Monthly Archives: August 2012

The Freshest IPA to Ever Hit Our Shelves

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Are you ready to try possibly the freshest beer to ever hit our shelves? On August 17th, Stone Brewing Co. will be bottling and shipping (yes on the same day) “Enjoy By 09.21.12 IPA,” a beer that shares its name with its expiration date. The beer should be on Binny’s shelves by August 21st, mere days after being bottled.

 

Chicago is one of the few lucky markets where this brew will be available. One way or another, come September 21st, this beer will be gone. So if you wish to try what Stone Brewing Co. is dubbing the most “fresh ipa ever..,” be sure to stop by your local Binny’s the week of August 21st.

 

For more information on this “devastatingly fresh double IPA,” check out the website Stone Brewing Co. created for it.

 

Quick Flight, Small Pours

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Canadian tomato wine?

 

Matt Kramer on stuff wine people need to get over.
Many pragmatic points. One of them: stop telling people what to like.

 

Rich Kids Drinking on Instagram.
We stand in defense of Champagne with BK.

 

Blue cocktails are back, but with a smirk this time.

 

Alcohol + Health stories, aggregated.
As if we need an excuse.

 

Beer is for keeping, not for drinking!
Just don’t let it get hot and then cold.

 

Don’t miss the new The Whiskey Hotline mini-update.
More Handpicked Selections info, Whiskey Whispers.

2012 Handpicked Scotch Selections

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Imagine this. Brett and his buddies go off to Scotland. They tour around for a while. Distilleries, warehouses, tasting rooms and all that. They take their time over a couple of weeks and find a good number of samples. Barrel proof samples.

 

Then he brings them back to Chicago and tells us that we have to taste them all. All in one punishing afternoon.

 

I know, it sounds like a dream job. But tasting 70 barrel proof Scotch samples has an effect on the palate similar to visiting an overcaffeinated dental hygienist who wants to make good use of her brand new scraper and gouger tool set.

 

With almost 70 samples to choose from, you know we found some great whisky. These eight are 2012 Binny’s Handpicked barrels, with a couple more surprises in the works.

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Two Brothers Brewing Like Crazy

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Two Brothers Brewing Co. has been extra busy lately with their 15 beers for 15 years Anniversary series in full swing. The 10th release in the popular series, Pahoehoe, is set to debut next week. According to Two Brothers Facebook page, Pahoehoe is a “..light colored ale that uses coconut water and coconut milk in the brewing process and fresh toasted coconut meat in the fermenter. This beer is named after a type of lava flow found at the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii..” Several of Two Brothers previous Anniversary series beers, such as Pillar of Salt and Incinerator Blonde Doppelbock, can still be found on our shelves.

 

Somehow Two Brothers also found time to collaborate with French craft brewer Castelain in the creation of  Diversey & Lill(e), a French style biere de garde. This joint effort brew is a nod to Lillie France, a city near Castelain Brewery, and also acknowledges Lill & Diversey Brewery, a Chicago Brewery from the 1800′s.

 

The Chicago Tribune has recognized Diversey & Lill(e) as their beer of the month for August. A detailed description of whats in the bottle and what to pair it with is available on the Chicago Tribune website.

 

This is a limited release, and will probably only be around for a few months. Stay tuned to the Binny’s blog as we are in the process of planning an event with Two Brothers that will take place in our South Loop Tasting Room.

 

Binny’s is coming to Bloomington, Illinois

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Binny’s Beverage Depot would like to recognize the good people of Bloomington, Indiana, Gateway to Scenic Southern Indiana and home of the fightin’ Hoosiers. We nod to Bloomington, Minnesota, where you can visit the world’s largest enclosed shopping center. We should also acknowledge the existance of Bloomingtons in California, Idaho, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin, though Wikipedia did not contain entertaining trivia on these communities. Lovely as they must be, none of these Bloomingtons will soon be home to a Binny’s Beverage Depot. At least not for now…

 

The one Bloomington that holds a special place in our hearts is right here in the Land of Lincoln.

 

Binny’s Beverage Depot is excited to begin construction on our 29th store, opening early this fall in the town of Bloomington, Illinois. After the stunning success of our Champaign location, we know that central Illinois is ready for more.

 

This isn’t going to be some ordinary beverage shop. We’re talking about 20,000 square feet of wine, spirits, beer and all your other beverage needs. Walk-in cigar humidor? Yes. Temperature controlled wine cellar? You got it. Big beer cooler? How does 28 doors’ worth of frosty cold brews sound? You’ll find us at  1409 N. Veterans Parkway in Bloomington, Illinois. Coming in early fall.

 

And though we’re sure that all 0.4 square miles of New Bloomington, Ohio are absolutely gorgeous this time of year, they aren’t going to get a Binny’s Beverage Depot. For now…

 

Now check out these sweet demolition and construction pics. More soon….

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Taste at the Track Coming September 8

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Tickets for the next Binny’s Beverage Depot and Arlington Park Taste at the Track are on sale now exclusively at the Arlington Park website. The big day is Saturday, September 8th.

 

 

Taste at the Track

 

 

This promises to be an afternoon full of wine tasting, food sampling, music rocking, horse racing excitement. Check out pics from previous Tastes at the Track here and here.

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Notes from the Humidor

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Introducing the new Marca Binny’s Seleccion Limitada, blended by the “Godfather” himself, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, exclusively for Binny’s. There will be only one size (6.5×54) and a total of 500 numbered boxes. We worked nearly two years with Ernesto trying to perfect the blend and perfection is what we achieved! Medium to full-bodied with layers upon layers of flavors. This is a blend that any cigar manufacturer would love to put their name on but it will only be available at Binny’s! Reserve your box today.

What do you think of the bands? We were aiming for a more traditional look.

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Binny’s Handpicked Buffalo Trace

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The next Binny’s Handpicked Buffalo Trace is on the way. It might seem like this is a story we’ve told before, but each of our Buffalo Trace Handpicks is a little different, and this next batch is no exception. After a painstaking afternoon, and after making a dumb mistake, we ended up with a Buffalo Trace we are proud to call Binny’s Handpicked. Here’s how it happened.

 

We started out this time with 24 barrel samples. It seems like our Buffalo Trace vattings sell out sooner and sooner, so we were hoping for a batch of 17 barrels, our biggest yet. Remember that our goal is to create the most delicious and consistent bourbon, one that we think is a step above the standard Buffalo Trace. We taste across all the samples, finding those that are right on target with that special Binny’s thumbprint, and blend a small amount of all the samples. Then we find more samples that are spicier or sweeter that we can use to hone the final blend to just the right balance.

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