Ohio Rocks - Bodega Cafe - is a must see in Columbus

I had to go to Columbus on a business trip. No biggie. So I looked on Beer Advocate for a nice place to go and grab a few local brews. Boy was I in for a surprise.

Less than 20 minutes from my hotel (in Short-North as the locals call it) was a bar called Bodega Café – with 50 (yes that is fifty) beers on tap, and 3 fridges full of bottles – ALL at Happy Hour prices. We don’t have Happy Hour in MA, so that in itself would have made it a great place for me.

But if that was not enough, they served half pints. So often when I travel I face the issue of which beer to choose when I am driving. I have a steadfast rule max 2 when driving. With the half pint option I was able to try 4 different local brews!

Bodega also serves food. The menu was decent – quite a nice selection for a vegetarian. Although I am not a veggie, I eat veggie most of the time.

The folks in the bar were friendly. I met another female beer geek and we chatted for hours about brews we liked, brews we did not like, and even a little bit about wine. The crowd was mixed. There was my fellow beer geek, as well as people who like to go there because it is trendy. I kid you not, one guy ordered like this - verbatim - “you know, the beer with the dog with a hat on it”? (Seadog Blueberry). I could not resist teasing him and his girlfriend about it. He was surprised and awed that I knew which beer he was talking about. I said that I was from the North East and it was very common.

The staff was eah.

The only unfortunate thing about the visit is that I forgot what I drank. I do recall sampling Great Lakes, and 2 other local brews, but as per the variety I could not tell you.

All in all I would have to give Bodega Café a double thumbs up and an A rating.

Gulu Gulu Cafe - a European Oasis in Salem MA

As I seemed to let another weekend escape from me with out blogging (to be honest I have been helping a friend that is out of work build a resume and get ready to enter the corporate world) so I decided to blog on my lunch break.

This past weekend we went to the Gulu Gulu Café in Salem MA. It is like a European oasis close to home. They offer a solid beer and cheese selection and let you sit and enjoy as long as you like. No rush to move on or move out. It was fantastic. Their menu consisted of simple wraps, salads, and sandwiches, but with the added twits of crepes. YUMMY. Their beer selection made it real easy to pair your food with just the right drink. I personally went for a classic Delirium Tremens but don’t let that fool you their selection is stellar.

If you want to sit, drinks, eat some great cheese and enjoy the company of your friends I totally recommend you give this place a shot.

Brewing a Triple on a Saturday AM

As a wedding gift to our friends Z&D, we offered to brew all the beer for their wedding. So far this brewing project has been a blast. After many discussions (beer/food pairing) we decided on the following; Farmhouse Ale, Saison, Alt, and a Maple Wheat. These should pair nicely with their locally grown, organic, farmhouse meal.

As a little surprise, we will also be giving them a 6 liter bottle of our own recipe Belgium Triple. We are going to cork and label it just for them so they can pop this ridiculously huge bottle. Please see the picture to grasp the size of this bottle.

Funny fact: While cleaning this bottle I happened to notice that although there is probably $10 worth of glass in this bottle there is only a 10 cent deposit 5 in most states. It is really funny.

We will be adding a bit of Coriander to this brew, and it will be our first time using this spice. Many of the greatest Belgium beers like Rochefort and Triple Karmilit use this spice, so we should give it a try.

If nothing else this has already proven to be a fun Saturday AM project.