(Trying to get more active on here after meeting some of you at the great end of the world event (thanks again Fitz). Apologies in advance if this isn't appropriate for a new thread ...) According to their facebook The Beer Temple (3185 N Elston) http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30595 opened earlier today at 11. Just a soft launch with a grand opening to follow shortly. Heard there will be free daily tastings and freshness dating on all of their stock where possible - and from their website they'll do online sales in the future. There's a BYOB sushi place by them and Urban Belly isn't too far away (also BYOB). Should be a good addition to Avondale.
that's right by pork shoppe too. i think i know what i'm doing this afternoon... edit: to clarify, pork shoppe isn't byob - but i can imagine that a weekly walk to beer temple and pork shoppe will be in my future.
so i went to the store, and i can honestly say that while their shelves are not fully stocked yet, they have the potential to become one of chicago's best beer stores. these reasons: - the owners know their shit and seem like genuine beer lovers. - extremely visible freshness dating on every single package. it's sooooo nice to be able to glance at a sticker for a bottle date on the outside of the four/six pack. for those breweries that don't bottle date (namely three floyds), they have a "received on" date. i can only think of one other store in chicago that comes close to doing this. - prices were right in line with pretty much every moderately priced store i've seen in chicago. - i asked how they would deal with the big open windows and the green bottles, and one of the owners said that they had already put UV filters on all the windows, but would also be soon installing tinting to block some other possibly harmful light. - there will be a mixed six selection. shelving was there for it, but they didn't have it setup yet.
Quick note about the lighting. No harmful fluorescents either. I had them all, including those in the cooler, swapped out for more beer-friendly LEDs. Cheers!
