April 7, 2012
Stopped in yesterday before heading home. In a strip mall toward the back off Lincoln and nothing special from an ambiance perspective. Seemed like a large number of people working in the store for not really that big of a place and not one offered to help. One guy was kind of a douche and another was helpful after I initiated a conversation. Selection was decent and they had some glassware that was around $6 or $7. Prices seemed good and they had some stuff on sale, which was cool. Probably not going to find anything better in Ames, but overall this place is slightly above average. My 100th place rating!

April 4, 2011 [ Updated May 6, 2012 ]
Re-rate: While the selection is good, the turnover on a lot of stuff is poor, and skunked bottles are not uncommon. Cyclone’s refusal to sell singles of domestic bottles is losing them a lot of my business.

Old rating: Stopped by here on a Friday afternoon. At first, it seemed like a solid store, but nothing too impressive. Then I found the back room, which has a wide variety of singles, including some harder to find stuff. Definitely the best selection of domestic beer that I have seen in Iowa, and although the foreign stuff lags behind John’s Grocery a little, it is still impressive. Prices were good, although not amazing. Staff were friendly enough, but did not go out of their way to help, which is fine with me. A must stop if you are in the Ames area.

March 12, 2011
Solid selection that was better than anything I have seen in Des Moines. The prices were reasonable. I like the shelf tags from both RB and even BA. The little room in the back had mostly imports with a few special edition brews. I like that there was a bright clean area in the main store for all of the six packs. The guy I talked to when I was there was knowledgeable. I will visit again when I get a chance.

February 26, 2011
Great customer service!!! Extremely friendly staff. The selection is great for midwest Iowa. The prices were also very good. As I live in Ames, I come here weekly!!

February 27, 2009
This is a fun little stop for me since I live in Des Moines. It is only half an hour away to get a decent beer selection. They focus more on their liquor and wine but you can tell the try with the beers that they do have. When I am in the mood for something that has to be traded through the state this is where I’ll go as it is only a hop skip and a jump away. The staff is very friendly.

January 20, 2009
This place is a breath of fresh air for this area! Plenty of helpful, and very freindly staff, plenty of good beer. I love how the good beer is in a little room in the back. You can tell the staff cares about the beer, and for Iowa it is a remarkable selection!

July 11, 2008 [ Updated August 9, 2009 ]
I always enjoy shopping at Cyclone. As a former college student at ISU and now family man living in Ames, I always knew where to find good beer. They have a huge selection for an Iowa store, great service and staff. The place is always clean and organized also.

June 27, 2008 [ Updated October 22, 2008 ]
As an amateur beer enthusiast still in college, it’s tough to find something besides Keystone Light anywhere in Ames. Cyclone Liquors really fits the bill for people looking to try some real beer for a decent price. The service is friendly and incredibly knowledgeable. Also, what college town sells a $2000 bottle of cognac!? Only Cyclone Liquors.

June 19, 2008
I love traveling to Ames to drool over the beer selection at Cyclone Liquors. It is a great store with a huge variety of different beer. Great imports and singles. A good selection of micros as well.

May 4, 2008
I am from Ankeny Iowa and travel to this store to purchase beer as there are no quality stores in Ankeny. Cyclone is a very clean and organized store. They have a massive selection of beers domestic micros, imports and singles. The staff is always friendly and helpful as well.