Will be in this area end Feb/early March. What should I be on the lookout for? Venues, regional local companies/offerings, et al.
Couldn't think of anything to help this guy out . . . Where is this Binny's and Friar Tucks at ? Go to Urbana all the time to visit family. Pretty much thought it was a craft beer waste land.
Chambama NOT a craft beer waste, Retail: previous post is dead on, Binny's (north-Champ) & Friar Tucks (south-Savoy)....I've made some great scores of hard to get beers at these two places, maybe slightly less number of beer hoarders than big cities like Chicago seem to have. Brewpubs: Blind Pig Brewery (Neil st), Destihl (Neil St), Triptych Brewing (Savoy), JT Walkers Brewery (Mahomet). Craft beer centric bars: tons...my fav's (not in any special sequence) Urbana - Crane Alley and Black Dog Smoke & Ale House (time it right, small place w/ big crowds due to awesome bbq). Champaign - Quality, Radio Maria's, Blind Pig (Company, different than brewery)...and lots of bars have craft taps. Crooked Tree by Dark Horse is on tap all over town. Chicago's Revolution just start to focus on the area....definitely try their Anti-Hero IPA. And Bell's Two Heated is easy to find on tap.
My bad, disregard my previous post. Thought he was referring to Urbana Ohio. Which coincidentally is in Champaign county.
Eh, I'd skip over JT Walker's in Mahomet. I didn't think their beers were anything special, definitely not worth the 10-15 minute drive from C-U for. 2BDChicago is pretty spot on, if your time is limited Black Dog, Blind Pig, and Destihl are great places to hit up. Triptych is pretty good as well; if you head out that way, go south another mile and go to Friar Tuck's. That's my go to spot when I'm in town. Lots of beers that fly off the shelves in Chicago will sit down there for a while. The only downside I've noticed is a lot of the displays don't have price tags on them, or beer will be in the wrong spot. In the past year or two Friar Tuck's has gotten a lot more picked through, so you won't find any Bourbon County just collecting dust or anything. Jupiter's on Main Street and Jupiter's at the Crossing are pretty good pizza, beer, and pool places. Nothing fancy, but a fun place to chill and have a beer on a weekday night. GOBLIN, the Binny's is on North Prospect, across from the Target. Friar Tuck's is in South Savoy, next to the Savoy 16 and Buffalo Wild Wings. You (probably) won't stumble across it by accident; it's kind of out of the way.
