Drink with us Thursday, drink with Mike Friday

This Friday's vintage beers at Badaboomz Downtown available from 5 til their gone are:

2001 Arcadia Imperial Stout 10% abv
2002 Dogfish Head Worldwide Stout 23% abv
2000 Gale's Millenium Ale 9% abv

2 5oz samples(3oz of Dogfish) for $8

From Mike DeWeese's Basement: Vintage Beer Fridays

From Mike DeWeese at BadaBoomz:

VINTAGE BEER TASTINGS
BACK AGAIN DOWNTOWN
AT BADABOOMZ ALE HOUSE & GRILL
EVERY FRIDAY FROM 5PM TIL THEY'RE GONE
3 DIFFERENT VINTAGE BEERS FROM OUR COLLECTION OF OVER 300
3 5OZ SAMPLES ONLY $8

First Up:

Here are the beers I just pulled out of my basement for tonight's vintage beer tasting at Badaboomz Downtown: Gale's Conquest Ale 2000 9% abv, Rogue I2PA 2002 9.6% abv and Anheuser Busch 2005 Brewmaster's Reserve 8.5% abv. Don't snicker, I've heard it's awesome. Remember, you have to be good at brewing to make a beer as delicate as Bud taste the same all over the world. The beers will be available at your leisure starting at 5 until they are gone. Cheers, Mike

You may not be so lucky

Meeting 18 of the Knights of the Beer Roundtable was unlike any other in that it was the first time we were wanted. Michael DeWeese, owner of the downtown BW3's, contacted Chris and asked him to bring us by to check out their selection of beers.

When thinking of BW3's, maybe the last thing I'd think of is beer selection, but as it turns out Michael is doing things a little bit differently than most BW's. As a result of this deviation from the template, Michael and his business partner Doug are moving the downtown location away from the BW3's concept, and creating a new restaurant named BadaBoomz.

As it stands currently, the downtown BW3's location has 40 taps, starting with your standard Anheuser-Busch products and ending up somewhere far away from anything standard. Once the transformation is complete, Doug claims they'll have 15 drafts no one else is offering - and an even more expansive beer selection than they currently stock.

We started the night with a George Gale & Co. Ltd Conquest Ale, a dull, flat looking reddish-orange drink that smelled of citrus and apple cider. The first taste brought out more of the apple - a strong taste that felt almost soupy on my tongue. This wasn't a hoppy beer, and the taste of alcohol wasn't overwhelming, but you couldn't drink a lot of this - and I don't think you'd want to. It was more a beer for sipping and trying to get your head around.

Our second sample was a 2003 Stone Brewing Company Double Bastard Ale. This had a similar appearance to the Conquest, but poured with a little more head. The nose was sweet and appley, also like the Conquest. But despite the introduction to the style with the Conquest Ale, the Double Bastard was surprisingly strong. Doug described the beer as a baseball bat to the face, and I'd agree with him. It's a bitter beer, but not hoppy... really nothing like anything I'd tasted before.

Both the Conquest and the Double Bastard taught me that not all beers are for quick consumption - some beers are meant to be sipped at, thought about, and discussed. I'd say it's almost a wine aficionado approach; dangerously close to beer snobbery. These beers seems to almost require as many brain cells to understand as they destroy. I'd give both a solid 3 mug rating.

We finished up the night with a Brewery Van Steenberge Piraat ($6.75 per glass), an amber IPA from Belgium. This beer was a nice way to finish up the evening, being a bit milder than our previous choices. The beer had an golden/orange yet transparent appearance in the glass, and a sweet smell that somehow reminded me of Brugge's Black. It had a sweet, almost bubblegum-like taste that hinted at its high (10%) alcohol content. I can tell that this was my last beer of the night; under the category of drinkabilty I wrote the words "I CAN SENSE THE DANGER!". I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean, but I suspect it means that I could drink a lot of it. I'd give it a 3.5 mug rating.

Getting back to the title of the post, I can't promise you that you'll find the same beers we had at BW's. Both the Conquest and Double Bastard came from Michael's personal stash. But that shouldn't stop you from checking out BW's (and BadaBoomz) selection if you get the chance. With the expansive selection you're sure to find something that fits your pallet.

My thanks go out to Michael and Doug for sharing their passion and beer. I'm sure we'll be back when BadaBoomz is open for business.

Sentimental Journey

So I'm 16 and I just got my driver's license. And like any teenager in Columbus, I wanted to get out and enjoy life. This meant taking road trips to Bloomington and Indianapolis with my friends Bryan and the Bohemian and many others. The one draw back: it's hard to have (legal) fun in Bloomington and Indy without being 21.

Until we found BW3's on Kirkwood Avenue. They let those under 21 in. They had sports all over. They had chicken wings and kick ass burgers on weck (the third W in BW3's). And it was also the first time I was served beer without getting carded. This was a favorite hang out for my friends and I.

It is many years later. BW3's has dropped the Weck to become Buffalo Wild Wings Bar and Grill. The BW's on Kirkwood is long gone, replaced my a strip mall store on the west side of town. Even the BW's in the Village in Muncie has moved out to a strip mall way, way, WAY off campus.

But my love for BW's continues. And our most recent beer tasting was held at the BW's in Downtown Indy. And this will certainly be my last drinking experience at downtown BW's as the owners and corporate, having philosophical differences, have elected to go their separate ways. So after Memorial Day, BW's will close and later in June will re-open as Badaboomz.

What will remain, however, is the amazing beer selection. Forty taps. Many more in bottles. A collection of cellar beers that probably can't be challenged by anyone in the city, state, or Midwest for that matter.

We were invited by Michael Deweese, who is a partner and the resident beer geek. He brought with him another restaurant partner named Doug (whose last night I didn't write down). We talked a lot about the restaurant business and about beers. From his cellar, Michael brought out a 22 ounce bottle of vintage Stone Double Bastard (from 2003) and a couple of bottles George Gale & Company Limited Conquest Ale (from 2001).

Normally, I would expect 4 to 6 year old beer to be skunky. I was proven wrong. And really, it makes sense. IPA's were made to survive the long journey from England to India. They have longevity.

What's really interesting is what the beers result in. Instead of being the bitter, hopped up beers when they are first born, they sit in the cellar and come out very sweet. Over time, it turns into a beverage that would challenge most wines. The result is not a beer that you slam or drink one after another. It's a sit back and enjoy type of beer.

We tried the Conquest first. As expected, it poured with no head what so ever. It was amber in color and smelled of applies. It was sweet, sweet, super sweet, like a good barley wine. There were some nice citrus notes. It finishes with a slight, syrupy aftertaste. For me, it reminds me of a really good, non-peety scotch.

We followed with the Double Bastard. Again, it poured with no head. It has a sweet aroma, a creamy sweet taste with a slight bite up front, and left my mouth covered in sugar.

Both beers were great, giving me a desire to store away some beers myself. Though I can't imagine being able to store beer away for so long and not drink it. We'll see.

With both beers, I give solid 4 mug ratings.

We finished with Piraat, which Doug highly recommended. This is an excellent Belgian ale and is available on tap downtown at BW's. It is not overly carbonated, so when the reddish-golden elixir is poured, there isn't a lot of head. The sweet aroma was faint and I wasn't able to define what I was smelling. The taste was surprising, full of fruits, especially strawberry. The sweet maltiness of this beer was balanced with just a oh so slight bite of hops. The Piraat finished clean with little aftertaste. But be careful: this drink is 10% ABV. You wouldn't really know it when you drink it, so it is easy to go overboard on this. It was a good beer to follow up the cellar beers with. It possesses many of the qualities of the cellar beer without having to wait years and years for it. Incredibly enjoyable, I give it 4 mugs as well.