Best beer available near Champaign Illinois?

[TxBigHops]

I live in Houston, and a close friend is coming to visit in a few weeks. He lives in Champaign. What excellent beers should I ask him to look for to bring down for us to drink that are readily available near him? He's not a huge beer nerd like me, so I'll need to be specific. My favorite styles are IPAs and other hoppy beers, and the occasional Imperial stout. I know that Three Floyds is not far from him. Are their beers available in Champaign?

 

[markstache]

Locally there is Triptych. He could pick up a crowler of Little Secret.

The Binny's in champaign has a lot of stuff from Chicago. Revolution Anti Hero is solid. Anything from Pipeworks or Half Acre is going to be good. For a walk on the weird side, get some 5Rabbit.

 

[TxBigHops]

Locally there is Triptych. He could pick up a crowler of Little Secret.

The Binny's in champaign has a lot of stuff from Chicago. Revolution Anti Hero is solid. Anything from Pipeworks or Half Acre is going to be good. For a walk on the weird side, get some 5Rabbit.

Thanks for your reply. I'm intrigued bt Triptych. Do they do crowlers? The web site is a bit lacking on details. They do mention growlers, but not crowlers. Also, I see they have some sours. Have you tried any of them?

I have heard great things about Pipeworks, but their website says they are only distributed in greater Chicago. Do you know for sure that Binny's carries them? That would be awesome if they do.

So finally, any idea if I can get Three Floyds in Champaign?

 

[lilbova3]

Thanks for your reply. I'm intrigued bt Triptych. Do they do crowlers? The web site is a bit lacking on details. They do mention growlers, but not crowlers. Also, I see they have some sours. Have you tried any of them?



I have heard great things about Pipeworks, but their website says they are only distributed in greater Chicago. Do you know for sure that Binny's carries them? That would be awesome if they do.



So finally, any idea if I can get Three Floyds in Champaign?

I was in Bloomington, IL (about 30 minutes west of Champaign) a couple of weeks ago and was surprised to see Pipeworks and Half Acre at a Binnys there. Never hurts to ask him to look. Three Floyds no chance I bet.

 

[TxBigHops]

I was in Bloomington, IL (about 30 minutes west of Champaign) a couple of weeks ago and was surprised to see Pipeworks and Half Acre at a Binnys there. Never hurts to ask him to look. Three Floyds no chance I bet.

Cool. Thanks!

 

[markstache]

Triptych does have crowler machine.

I don't buy much purchased beer, so my experience is from when buddies bring over bottles, which has included Pipeworks and Three Floyd's, but I can't guarantee they grab them on s tell to Chicago.

We're also not far from Indianapolis and St. Louis. Your buddy should probably just ask a clerk at Binny's to see what they have.

 

[TxBigHops]

Triptych does have crowler machine.

I don't buy much purchased beer, so my experience is from when buddies bring over bottles, which has included Pipeworks and Three Floyd's, but I can't guarantee they grab them on s tell to Chicago.

We're also not far from Indianapolis and St. Louis. Your buddy should probably just ask a clerk at Binny's to see what they have.

Thanks. The reason I'm trying to find out in advance is because my friend is not very knowledgeable regarding craft beer. So him asking what they have wouldn't help. I need to tell him exactly what to look for and ask for.

 

[kristiismean]

just give him a list, or have him call you from (please correct me) friar Tucks?

Pipeworks: Lizard King, Blood of the Unicorn and Ninja vs unicorn, all are very very good
Half Acre: Daisy Cutter and Goneaway
FFF: they will probably only have Alpha king, maybe Yum Yum (check for 22 oz of space station middle finger)

Other than that, look on here or Beer advocate for beer trades, I have done a few and had no issues.

 

[TxBigHops]

just give him a list, or have him call you from (please correct me) friar Tucks?

Pipeworks: Lizard King, Blood of the Unicorn and Ninja vs unicorn, all are very very good
Half Acre: Daisy Cutter and Goneaway
FFF: they will probably only have Alpha king, maybe Yum Yum (check for 22 oz of space station middle finger)

Other than that, look on here or Beer advocate for beer trades, I have done a few and had no issues.

Thanks. Yeah, that's what we did. He called from the liquor store and we went through everything they had. I had each of the brewer's web sites and RateBeer.com on open tabs on my computer.

So we went with Ninja vs Unicorn and a bomber of Equinox from Pipeworks, Goneaway from Half Acre and Anti-hero from Revolution. He's also going to check out Triptych and snag a couple of crowlers from there. According to the store FFF doesn't distribute to Champaign.

As for trading, tried that once and it was a disaster. Apparently my box was hurled on to the truck, a bottle broke and the box leaked. Fed Ex confiscated it and refused deliver it, or return it. And the person that was supposed to send something to me dropped on the face of the planet. So no more trading for me.