Happy National Moscato Day!

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What does nice weather, backyard barbecues and a long wedding season have in common? Moscato, of course!

 

May 9th is National Moscato Day, and Binny’s is ready to celebrate! Sure, moscato is delicious year round, but is especially tasty in the summer months. With its fresh and fruity taste, it’s just too hard to pass up on a warm, summer day. With aisles full of moscato, where should you start? We asked our moscato buyer for some favorites.

 

2012 Saracco Moscato d’Asti
Light and sparkling with aromas of peach, apricot, lemon peel and white flowers. Enjoy with a dessert or a spicy barbecue dish – the sweetness of the Moscato will reduce the heat of spicy food.

 

Emeri Pink Moscato
For a full on sparkling wine, you can’t go wrong with Emeri. At its low price, you’ll still get the fruity and refreshing taste you so long for on your back porch.

 

2011 Bartenura Moscato d’Asti

You’ll find this Moscato to be crisp, refreshing and filled with flavors such as pear, tangerine, melon and even nectar.
 

New to Moscato? A few tips:

 

- Don’t sit on it. Moscato is made to be fresh and ready to drink!
- There’s no perfect food pairing with Moscato. Drink it with whatever you love.
- Regular Cork vs. Champagne Cork: bottles finished with Champagne corks will have more bubbles.
- Glara vs. Moscato Grapes: Glara grapes are a little more dry while moscato grapes are sweeter.
- What’s the “d’Asti?” It denotes that the wine came from a specific region in Piedmont, Italy.

Whiskey Hotline Hits the Road: Brett in Scotland 2013

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Roseisle Distillery

 

First stop: Roseisle, the new Diageo monolith. This is either the largest or second largest distillery in Scotland, depending on whose marketing suits you want to believe. This place is gigantic. 13 million Liter capacity. Besides being large, it’s a technological marvel, with the ability to pump out malt with any flavor profile, by manipulating mash times, ferment times, copper contact, and so on. Theoretically, they could produce all the malt needed to construct a Johnnie Walker blend. Despite its size, you malt fans shouldn’t feel threatened – Diageo is also expanding most of their other distilleries in Speyside.

 

Roseisle Maltings

 

Next is Roseisle Maltings, which is so massive it can churn out  600 tonnes of malted barley in less than a week. This facility, plus the Ord and Brughead facilities, supply all the malt needed for Diageo’s Speyside and Highland distilleries. Another interesting note, the Roseisle Maltings is 100% energy neutral for heating needs – meaning they use the waste from the malting process to fuel the facility.

 

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Enjoy Golf’s Best Round with Grey Goose

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Grey Goose wants to get you out to the course, and they want you to golf for free. So here’s the deal: buy a 750mL bottle of Grey Goose Vodka with a special offer mail-in necker form. Fill it out, mail it in, and they’ll mail you a voucher for a free round of golf, including 18 and a cart. It’s a sweet deal. Can’t find a bottle with the special mail-in offer? Download one here. And it’s good on all Grey Goose flavors. You might remember a similar offer from Dewar’s last year.

 

This year’s participating courses:

 

Bolingbrook Golf Club – Bolingbrook, IL
Cog Hill County Club – Lemont, IL
Deer Path – Lake Forest, IL
Eagle Ridge Golf Club – Galena, IL
Highland Park Country Club – Highland Park, IL
Pine Meadows Golf Club – Mundelein, IL
Seven Bridges Golf Course – Woodridge, IL
Stone Creek Golf Club – Urbana, IL
Fox Lake – Fox Lake, IL
Thunder Hawk Golf Club – Beach Park, IL
Weaver Ridge Golf Club – Peoria, IL
The Links at Carillon – Plainfield, IL

 

This program runs through June 30th, so hurry. Splashier info page about this promotion here.

 

Cinco de Binny’s: Taco Night

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Jalepeno. Cilantro. Mango.

 

YUM.

 

Binny’s South Loop Tasting Room bartender, Josh Dempsey has done it again! You can find him this weekend whipping up some SPICY (yet sweet) margaritas! Can’t make it to the bar? Here’s how to create your own!

 

Cocktail GlassTaco Night

 

2 oz Camarena Silver Tequila
1/4 oz Luxardo Triple Sec
1 1/2 oz Mango Puree
2 oz Stirrings Margarita Mix
Slice of Jalapeno
Lime wheel
2-3 Sprigs of Cilantro

 

Mix together and shake. Strain into a margarita glass and garnish with lime wheel and slice of jalapeno! Aplausos!

 

Binny’s Derby Mint Julep

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It’s time for the Kentucky Derby! We’re celebrating with a classic – you guessed it – a Mint Julep. Of course our favorite is a Buffalo Trace Mint Julep. We headed to the South Loop Tasting Room for this not-so-secret recipe:

 

Derby Mint Julep
 
2 1/2 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
2 oz Water
4 Sprigs of Mint
 
Muddle the sprigs of mint with the simple syrup. Pour in bourbon and water. Serve on the rocks with a mint sprig garnish!

 

Binny’s New Brew: Revolution Galaxy Hero

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blog_Galaxy
Galaxy Hero from Revolution is the Binny’s New Brew of the week, selected by Arlington Heights Beer Consultant, Matt Burger! Just receiving Galaxy Hero in a few weeks ago, it still is creating a buzz and has beer drinkers everywhere intrigued!
 

Why Galaxy Hero?
It’s only around temporarily and it’s a great beer customers should try while they can.

 

Good point! How is it?
It’s a balanced IPA that I think most people would enjoy. It definitely has a strong citrus flavor from the hops, but the malt character helps it maintain its balance.

 

Sounds delicious! So how’d you get your start in the beer industry?
I’ve been with Binny’s for about four years, give or take. Long before working for Binny’s, I used to go out of my way to stop at the Skokie store to find new and interesting beers. After getting a job with Binny’s, it just seemed like an obvious move to join the beer department.

 

Of course, the beer department is arguably one of the best departments… or so we’ve heard. What’s your go-to beer on a random night?
I’ll have to go with something that’s conveniently on tap everywhere, Lagunitas Little Sumpin’.

 

Lagunitas is always on point! If you had to pick one favorite aspect of working in the beer industry, what would it be?
The diversity, just when you think they can’t come up with something new, they do.

 

Have more questions for Matt? Shoot him an email here: mburger@binnys.com

Quick Flight, Small Pours

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Whiskey Mystery.

…a great read.

 

Major League Craft Beer.

Click through for the slideshow. Step up your game, Chicago.

 

2012 Bordeaux Futures are out now, prices have come down.

Buy yours at Binny’s now if you’re in the market.

 

Breaking News: “Beer Taste Excites Male Brain.”

Hard hitting.

 

Remember that Maker’s Mark thing? Beam did it with Old Grand-Dad too.

Nobody seemed to notice. Thanks Chuck.

 

Thoughts?

Check out the Newly Renovated Binny’s in Elmwood Park

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Binny's in Elmwood Park

 

Have you shopped Binny’s Elmwood Park lately? Now is a great time to give the store another visit. We’re just putting the finishing touches on a store-wide remodel, and it’s looking great.

 

First, we updated the shelving. This allowed us to expand every category in the store, with craft beer and wine coming out on top as big winners in the move. The wine is laying down in bins and the previously tall shelves have been lowered, opening up the general space. Add in a fresh coat of paint and some pretty pictures, and it’s almost like new.

 

Next, we added a full walk-in humidor, bringing our chainwide total up to 25. With 800 different cigars in the humidor, Binny’s offers  the best cigar selection in the area, hands down. A humidor isn’t a humidor without a cigar expert, so we’re excited to have cigar consultant Marc LeBlanc on the Elmwood Park team. Joining Marc are several new more staff members manning departments all across the store.

 

So swing by! Check out all the improvements we’ve made. Hope to see you at the Elmwood Park Binny’s!

 

All New Humidor

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World of Whiskies 2013

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We tell this story every year, and it gets better every year.

 

Last night was the 10th annual, big big Binny’s World of Whiskies event. It was bigger and better than ever. There were 75 tables holding more bottles of whiskey than we could count. There was a cake shaped like Mark Twain. Pop Tart wrapper space suits and a rocket. Live cigar rolling. A whole crowd of friendly whiskey enthusiasts. Cookies. All our rowdy friends in the spirits industry. Kilts. Cocktails. And then more whiskey.

 

Tons more pics of the event after the jump.

 

If you made it, be sure to head over to the Gallery on the Binny’s Facebook Page, where you’ll find even more pics, including pictures of you in front of the Binny’s logo wall. Tag all your friends! And like us while you’re there. See you in 2014!

 

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Binny’s New Brewery Bonanza

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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-Brewing-CoGigantic (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.

 

speakeasySpeakeasy (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-StarFurthermore (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.

 

PotosiPotosi (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.