Cardinal Wine & Spirits

No Longer In Business

(Visited 08/2014): This Cardinal location is in Crystal Lake on West Virginia and Linn. There is a lot in front and beside the building.

Inside is laid out in typical liquor store fashion, brightly lit with the beer being located primarily on the front left side past the counters, with more in coolers running along the length of the left side of the building.

There are a couple hundred beers available, from brewers like Goose Island, Pipeworks, Oso, Three Floyds and Boulevard. Singles are available.

Service was decent, I was asked if I needed help finding anything and checkout was friendly.

All in all this is a pretty solid shop to visit in Crystal Lake.

k i’m seeing a lot of dated reviews here so I’m gonna break it down propa, and keep ya’lls up to dates with the scene here at Cardinal in the Crystal Lakes. Okay? Okay. Ambiance: ? Place looks like a liquor store, idk what else to say. One could knock it for being a bit tight but I like it when they keep it real like that. The service is stupendous! Shout outs to my boy Chris, this guy will help you find what you’re looking for, even if you don’t know what it is yet. Everyone in there is great. Excellent! Selection: Okay guys so the selection of craft beer is the best in town. The only place (as far as I know) that sells singles. Stock is always rotating; keeping it fresh with the latest and greatest. I run out of available funds far before they run out of new mind blowing beers i’m dying to try. Excellent! Okay I was just about to mark n/a when it comes to food but I be forgetful. I love cheese. All kinds of cheese. Except cottage and American Anyway, they have cheese! And muchies which they bustout for beer tastings, which reminds me! These guys host awesome beer tastings (and wine too if that’s your thing.) I can only speak for the former. You may want to call to check the current schedule, but I know this past summer they were doing two beer tastings a month that featured the dankest (and local-st) brews available, huge "tastings," good turnouts and good times all around. Massive props on that guys. They usually have some special deal going on in the craft beer isle to check out. I always manage to get hooked up in one way or another. I leave happy. And when LovingCup is in the market for high quality brewskis, well ladies and gentleman, Cardinal on Rt.14 in Crystal Lake is where LovingCup returns. Again....and Again....and Again. If you’re in the area do yourself a favor and check this place out. I could not recommend it enough. And if your from the area and don’t know by now....Quit playin’ wit my emotions!

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

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!