Binny's Beverage Depot

BeerLover99

New Jersey

4.64/5  rDev +9.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

A: Very clean, large, all the beer is on the right hand side of the store. In the past year, they just redid and improved their beer section. 2 huge long aisles, left side of this aisle is US Craft brews + right side is all imports

Q: Outstanding! One of the best I have seen, so far, in the Chicago area. I'm jealous, blush. Something for everyone. Tom, even grabbed a 6 pack that had some odd residue, perhaps bottle issue, while we were just walking around and chatting.

S: (TOM, the beer guy) was great! Very friendly, high beer IQ, offered suggestions/opinions. Pointed me in the right direction for new and different beers. We rapped about beers and just everything.

S: Tons of great craft brews and loads of imports, very nice Belgian beer section.

F: N/A (just a few bags of chips and check out counter candies

V: Great beer selection and fair Lake County taxes/good prices.
I will be back and highly recommend this location.

EXCELLENT BEER STORE, STOP IN!

05-20-2011 20:50:46 | More by BeerLover99

Durb777

Illinois

4.8/5  rDev +13.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

This Binnys is a must stop. It's close and convenient for the folks living in the north east corner of the state.

The beer consultant Tom is great and because it's not down in the city you get a lot better service. It is very decently priced and everyone there is more then happy to help you out.

They definitely have a great stock of beers from the west coast to the east. And it seems they get at least 10 new beers in every week. They always have the limited release stuff.

Plus a great import selection

02-16-2012 19:56:42 | More by Durb777

KTCamm

New Jersey

4.8/5  rDev +13.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

Beer nirvana!

Ridiculous selection of brews at this highland park institution. A must visit for any BAers in the area.

Full aisles of domestic craft brews conveniently ordered by geography, from west coast to new England. Bombers above sixers with twelve packs in the middle. Then add another row of imports with the same selection.

Almost too many choices to make.

Staff is helpful and knowledgable. Even the check out guy tipped me off to a store in Wisconsin near the border that carried new glarus.

Go here. I did.

07-01-2011 22:37:00 | More by KTCamm

Bay01

Illinois

4.8/5  rDev +13.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I first came upon Binny's Highland Park when searching several suburban Binny's for the 2010 Founders Nemesis and they were the only store that had it. After seeing their selection and noticing their tendency to have the harder to find stuff in stock I became a regular and it's my go to place for releases that the other stores either sold out of or didn't get. Tom, the beer guy, is active on BA and is always knowledgeable on upcoming releases. Highland Park is a close second only to the Algonquin store.

03-04-2011 02:13:21 | More by Bay01

KickInTheChalice

Illinois

4.2/5  rDev -0.9%
quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

The remodeling of this Binny's made room for a huge new craft beer selection, and let me say, it is impressive. A huge craft beer aisle now displays nearly everything under the sun (or at least distributed in Illinois) at typical Binny's prices.

When I was in there on a recent Saturday, there were enough people pulling beer off the shelves to justify the huge selection and to tell me that there are no worries of old beer sitting on the shelves here. Also, they had two or three distributors there with samples, and they were giving away free glasses to anyone who bought a discounted 12 pack. I have no idea whether this is a regular thing, but it was not a bad surprise.

The service has always been friendly, with the beer department willing to help me track down this or that bottle I am looking for.

This location may be out of the way for some people, but it is on one of my normal routes. It is always a great diversion to stop and look through the beer selection here.

02-07-2011 17:42:30 | More by KickInTheChalice

brendanbeer

New York

4.65/5  rDev +9.7%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

checked out this place again after a few years, and after they did some serious remodeling. its really nice now. the place is huge and has an intense selection of every kind of alcoholic product available, but the beer is what interests us. the far two right shelves house all the beer. but dont get me wrong, these shelves are looong. it would take you a good 5-10 minutes to walk down one of them if you eyed every beer on display. and still, in between the shelves is a giant mound the length of the store of still more beers. i had a guy come up to me a couple times asking if i wanted help or something, i kindly declined. so its nice that they are out to help. while things are pricey, it's understandable, i was out to get some nice beer. you pay pricey for nice-y. hands down this is the best beer selection i've ever found, i'll probably be venturing out to this place every chance i get...

01-07-2011 06:21:30 | More by brendanbeer

ferrari29

Illinois

4.55/5  rDev +7.3%
quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Having just completed renovations to the entire mall, I finally stopped into Binny's - Highland Park. This location is spotless with a very nicely displayed selection of beers, spirits, and vinos. Humidor is also included, which is right before the beginning of the long aisle of imports. Not only was I impressed with the look but the customer service was great too. Because of the atmosphere, this has to be, hands-down, the best Binny's I have been too thus far. The South Loop or Lincoln Park locations don't compare. Nice lighting, you don't feel cramped and the prices seemed reasonable. What's also nice is savings a bit on the taxes in Lake County.

Everything form Great Divide, Stone, Rogue, FFF, La Bruery, O'Fallen, Two Brothers, Ommegang, macros & micros. You name it and they probably have it. They also have an enormous selection of import beers, perfectly laid out for your browsing pleasure. In the middle of the domestics and imports there are giant cases of beer specials (everything from Old Style to Sierra Nevada). You also don't feel cramped walking down the aisles like some of the other locations (River North). I picked up two beers I had difficulty finding in the downtown locations (bombers of Dreadnaught IPA and Great Divide 16th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA), not sure if its a distribution issue but I wish the downtown location would have a better selection sometimes. Especially, FFF beers. The downtown locations always seem to be out of stuff when I visit.

Overall, great selection, easily accessible (plenty of parking and right off the highway) and great atmosphere. I'll definitely have to stop up here more often while I'm on my way to visit family.

12-30-2010 00:37:08 | More by ferrari29

steveh

Illinois

5/5  rDev +17.9%
quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

Going into Binny's anywhere makes me sad to know I have to drive half-an-hour to find selection like this. If I had this sort of choice down the street, I'd definitely be drinking more beer -- so maybe it's a blessing in disguise?

This Binney's has 2, double-sided, very long rows of beer -- different styles, variations, countries, micros -- you name it.

If they don't have the exact beer you've been hunting, you can bet they have something very similar.

Tom (BA member trbergman) took time out from working with a distro rep to show me* some of the favorites, new arrivals, and hard-to-find labels he has on the shelves. If ever I'm looking for something out of the ordinary, I know where to look now.

Wonder if Binny's is looking at the far northern 'Burbs for a location yet -- I know a couple good spots if they're interested!

*And yes, I introduced myself as one of the smart-mouthed, belligerent, Illinois BA members!

12-27-2010 18:41:30 | More by steveh

emerge077

Illinois

4.35/5  rDev +2.6%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Renovations are done here, the place is expansive and the bottles are spotless. Long aisle of imports along the wall past the humidor.

Very extensive Belgian selection up first, with what seemed like the entire 12 Percent import portfolio. Further down there was a good selection of traditional Lambics: Girardin, Hanssens, Oude Beersel, Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen. Belgians gave way to the UK, with vintage Harvest Ales, and a number of unfamiliar labels like Porterhouse Red, Marshmallow something, Hook Norton, and others. Germans next, Samichlaus, 1809, vintage cave-aged Aventinus. Scandinavians after that, plenty of Mikkeller, Nøgne, Haand, Carnegie & Synebrychoff Porter, and a Swedish farmhouse ale. Random Asian and Euro imports further down to the end of the aisle, where there was a walk in cooler with common cases of stuff.

Craft beer covered two aisles, on the opposite side of the import shelves, blocked by stacks of cases in the center. Good local focus with Half Acre Daisy Cutter & Gossamer, Flossmoor bombers including Rail Hopper IPA and .357 Imperial Pilsner. Goose, Metropolitan, Three Floyds rounded out the locals. There were full lines of most other breweries, plenty of seasonals, but little in the way of one-offs. Noticed Stillwater Stateside Saison, 4 Jolly Pumpkin 750s, Great Divide bombers (Smoked Baltic, Oaked DIPA, etc.), cases of Dreadnaught in the center case aisle.

They also had a rare spirits room that was fun to peek in, and a nice selection of whiskies. They would page beer/sprits specialists on the intercom, so help was available if needed. Checkout was quick and friendly. Overall a great selection here.

Comparing this store to Woodmans in Kenosha is completely irrelevant now. Apples and oranges... Woodmans for WI beer, Binnys for a far more extensive import selection, and local craft brew.

Addendum: #21/25 Binnys locations reviewed. Check here to see how they stack up: http://beeradvocate.com/user/beerfly_reviews.php?ba=emerge077&order=placeA&start=36

12-13-2010 01:01:53 | More by emerge077

crossovert

Wisconsin

3.3/5  rDev -22.2%
quality: 3 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

This place is getting a reno. It doesn't seem like one of the classier Binny's similar to the McHenry one. Inside it reeks and every bottle is covered in dust. It doesn't to necessarily seem to be an old stock thing as much as the whole building was basically covered in scaffolding with workers pumping away at their tools.

They have one wall of the store for beer, but it isn't like the walls at other Binny's. It is still quite a selection though. They had their "rare" beers under lock and key and they weren't all really that amazing and rare of beers but there were a few gems in there. They have a beer cave, but it seemed dedicated to macros and big craft. The selection is between a 4 and 4.5.

It seems like this is a bit pricier than most, could be the neighborhood, it also seemed like the tax was higher. The cashier was an old guy and a bit of a douche but he did look up my Binny's card # as I couldn't find it for some reason. The lady behind the desk was friendlier.

Overall it is with Binny's of McHenry as a really good liquor store but a weaker Binny's location.

06-23-2010 00:02:04 | More by crossovert