Bob's Bar - Cave Creek Chili Beer

Last night Elly and I met up with a group of work colleagues and their significant others at Bob's Bar - THE Cultural Hub of the Midwest. I visited Bob's shortly before heading off to Uruguay (see Blog entry on Bob's in September entitled "Two more reasons to love Columbus").

Bob's is a special sort of place both because it has a good atmosphere, decent prices, and an excellent selection of beer. There are about 40 beers on tap and over one hundred bottles. I joined the 'round the world club last night, which means that if I drink all 84 beers on their featured beers of 2009 list by the end of the year, then I get a free T-shirt. Free is a relative word though as the cost of 84 beers is going to work out to about $400. It is a interesting mix of beers, many of which I want to try, so it is an admirable goal in my book.

My knowledge of beer and beer styles has dramatically increased over the last year with my beer making, listening to beer podcasts, and trying beers in many different countries (Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Uruguay, Argentina).

Last night I first tried the Czechvar. This is a beer that has been on my must try list for years and it was good to finally give it a try. It is a pilsner with a soft, sweet taste, not unlike a Stella. While not a favorite, this is a good, easy drinking beer that has an interesting history. This beer has a different name in Europe, being called Budvar. A trademark dispute with American (formerly) Budweiser got settled by dividing up territories and use of the Bud name on the various continents. Budweiser is now American Budweiser in Europe.

The second beer I tried is the Cave Creek Chili beer. This beer actually has a while jalapeno chili peper in the bottle, not unlike the slug in bottles of tequila. The pepper spice and taste is strong but matches nicely with the light beer. It can best be described as Corona with some hot sauce squirted into it. It was interesting to try, but I could only drink half the bottle and I will probably not be ordering it again.

Elly had a Warsteiner Dunkle, an old favorite of mine which I do not have very often. It is more to her taste, having a dark, heavy taste with a touch of sweetness. Because it is German you know it is good.

So, I am three beers towards the free T-shirt. 81 to go!