Riley's Wines Of The World

terrabyte

Wisconsin

4.3/5  rDev +5.9%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$$

I don't get downtown much, so I've been waiting patiently to stop here for some time.

The worst thing about the place is the parking. There are about 6 spots in their parking lot, worth their weight in gold (thus filled), but what can you expect of a store downtown. It's more than some of the nearby locations could say.

I had beer tunnel vision, so wasn't even aware of what else they carried beside beer. They had about 10 coolers of craft-brewed 6 packs. Just as much space for more 6-packs (warm), and then 1 cooler for imported singles, and 2 coolers of American singles.

I stocked up on every single I needed that Woodman's doesn't carry, and walked out with 24 bottles. (I had to hold myself back) They even had Central Waters singles - something that Steve's Liquor Stores won't do to their 6-packs.

Definately a great place to get a wide variety of beer, slightly more expensive.

10-23-2006 18:38:06 | More by terrabyte

EvilKeith

Alabama

3.65/5  rDev -10.1%
quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $$$

Riley’s Wines of the World, as the name would suggest, is very much a wine shop. Signs hang overhead listing the country of origin for the bottles on display. The wine selection is very impressive.
But, this is supposed to be about the beer. So, to the rear of the store is an elevated level with handicap access. Here the warm beers are stacked and coolers line the rear wall. The beer selection is fairly good.
I spotted labels from brewers across the country. Beers from Michigan, Ohio, Texas, California, and Colorado are among your options. The brewers of Wisconsin were well represented. New Glarus, Capital, Lake Louie, all the big ones and a few from smaller breweries too.
The staff was friendly and helpful, the only thing negative was that they were maybe a little pricey.

10-16-2006 12:59:20 | More by EvilKeith

badbeer

Iowa

4.15/5  rDev +2.2%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Real nice selection of brews from all over. Plenty of micro's from all over the US and plenty to choose from abroad. Almost all of the beer was kept in coolers and away from harsh light. The service here has never been something to write home about, in fact the only reason I usually head here is because they offer more than other stores in the area.

Update: Service is variable. I haven't had a bad experience here in a long time. There seem to be some BA's working there and service has improved drastically. Again, great selection, and it seems the service there is now as good, if not better than some of the other establishments in Madison. Pretty much a must stop if you're in town. I'll average my overall service here at 4 (which includes the bad experiences).

09-05-2006 20:55:43 | More by badbeer

shivtim

Georgia

4.15/5  rDev +2.2%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I stopped in here to by some Wisconsin beers, and boy is this the place to do it. From the outside it just looks like a little crappy liquor store. As soon as I walked through the door I saw that the place is about 4 times bigger than I thought. Straight in the back are various 6 packs of all kinds of microbrews. To the right is exactly what I was hoping for: single bottles! All kinds of Wisconsin stuff here, with many WI microbreweries well respresented (Central Waters, Sand Creek, Tyranena, Harbor City, Capital Brewing, etc). They have a better New Glarus selection than the actual New Glarus brewery does! Mix and match 6 packs save 10%, so it's not too expensive. This is a great store to put together a "wisconsin sampler" at.

Oh, they also have a lot of non-wisconsin beers, and more wine than you can shake a stick at, but I wasn't paying too much attention to that.

08-17-2006 01:41:34 | More by shivtim

blackie

Virginia

4.35/5  rDev +7.1%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

quality: I've never had a beer here that seemed to be either light struck or past its date.

service: I've never really had to ask many questions here, but most of the guys seem to know their product well.

selection: Great selection, especially for Wisconsin and Midwestern goodies. Great selection of six packs of Lake Louie, Capital, Central Waters, and New Glarus...and plenty of others that I could never recall. Nice rotating singles selection as well, well representing the wonderful Wisco breweries.

08-14-2006 22:22:13 | More by blackie

JeffKrenner

Minnesota

4.15/5  rDev +2.2%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I visited this place along with Woodman's on the way from MN to Chicago. I was looking for a couple things in particular and wasn't disappointed.

This place looks like a little hole in the wall from the outside, but when you walk in you are shocked at how big it is. Very good beer selection. Great Lakes, Three Floyds, etc. The reason I went here was I had heard that they had a couple things that Woodman's wouldn't, namely Central Waters and Lake Louie. Low and behold I ended up getting a bunch of each as both were very well represented.

This is definitely a recommended stop if you are in Madison.

08-12-2006 16:02:40 | More by JeffKrenner

tavernjef

Minnesota

4.15/5  rDev +2.2%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Stopped in for a big stock up on beer goodies while cruising through town on my to and from the Chicago area for a weekend clinic. - Small parking area in front and some street parking. From the outside it doesn't look promising but once you walk inside the place is pretty damn big and packed in there with all sorts of stuff. And so the seeking begins.

Beer is to the right with a few coolers available to pick through of singles with what is available in sixers in the back area in coolers. New Glarus, Capital, Three Floyd's, Two Brothers, Central Waters, Lake Louie, Dogfish, and quite a few others are all sitting there for the taking and in good supply. The coolers in back are impressively stocked and quite a bit more to choose from what was available in the sigles coolers. Lagunitas was a surprise to see as was some cool Sprecher 750's of some specialty brews, but were way to pricey. Most of those were labeled for $18.99 per bottle, yikes. Overall the selection was super solid for local micro madness. Some Belgian, German, and England stuff is here too. Easily could come here everyday and find something new for a year and beyond. My head was swimming with glee, yet the pocketbook only had so much room to expand.

Service was good. They opened 5 minutes early for me and my group, yet once inside they never asked if we needed any help with anything. Most of the youngster help was busy straightening up and downing the espresso from the market they purchased form the ongoing market square. Check out was a snap and we were on our way. This is definately a place to stop into again and again without much hesitation to drive the extra 15 minutes into the city off Hwy 90 when driving through the state. And of course if you happen to be in Madison for whatever reason, then its a must.

07-16-2006 23:08:34 | More by tavernjef

Erdinger2003

Iowa

2.7/5  rDev -33.5%
quality: 3 | service: 1 | selection: 4 | $$$

I walked in and I saw the most liquor I have ever seen in one place. Then I saw the three coolers reserved for beer. The selection had a few I was looking for, but mostly not a lot for the local people. A bomber was 7.99+tax and that's pretty pricey for Wisconson it turns out, if I had known that I would'nt have bought very much from here and got the better price in Milwaukee. Service was pretty ok, they were ready to help me out and I saw and met skids (a fellow BA). The selection could've been better and bigger, but it was ok. I wouldn't go again for a few years to see how it's going.


After my second trip I have to re-review this one. Initially I thought the beer coolers in the back were for BMC (Bud Miller Coors) only, however as it turns out the back coolers are full of local and other microbrews that look really great. Cheers to Riley's

Re:
After pricing Riley's with other stores around the Madison area I have noticed that these guys are marking up their beer a lot because they keep lot of it in the back and slowly put it out. And because it is rare when they put it out (2 months after it's release) thy can mark up their prices. No one I have met yet there even knows about good beer. The lady who owns the place is just taking advantage of the local beer drinkers by hiking up prices for more money while at the same time she gets lots of money from the local college kids who go there because it's within walkin distance from the college.

We found a couple of 2004 Sammichlaus's there a month ago and I were asked if I wanted to buy the rest that were in the back (at $5/bottle), I said ok and bought half a case of '04 Sammichlaus. Today a month later I went back and saw two more '04 Sammichlaus's for almost $6/bottle. These people are rude and don't care about their costumers, no baskets, no carts, I guess you just keep having to carry your beer up to the counter.

07-03-2006 00:25:13 | More by Erdinger2003

aforbes10

Iowa

4.65/5  rDev +14.5%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

On the tail end of our wedding anniversary trip to Wisconsin, I was determined to find a place where i could find all the top WI beers to take home with me. We found this place while walking down State Street on Sunday and walked around town for an hour until it opened. I am VERY glad we waited. They had everything i was looking for...Bitter Woman from Hell, Viking Big Swede, New Glarus Unplugged series, Central Waters, etc. A helpful staffer pointed out some other locals that i might like too so i grabbed them as well (if he's a BA and reads this, thanks dude, you were very cool!). Not too pricey and a 10% discount on the mix-a-sixer cooler. nice.

Also should mention that this place had one of the finest selections of beers in general that i've ever seen. I was only in the market for WI beers but i could have taken home 3 Floyds (Rabid Rabbit, Gumballhead), Dogfish (WWStout, 120 min, Raison D'extra, Golden Shower, Fort, etc..), Bells (i saw the wheat series there), Lagunitus, Rogue. too many to name. in fact, maybe i would have bought some of these but some crazy guy was following me around the store because i told him i'd buy him a Rockstar Energy Drink to keep him off the drugs and he wouldn't take money instead because "he doesn't drink that alcohol". Of course later he hit me up for $2 for his "alcoholic girlfriend".

If i go back to Madison i'm coming here again.

06-05-2006 14:18:33 | More by aforbes10

orbitalr0x

Illinois

4/5  rDev -1.5%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$$

Stopped up here after Dark Lord Day with warriorsoul, goodbyeohio and kmpitz2. Riley's is located right in the downtown of Madison and is even within walking distance from the Great Dane if it's a nice day and you're down for some exercise. We drove over as we figured we'd have plenty of stuff to haul back. Located right on a corner, Riley's has a huge sign ya can't miss and a little parking lot in front. We got a spot easily and I dunno why some many people hate on the size of the lot...here in Chicago we're happy to see ANY parking lot at all!

Upon entering we made our way to the right side of the store where there's a huge cooler with a myriad of singles from Viking, New Glarus, Capital, Lake Louie, Central Waters, Smuttynose, Tyranena, Bell's, Three Floyds and more. Singles seemed bit a pricey but you did get 10% of any mixed sixer. There were also lots of the new 750ml Sprecher stuff, DFH Golden Shower, White Winter. Go further back to the back wall of the store and you'll find a good selection of sixers from all the local brewers. I snagged a sixer of Old Chub here as well. Overall, a nice mix of brews and you're pretty sure to find something you'll want to leave with.

Service was friendly, I believe fellow BA Skidz was the one helping us. He took the time to look in the back and found some NG Tailwagger Barleywine for warriorsoul to take back home with him, which was really cool. Overall, this is a nice little bottle shop in Madison, however it does seem to be a bit more expensive than some of the other locals. If you're visting the Great Dane there's really no reason you shouldn't run in here as well!

06-04-2006 17:11:14 | More by orbitalr0x