penny.

 

 

How do you think Ballast Point will do in the Chicago market?
I think it’ll take off with a bang and then settle down after a couple of months. We see that with all new-to-market breweries. It adds to a growing list of powerhouse west coast breweries in Chicago. There are a lot of highly regarded, highly rated, sought after breweries from California that we don’t see in Illinois. People have been clamoring for Ballast Point for years and their beer is outstanding across the board, so I don’t see this as a brewery people will try once and not return to.

 

What’s your history with Binny’s?
Well, I started at the Buffalo Grove store about 4 1/2 years ago as a Customer Service Manager. A little less than a year later I went to the Schaumburg store as the Assistant Manager, then I went to Downers Grove for a few months after that in the same role. After a few months at Downers Grove I took over the St. Charles store as the General Manager, and then a little less than a year after that I joined the corporate buying team handling beer and specialty spirits. And the Whiskey Hotline of course!

 

Where do you see the beer industry in 5 years?
I see it getting more and more localized. We’re at a point where we have so many breweries, they are becoming hyper local. People in the towns and sometimes even neighborhoods with breweries are very loyal to their local beer, but everyone still likes to explore. That’s the real beauty of craft beer. We all have our favorites, I’m a particular homer about Chicago breweries, but there is always something new to experience in addition to the local favorites.
I also think breweries will have to continually innovate in a landscape that is now so full of breweries. It used to be you could open a brewery and make a pale ale, an IPA, an amber ale, and a Scotch ale or a stout and have fairly predictable success. But there are a TON of those styles that are great and readily available. The more breweries we have, the more they have to be different from the ground up.
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Whiskey Hotline Hits the Road: Scotland Days 2 and 3

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The meat of the trip starts with a Gordon & Macphail tasting. Plenty for the panel to look at, I’m bringing back the following for consideration (out of 40 whiskies):

 

Clynelish 1997 Refill Sherry Hoggie
Dailuane 1998 Refill Sherry Hoggie (2 casks)
Miltonduff 2004 Refill Bourbon ASB (2 casks)
Mortlach 1998 FF Bourbon ASB
Mortlach 1998 Refill Sherry Hoggie
Tormore 2000 Refill Bourbon ASB
Caol Ila 2006 FF Bourbon ASB (of course)

 

Gonna be no sweat getting a few out of these.

 

 

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