Binny’s is excited to announce the planned debut of ten nine breweries at our stores in the very near future—yes you heard us right – a whopping ten nine new breweries.

Gigantic (in select stores now)
At a recent beer show, Gigantic Brewing had a gigantic line at their table, bigger than any of the other 30+ breweries at the event. Three different bomber bottles from the Portland, Oregon based brewery began hitting select Binny’s today: Meddle Vienna Lager, The Royale Belgian Pale Ale, and Whole in the Head Imperial IPA. There isn’t much of these to go around; stop into your local Binny’s later this week for your best chance to score some.

Prairie (next week)
Prairie is an Oklahoma based brewery. If we had to compare them to any other brewery in the world, it would probably be Stillwater. Prairie features funky saisons, lots of different & new releases, and limited availability on a lot of their stuff. Almost all of our stores will be featuring Prairie Standard in 6-packs, which is a hopped up saison with detailed picture instructions on the label about how to noodle a catfish. Some of our stores will be featuring large format bottles from Prairie.

Speakeasy (next week)
Speakeasy is a San Francisco brewery. Binny’s will be featuring two year round six-packs from Speakeasy (Big Daddy IPA & Prohibition Ale) as well as Tallulah, which is a pale ale and Speakeasy’s summer seasonal offering. Select Binny’s stores will also be featuring some limited release large format bottles from Speakeasy.

Greenbush (next week)
Greenbush is currently a tiny brewery with plans for a rapid & massive expansion. They are located less than an hour and a half from Chicago in Sawyer, Michigan. Off the bat Binny’s will be featuring four different 6-packs: Anger Black IPA, Closure Pale Ale, Dunegras IPA, and Sunspot Hefeweizen. Brother Benjamin is a specialty release 4-pack that will also be available. This is an imperial IPA brewed with honey, which we found to be very similar to Bell’s Hopslam.

Furthermore (next week)
Futhermore beer from Spring Green, Wisconsin has just arrived at our distributor and we expect the following to hit many our stores by next week: Knot Stock (American Pale Ale), Proper (English-style Pale Ale), and Oscura. Oscura was the highlight of Furthermore’s portfolio for us. It is a super drinkable coffee lager, which is a pretty unique style to say the least. A few other beers from Furthermore, including Fatty Boombalatty, are set to debut at a later date.

Ballast Point (May 8th)
Join us on Wednesday, May 8th in our Binny’s South Loop tasting room as we celebrate Ballast Point’s arrival at Binny’s. Several rarities will be on tap from the San Diego based brewery, as well as everyday favorites such as Sculpin, which is one of the highest rated IPA’s in the world. A plethora of Ballast Point packaged goods will be available for the first time ever at every Binny’s on May 8th.

Potosi (early May)
Check out this recent post on the Binny’s blog for all the information you need on Potosi.

 
Flesk (?)
This small Lombard, IL based brewery reached out to us yesterday, and we couldn’t be more excited to meet with them in the very near future. We expect them to be in our stores sooner rather than later.

Tallgrass (early June)
In early June Tallgrass Brewing from the state of Kansas will be rolling into Binny’s. Three different beers will be available, all in four-pack 16oz can formats: 8 Bit Pale Ale, Velvet Rooster Triple, and Ethos IPA.

The official release date for Potosi Brewing Company at Binny’s has been confirmed to be the week of May 6th. The Wisconsin based brewing company’s initial launch into the Chicago market will include five beers, available in 6-pack bottles:

Good ‘Ol Potosi Golden Ale
“Good Old Potosi is golden ale that is purposely brewed to taste like a lager. It will appeal to all beer lovers but particularly those desiring a lighter bodied beer. The aroma starts with toasted grain and flows into a sweet finish. GOP pairs well with any and all food.”
Snake Hollow IPA
“Snake Hollow is a West Coast style IPA. It’s a medium bodied beer with a pine and citrus aroma that results in a slight hint of a grapefruit flavor and a lingering bitter finish.”
Pure Malt Cave Ale
“Potosi Cave ale is brewed as a hybrid of three English beer styles. It provides a bit more body than Good Old Potosi and has a light caramel aroma and flavor that follows through till the end. Regardless of what you’re eating, like wine, beers can be enjoyed with almost any food.”
Gandy Dancer Porter
“Gandy Dancer is a robust American porter that has a French roasted coffee aroma without a burnt flavor. It starts with a medium caramel body that flows into a milk chocolate finish that results in many a light beer only drinker crossing over to the dark side. This beer pairs exceptionally well with braised meats to chocolate desserts.”
Steamboat Shandy (seasonal)
“Steamboat Shandy is a light bodied golden Ale blended with pure cane sugar and 100% real lemon juice. There is no artificial flavoring and, thus, it has a very clean finish. It’s not too sweet but provides for a refreshingly crisp and clean beer that can be savored anytime of year. However, during those hot summer days, I’ll bet you can’t drink just one.”

Pictured below is Petrus Aged Red, quite possibly the best new Belgian beer to debut in our stores this year. Several of Binny’s beer experts sampled this beer yesterday, with many comparing Aged Red to some of the most famous beers in the world. Some thought it was similar to New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red, while a few others found striking similarities to Kasteel Rouge. One even mentioned Duchesse De Bourgogne. Something we all agreed on is that Aged Red can be classified more as a fruit beer than a sour.

Petrus Aged Red shares little in common with sister beer Petrus Aged Pale, despite taking part in a similar aging process in micro organism infected barrels. The main difference stems from Aged Red going through fermentation with cherries, imparting loads of sweet and fruity flavors onto the brew. Aged Pale is sour and acidic, and one of the finest sour beers available on our shelves.

At only $8.49 for a 25.4oz bottle, Petrus Aged Red is an economical no-brainer and quite possibly the most complex beer around that price point on our shelves.

Brewery Huyghe, famous for their pink elephant and Delirium branded beers, is planning on releasing a new beer in Chicago for the first time in what seems like forever (we have been selling Delirium Tremens, Nocturnum, and Noel for over 12 years, and haven’t seen anything new from Huyghe since then).  The beer in question is La Guillotine, an 8.5% ABV Belgian golden ale that is most definitely worth a shot if you are a fan of Delirium Tremens or similar beers.  We recommend serving La Guillotine in a Delirium Tremens snifter, which are also available for purchase at your local Binny’s.  We expect La Guillotine to be available at Binny’s in 2-3 weeks.

We just got word that Prairie Artisan Ales will be coming to Binny’s in the near future. Their beers should be available at most of our locations sooner rather than later, including Champaign and Bloomington locations (we don’t have hard release dates yet, but we will post again when we do).  This will be Binny’s first time offering a brewery from the state of Oklahoma.  Prairie’s beers are highly rated on all the premier beer websites, and we are excited to offer them. Prairie does a lot of innovative and new stuff; in March alone they released four new beers. Check out the beer labels from these four new brews below, they are some of the coolest labels we have laid eyes on.

Is there a better way to celebrate the return of one of the best shows on television, Game of Thrones, than with a brand new beer?  Iron Throne is a collaboration between Brewery Ommegang and one of the most watched shows in HBO’s history, Game of Thrones.  This brew is crafted for those who enjoy character, strength, and complexity—both in their television shows and in their beer. Iron Throne will be available at all Binny’s* this Thursday, March 14th, in limited quantities.

What’s in the bottle?  The liquid is a 6.5 % ABV Belgian-style blonde ale, spiced with grains of paradise and lemon peel. It has a sweetness from the honey malt it is brewed with, as well as a fruitiness from the yeast. It is easy drinking, yet still has robust flavors and subtle complexities.

*Does not include our express locations in Glencoe and Hyde Park.

Believe it or not, Hard Root Beer is becoming increasingly popular; we fully expect several  to hit our shelves this year. The first to be available at our stores in bottles will most likely be the one pictured below crafted by Sprecher in Wisconsin, due to debut sometime in April.

Small Town Brewery in Wauconda, IL brews two Hard Root Beers, one clocking in at 10% ABV and one tipping the scales at an insane 20% ABV. Right now they are draft only (kegs can be ordered at your local Binny’s) with packaged goods hopefully hitting our stores sometime later this year.

Brewery Ommegang has collaborated with not another brewery, but a television network in HBO to create a beer around one of the most watched shows in HBO’s history, Game of Thrones. Iron Throne is a 6.5% ABV Belgian-style blonde ale that will be available at Binny’s mid-March.  Stay tuned to the Binny’s blog for more information about the release.

Big Bay Brewing is set to debut at a handful of our stores next week, and several more the following week.  Big Bay is headquartered in Shorewood, Wisconsin, having just opened up a fancy brewpub there with a shiny new pilot brewing system. Big Bay will be bringing three beers to our stores for their initial launch: Wavehopper Kolsch, Long Weekend India Pale Ale, and Boatilla Amber Ale.  We found all three to be easy to drink for their respected styles and perfect for a day outdoors, or as our colleague Pat Brophy likes to say, “good lawnmower beers.”  Big Bay will also feature several rotating seasonal beers, including Portside Porter and Summer Tide Wheat Ale.

Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA is the Chicago Tribune’s beer of the month for February.  Just in case you missed it, this is what Binny’s had to say about Chainbreaker when we highlighted it in the New, Novel, & Notable section of our Beer Buzz last month:

• Kyle: Far from the most popular Deschutes offering, but close to the most unique. Has more similarities to a witbier than an IPA, yet too hoppy to be a witbier, and too spiced to be an IPA. At times you will feel as if you are drinking one or the other. Even though there are only a few out there, this is the best version of a White IPA on our shelves. 

• Pat: Witbiers are not one of my favorite styles. I like this one because of the balance the added hop bitterness brings. I have to agree with Kyle, probably the best “White IPA” we have. This is going to make a great lawnmower beer, when I finally have to start mowing the lawn again.