Thurdsday
September 17, 2015

When I arrived at 7:30 PM, David was already at the bar. World of Beer is brand spankin' new, having only opened on August 31st. The place is LOUD!

I started with a Kuka Belgian Plum Wit (4.7% ABV). Kuka is made in the nearby Rockland County town of Blauvelt. It's made with Bukhara Plums, Apricots & Coriander. It's good, but not outstanding or memorable.

Dan arrived around 8:10. For round 2, I took the Tour of Belgium: four 4-ounce pours of Belgian-style ales. I had ordered a Broken Bow Old Split Foot (10.0% ABV). I was really looking forward to trying this Tuckahoe-brewed beer. Instead, the waiter brought Delrium Tremens (8.5% ABV) by Belgium's Brouwerij Huyghe. Alas, so many beers—so little time...

DT is a fine beer, very smooth and drinkable, but at the same time it has a mildly alcoholic taste to it. That is, the alcohol slightly overpowers the flavor of the beer. While for some the whole point of drinking beer is to get as much alcohol into your system as quickly as possible, a strongly alcoholic beer is not a plus for me.

Next up was the Sierra Nevada Farmhouse Saison (7.5% ABV). I detected notes of banana and clove perhaps? I like this brewer. I've been drinking Sierra Nevada Pale Ale since 1980. Back then, it was one of the very few alternatives to Bud and Miller. Sadly, this beer is undistinguished.

Next up is Brewery Ommegang's Abbey Ale (8.2% ABV). Well balanced, and smoother than the rest, this ale is brewed with a mix of licorice, orange peer, corainder and even cumin, for a fruity aroma. It's Great!

Conversation turned to this week's news that AB-InBev, the parent company of Budweiser (as well as Corona, Stella Artois, Beck's, Hoegaarden, Leffe, Brahma, Modelo Especial and Michelob), is trying to acquire SAB-Miller (which includes Coors, Fosters, Grölsch, Peroni and Pilsener Urquell), which would leave one company over 350 brands of mass-market beer. Dan and David questioned whether this proposed merger could even go forward given anti-trust concerns. Goose Island makes some GREAT beers and they are owned by Bud, so we know that the company is capable of brewing good beer.

The last of the tour was Brouwerij de Halve Maan's Straffe Hendrick Quadrupel (11% ABV!). Wow! This was fantastic! This rich brown beer is definitely the best of the four. The Quad was definitely warmer than the rest of the beers, like a cask beer.

David next had a Dogfish Head Sixty-One. It's a very good IPA. nicely balanced, but still "hop forward." The gimmick with this beer is that the idea sprung from mixing their 60-Minute IPA with a bit of red wine. As brewed, this is basically the same beer with Syrah grape must introduced during the brewing process. It works.

My "Thurd" round was a Boulder Beer's Shake Chocolate Porter Nitro (5.9% ABV). With notes of Chocolate, coffee and caramel, this porter is Nice! Rich and complex. Dan put it this way: "The smell is phenomenal! It's like a chocolate shake in a glass!" Hard to argue with that! A very tasty Chimay Burger arrived.

By 9:30, Dan had to cut out. David and I managed to linger past 10. We had the usual discussion of Comicon and science fiction. As David was describing this new Matt Damon movie, an ad for "The Martian" came on TV. The bartenders rotate at World of Beer; several people served us and I would rate the service as very good overall. Steve in particular shared his beer knowledge. he brought David and I tasters of the Boulder Mojo IPA Nitro. This is excellent and well balanced! David immediately whipped out his phone and wrote a review of the beer to the Beer Advocate website. I love this country!

My final brew was a Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout Nitro (7.2% ABV). It's very good and, in contrast to the Boulder Shake, very dry. On a different night, this might have been my top beer, but tonight, the honor goes to the Boulder Shake Chocolate Porter.

All in all, I rather like the World of Beer. The selection was good, the staff attentive, and while loud, the place was not overly crowded. We'd definitely come back!





World Of Beer
316 8th Avenue,
New York, NY 10001
Website
(212) 255-2337


What's on tap?

Bottles and Taps

World of Beer: The WOBblies

Shiny new stuff!

Shake Choloate Porter Nitro!

#1085