03 July 2007

Tubby Bastards Eat Pretty People in BARcelona

See, this is what happens when you're the last one to the dance - or in this case, to post your review. All the other Geeks have already said anything of any importance. But since I've been absolutely abhorent about posting my reviews lately (Have you seen the one about the Racer 5 IPA from The Bear Republic from my May trip to California? No, you haven't because I have posted it yet!), I'm going to spew forth some yada, yada, yada for your entertainment.

As you know, we went to the new BARcelona Tappas in downtown Indy. Not that we wouldn't have checked it out, but we put it higher on the list since our buddy Deano is the managing consultant here. And we've grown to love that tubby bastard (I can say that because I'm a tubby bastard, too), so we wanted to check out his new project.

It was awesome to show up and have 4 unexpected guests. I mean, we always send out an invite, but nobody really ever takes us up on it. So we had given up on you. But we've been given new hope, and we expect to see more of you coming out now that we're cool enough to be resident beer geek experts for INtake. We really dig having other beer geeks join in.

The restaurant itself appears to be quickly becoming an "it" place. Bunches of pretty people who didn't look like they were ever geeks in their lives. LOSERS! So depending on your opinion, that's either good or bad. But that was really about the only questionable aspect of the restaurant for me. Chris, the manager, was extremely helpful. They had a side room booked for us, and was as prepared as they could be with having no idea what we were going to do. I take that back - one more questionable aspect - the beer list was given to us on a folded sheet of paper for all to share, meaning they didn't have a seperate beer menu. But hey, live and let live. Hopefully, they'll fix that. But the selection on that paper was pretty decent. They had six beers on tap - Stella Artois, Paulanor Wheat, Moretti Lager, O. B. Amber, Oberon, and, well, Bud Light. They also had 20 bottles, ranging from Coors Lite to Delirium Tremens, so one hell of a range.

The food was fantastic! Since I'm on a diet anyway, the portions were perfect, and I didn't feel like I was cheating. The chicken wings that Kelly ordered may be the best I've ever had - or at least real close. And I am a chicken wing expert. In fact, I'm putting together Hoosier Chicken Wing Geek as we speak! But everything we ordered and sampled was really great stuff. I've been here for lunch once before, and both mine and my wife's dish were very tasty, too. So I can say after trying at least 7 items from the menu, that nothing has been below very good!

You know we warmed up on the Delirium. I love Delirium. My good friend Traci - of Good Beer Show fame - introduced it to me, as she did the concept of drinking good beers, when we had less gray hairs. It's nose is fruity, giving off heavy plums, similar to Unibroue beers, which I think Jason mentioned. It's very blonde, and is obviously unfiltered. Lots of sediment floating around. The taste is one of the most complex of any beer I've ever tried, and it has a light mouthfeel. The bottle is best known for being white & opaque, with pink elephants and dancing aligators. It's got a real high ABV - 8.5% - so this is a good sipping beer. Don't drink too fast, unless you're a tubby bastard like me, then you can probably handle it. I don't know if it's the taste I like so much, or the memories of some good times up in Muncie that are associated with it, but I give it 5 mugs. It's really one of my top 10 favorite beers.

If you haven't gotten the chance yet, check this place out. It's definitely worth your time.

Now let me step up on my soapbox for a second. Don't be afraid of the homeless folks the next block down at Wheeler. They may just hit you up for some change. Tell them no, and send them on, preferrably to Horizon House if you're there during the day. They have to put up with a lot of shit at Wheeler - ie, go to church service or you get kicked out for the night, even if it's winter - and they're in a bad situation. But for the most part, when you get to know them (and I did working at Horizon House for three years), they're good people who have taken some wrong roads in life.

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