February 10, 2012
Cardinal has expanded its craft beer department. Much better selection than years past. Definately a place to stop if you’re in Crystal Lake.

September 21, 2007 [ Updated November 26, 2007 ]
Not a bad placwe to go look for some out of the way beers. Have a lot of local midwest microbrews. If you are into cigars they have a lot of decent cigars. Re rate 11-24-07: Went there to get some Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, had it for 19.99, which floored me as I had heard on t.v. that Goose Island was selling for 9.99 a four pack. I had figured a small markup to get it out to the suburbs, but not a 10.00 markup. I started to walk away and the counter guy yells to me that Cardinal liquor is the only place I will find this beer in a three county radious ( I am assuming Lake, McHenry and Boone counties), to that I respond, maybe but a 50 percent markup seems just a little bit too excessive, and just shrug my shoulders and walk away. For what it is worth, I ended up getting my Goose Island Bourbon County Stout at Steves in Madison on a weekend trip up into the chedder curtain (Wisconsin)

July 10, 2006
For an out-of-towner, this is a great place to buy singles. Bought Dreadnaught here and Avery Mephistopholes, Victory Grand Cru, as well as my first and second landbier/kellerbiers. Spent $76 on 14 beers; not bad at all considering some of the stuff I bought.

June 10, 2006
I was lured here by the tease of untasted German beers (thanks to my friend and The LoSBD colleague, frankenkitty), so I’m not disappointed. Decent enough place to pick up some good beers if you’re from the area. Really nothing to go out of the way for, unless you’re a crazed Beer Hunter like me.

June 1, 2006
The selection is MUCH better down Randall Road at Woodman’s in Carpentersville! Cardinal just doesn’t have the floor space or volume of traffic to justify the diversity that Woodman’s has.

May 30, 2006 [ Updated February 27, 2007 ]
A very clean and well-kept shop. I know Cardinal has been in this same location for years, but the interior looks sharp and new. The micro "corner" is relatively small, but the selection is varied and diverse. (I found a few brews that I haven’t seen in my local haunts.) Too many macros taking up space on the back wall, but I painfully understand that’s where the business gets made. Alot of wasted space in the cooler with "common" imports... Red Stripe, Harp, Corona, et. al.

All in all, for a smaller store they dedicate a decent amount of space towards craft beer... but not as much as a RateBeerian would like.

By the by, prudolph (above) is talking out of his ass. Woodman’s has a larger beer section, yet less-varied of a selection.

September 10, 2005
Yeah nothing to add really but I do have to say that this place is pretty darn good compared to what else is in the area. See... the fox valley is like this pit that sucks any hope of good beer right out the window. So this is a pretty strong store that offers some random good beers amongst the lame-o macros. Noteable good beers include Oak Aged Yetti (like 6 months after it dissapeared from everywhere else), Sam Adams Tripple Bock, DFH WWS, Dreadnaught, Lots of Two Brothers, Capital, Bells, and Three Floyds. Not bad at all.

June 18, 2005
I was here a few weeks ago. Did not really have much time to spend here, but I had heard they had 3F Dreadnaught. As good as advertised, there it was. Sure made my day!

May 1, 2004
This place is good. If you’re from the Crystal Lake area, I know of no other. At the time of this posting, they sell Dreadnaught, 2 Bros., Victory, some Belgians, Wisconsin brews, and a few others. Their fridge has even more, which includes Bell’s brews. So, it’s not that bad.