Roundtable #28 | Smooth Jazz Epidemic

"Grover Washington, Jr. (December 12, 1943 - December 17, 1999) was an American soul-jazz musician. Along with John Klemmer, George Benson, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of the smooth jazz genre."

This is the Wikipedia entry for Grover Washington, Jr. If you're 35 or older, you might remember Grover's greatest hit, "Just the Two of Us." If you're younger than 35, you probably remember "Just the Two of Us" as a Will Smith song, in which he sampled Grover's original.

We got a big ol' dose of Grover at the Rathskeller last night, continuing the grievous aural assault of that most heinous musical genre which began during my visit to Florida. I don't know what was more frightening--the fact that a beloved beer hall was foisting this stuff upon me and my fellow knights (after previously playing the Only Band That Ever Mattered, no less) or the fact that Jason seemed to know the lyrics and bass-line to every single Grover song. I don't know whether it was my imagination, but I seem to recall that blood was trickling out of Kelly's left ear...

Actually, I think I know what our bartender was up to with his musical selection--we were getting close to closing time, and he was simply using Grover as a hint to us to settle up and leave. He was, however, kind enough to switch to something more musically palatable upon request. Thus ended Jason's air guitar routine.

Anyway, I've paid many a visit to the Rathskeller, and most Indy dwellers are already familiar with the place, so I won't bother you with a lengthy recounting of my impressions of our physical surroundings. Suffice it for me to say that I love the place and you should visit it if you haven't been there yet.

The beers reviewed:

Weihenstephaner Oktoberfest - Cloudy golden color with no lacing. Sweet, yeasty nose, sort of Belgian in character. A pleasant, slightly hoppy flavor. High drinkability. A decent but not outstanding offering. 2.5 Mugs.

Erdinger Hefe Weissbier Dark - As Mike noted, served with an orange slice. Thick tan head, dark brown in color. I expected a chewy beer, but alas, was mistaken. Tasted like water infused with copper and zinc. So unimpressive that I couldn't finish it. I handed it over to Jason. I think that this was the only beer I've not been able to finish at a roundtable. 0.5 Mugs.

A note on our visit to Cavalier Distributing. Thanks to Bob Ostrander of Indiana Beer for inviting us and to Mat Gerdenich of Cavalier Distributing for the enlightening tour and the excellent beer. Mat gave us some Weihenstephaner Dunkel Weiss. A really unique and tasty offering. Reddish-gold coloring with an ample golden head. Had a sweet, yeasty nose and a flavor that followed suit. Definitely the best of our German beers on the night. I'm not going to give this one a mug rating in hopes that we'll review it in the future. Trust me when I say that this beer is uber pleasing (that's my feeble attempt at speaking German).