World of Beer celebrates grand opening Saturday

World of Beer has been open for a few weeks, but they are having their official grand opening celebration this Saturday, Nov. 14.

According to their e-mail, they are having an outdoor party from noon to 6 p.m. with a free cookout from 2 to 5. The party moves indoors at 6. They say they will be "family friendly" with games until 7 p.m.

The beer bar is at 8217 Tourist Center Drive off University Parkway near the Interstate 75 exit. For more information, call them at (941) 306-5868.

Herald-Tribune writes about World of Beer

My colleague at the Herald-Tribune, Steve Echeverria, writes about World of Beer, the new beer bar on the border of Sarasota and Manatee counties, in his No Cover column in this week's Ticket.

You can read Steve's column online here.

Read my past coverage of World of Beer here.

World of Beer first impressions

I stopped by the newly opened World of Beer on the border of Sarasota and Manatee counties after work on Friday night. I got there about 11:00. I only lasted five seconds.

The place was packed and they had a band playing in their loft with the sound set to concert levels. I turned on my heels and left. It's tough for a place to be more repellent than having smoking, but brain-breaking loud music is worse.

But I didn't want to give up on the place; after all, I went on a Friday night.

I went back on Tuesday evening and got there just before 7:00 to take advantage of their happy hour $1-off draft specials.

A good number of people were there, but there was still plenty of space. No bands, and the piped-in music was much softer than Friday night. It was a bit too loud for my tastes, but the sound wasn't in the danger level.*

I was welcomed by a server right after arriving and sat at the bar, where Josh tended to me. Nice guy. They were out of Cigar City's Jai Alai IPA, which was only a mild disappointment because I'm hoping to get up to the brewery on Wednesday. Josh suggested Hercules Double IPA, a great double IPA from Great Divide Brewing in Colorado, but the keg ran out. He then gave me a sample of Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA, another good, bitter beer. I had a glass of that, which was $5 with the happy hour special.

Some friends have called World of Beer a corporate place. I must be a corporate shill, because I liked it. Brick and dark wood with a wall of beer in coolers divided by about 30 taps. They have a covered lanai where patrons can smoke. It's connected to the bar by a big open doorway, so if you're really sensitive to smoke you'll need to keep clear.

This is a good bar. I will be returning to the World of Beer and suggest you check it out for yourself, just get their earlier when the music isn't so loud.

*I'm the guy who wears earplugs to concerts. My father had profound hearing loss and if the same thing happens to me, at least I'll know I didn't do it to myself.

World of Beer opens, and I miss it

Wouldn't you know it, I leave town for a few days and World of Beer opens their newest beer bar on University Parkway on the Manatee-Sarasota county line.

I hear they planned on a "soft" invite-only opening but the word got out and lots of people showed up. I'm not sure if they have had the official grand opening cookout they promised on Twitter, but their Web site is fully operational.

I'll have to get over there ASAP and file a report.

Expanded "Kings of beer" story now online

My newspaper's sister site, yoursarasota.com, has posted an expanded online version of the "Kings of beer" story that ran last week in the Herald-Tribune and featured the Cock & Bull Pub and the Sarasota Brewing Co.* This version includes more of Chip Litherland's great photos.

You can read it here.

*Read my blog post on the article here.

Review: Imperial White

Imperial While is from Samuel Adams' sort-of new Imperial Series. They're brewing four bigger beers year-round and selling them in four-packs.* The beers are: Imperial White, Imperial Stout and Double Bock. They also make a seasonal Imperial Pilsner, though they don't consider it part of the Imperial Series. All of these are very good beers and are some of SA's best. I'll post reviews of the other beers in the future.

I bought this four-pack at the Publix on University Parkway in southern Manatee County. That Publix has one of the grocery chain's best beer selections.

Check out this post for background on witbiers, or wheat beers. Basically, they are like German wheat beers -- meaning they are brewed with wheat as well as barley malt -- but also have coriander, orange peel and other spices added.

The review

It pours a cloudy copper in color after swirling the final ounces in the bottle. The head is thick, but not huge. It has a light banana and clove aroma, which are aromas typical of this style of beer.

The taste is very good. Big spice flavors like clove mix with sweet malt flavors and yeasty notes to make a super wheat beer. It's like a hefeweizen, but jacked up. The high alcohol is quite noticeable in the fusel flavors.

The body is also great: Smooth and creamy and slick.

This is a very good beer and one of Samuel Adams' best. I highly recommend it. Seek it out.

*Each four-pack sells for about $10, which is fine except that SA used to sell their Double Bock for the same price as their regular beer (about $7) in six-packs back when they only brewed Double Bock seasonally. Dollar, dollar bill, ya'll.

World of Beer starts training

World of Beer posted on Twitter today that they have started training their staff at their in-progress beer bar off University Parkway in southern Manatee County. So they are another step closer to opening.

World of Beer pushes opening to October

I visited the Web site for World of Beer's coming Sarasota-Manatee beer bar and they have pushed their grand opening back to October. Originally they were hoping to open in August or September.

I'm not surprised, considering the state the bar was in when I stopped by recently. Starting up a place like that always takes more time than planned.

When they open, I'll be there.

Waiting for World of Beer

I drove by the soon-to-open World of Beer off University Parkway in southern Manatee County today after visiting Total Wine & More.*

Looks like they still have a ways to go; I didn't notice much progress since my last visit a couple of weeks ago.

And a source within Sarasota's craft beer community tells me that World of Beer may allow smoking inside if they can't get approval for their patio. Let's hope the place can be nonsmoking: A nonsmoking beer bar will be a big hit with all the beer fans who would never go to a smoky bar. Perhaps one day Florida will follow other states and ban smoking in all businesses.

*I went there to buy my wife some Saranac Root Beer, a great root beer that she loves. I told myself I wasn't going to buy any beer, since two weeks ago I spent almost $80 on a few 22-ounce bottles (see my post on Hoppin' Frog).

I decided to walk past the beer shelves to see what was new so I could blog about it. Well, they had a new Cigar City beer, Improvicasion ($9.99), and Dogfish Head's Sah'tea ($13.99), which was the beer they brewed while being visited for an article by the New Yorker.

So my willpower snapped and I bought a bottle of each and hope the Dogfish Head Sah'tea is better than their Theobroma.

And I see that my footnote is now longer than the main post. Great.

Review: Cali-Belgique

I was happily surprised to see a note on BeerAdvocate that Cali-Belgique from Stone was in stock. I heard from friends that this beer started out as a one-off, but was so popular that Stone is brewing it year-round. A 22-ounce bottle was $6 at Total Wine & More on Aug. 20, but I heard it was part of a special order, so don't be surprised if they are out of it.

Stone calls this a Belgian IPA, which, according to BeerAdvocate, is a style Belgian brewers started making after having hoppy American beers. The key to these beers is Belgian yeast, which adds its special spicy, earthy -- even funky -- notes to beer. So now Stone makes a Californian (Cali) version of a Belgian (Belgique*) beer that was inspired by hoppy American beers like Stone's regular lineup. You can call this the circle of life.

From my notes:

What a beautiful beer. It's bright gold in color with a large sticky white head. The aroma spicy and lightly hoppy. It has a similar taste of spice and general Belgian beer flavors. Mild levels of hops for a Stone beer, which takes little getting used to. But after wrapping my mind around it I like it. There is still a good hop presence, but it a non-Stone way.

Overall this is a very good beer and a neat departure for Stone from their normal hoppy brews. This is a beer to seek out.

*Note: You may see this beer labeled Cali-Belgique or Cali-Belgie. Why? As usual, Stone writes a lot of notes on the back of the bottle. They explain that they don't want to alienate Belgians, some of whom speak French, some of whom speak Flemish. So about 50 percent of the bottles are Cali-Belgique and 50 percent are Cali-Belgie.

Review: Sparkling Ale

When I saw this bottle of Bell's Sparkling Ale on the shelf, I thought it was a low-alcohol beer like Cooper's Sparkling Ale. But at $2.50 per 12-ounce bottle, I realized it must be something different. Reading the label set me straight. This is a Belgian Tripel, a strong golden ale usually brewed with coriander and dried orange peel. Bell's is almost 9 percent alcohol. They say this is their take on a glass of "bubbly."

From my notes:

It pours a nice golden color with a big head that quickly reduces to a ring of foam in my glass. It has a fruity and lightly spicy aroma. Nice. The flavor is lightly spicy and rather sweet, with light malt notes and a light flavor of alcohol. The body is nicely fizzy.

Overall this is a pretty good Tripel.

But if you want to try a great Tripel, check out Abbey Triple from Sprecher in Milwaukee. I bought a bottle at Total Wine & More in March. Great stuff.

Review: Hoppin' To Heaven IPA

Hoppin' Frog Brewery from Akron, Ohio, is another new arrival in Florida. It seems we're getting a lot of new beers these days! As our former president said, "Bring 'em on!"

I bought one of each of their three beers that were available at Total Wine & More off University Parkway. These beers had better be good, because they are expensive. From $9 to $12 per 22-ounce bottle, to be exact.

Tonight I decided to drink their Hoppin' To Heaven IPA. My notes:

Pours a lovely deep copper in color with a sticky head that quickly turns into a thin layer of foam. Very strong citrus and earthy hop aroma. The taste is -- no surprise -- very hoppy. Big hop flavors mix with a honey sweetness and earthiness and finish with big bitterness. The flavors are so big I'd almost describe this as a Double IPA. A slick and oily body, thanks to the hops. Overall this is a very nice hoppy IPA. An Ohio beer that reminds me of California.

This is an excellent beer. Though at $9 per bottle, this isn't one I'll be buying often.

Beer haul: Cigar City, Stone, Hoppin' Frog and Bell's

After being alerted on BeerAdvocate that Stone's 13th Anniversary ale was in stock at Total Wine & More, I had to get some. (Remember, Stone calls this the "hoppiest beer we've ever brewed.") Sure enough, a phone call confirmed that they had 22-ounce bottles in stock for $7 each. So I headed over on today.

Not only did they have the anniversary ale, they also had Stone's Cali-Belgique ($6), their take on a Belgian IPA.

I also picked up a new Cigar City beer: Bolita Brown ($10 for a 750 mL), their double English brown ale that's 9 percent alcohol. Cigar City beers sell fast, so get them while you can at your favorite beer store.

I also bought three bottles of Hoppin Frog, an Ohio brewery that's a new arrival here. Pricey stuff for 22-ounce bottles: I hope they're good. The three: B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher Oatmeal Imperial Stout ($10), Hoppin' to Heaven IPA ($9) and Mean Manalishi Double IPA ($12!).

Finally I bought a 12-ounce bottle of Bell's Sparkling Ale, a Belgian triple that they compare to champagne. And no, we're not talking about Miller High Life.

All these are new beers for me. Exciting stuff.

New arrival: Magic Hat

Beers from the Magic Hat Brewing Co. of Burlington, Vt., are in Sarasota. So far I've only seen their flagship, No. 9, at the Cock & Bull Pub in Sarasota. Magic Hat sent our entertainment editor a press release (and a beer!) that also said No. 9 is at The Distillery and The Lost Kangaroo Pub in Bradenton.

No. 9 is a good beer. Spicy and Belgian-like, and easy to drink and very approachable for those who aren't beer geeks.

World of Beer Sarasota-Manatee micro-update

As I've noted before, World of Beer is planning on opening a new beer bar on University Parkway in southern Manatee County in September. To recap the details: 30 taps, 500 beers, nonsmoking.

They're on Twitter now, and posted that they are planning a grand opening celebration with free food, live music, giveaways and beer. No specifics on date and time, yet.

Review: Leviathan (Imperial IPA)

I picked this up at Total Wine & More the other day: $3 a bottle. It's great to see more Harpoon brews in Florida. I thought we were fated to only get their hefeweizen and IPA.

Leviathan is a rotating release from Harpoon. Each iteration is a different extreme beer. They have also brewed a Baltic porter, strong pilsner and quadruple. This is the first Leviathan I've had.

My notes:

Pours a nice golden/copper in color with a big foamy off-white head.

Big citrus hop aroma.

The taste is sweet, bitter and hoppy. Surprise! This is a sweeter double IPA than most others. It is also more balanced: Instead of being a huge hop bomb, it's a large hop bomb. The sweet, almost sugary, flavors offset the bitterness.

The body is light but slick from the alcohol.

This is a fine beer, but at 10 percent, I'd only have one.

Review: Hop Stoopid

My co-worker Kat told me I needed to try this double IPA from Lagunitas since she knows how much I love Bell's Hopslam, which currently tied with Rogue's Imperial India Pale Ale as my No. 1 rated beer.

So when I was at Total Wine & More this week I picked up a 22-ounce bottle for $4.49, which is a great price. I am a sucker for hoppy beers.

I love this beer's name. The label description, which is weird but not the usual Lagunitas claptrap that makes absolutely no sense, seems to indicate that they used hop extracts.

My notes:

Pours a lovely copper in color with a big foamy off-white head.

The smell is all about the hops. Huge citrus notes. The only beer that smells hoppier is Bell's Hopslam, which smells just like Hop Stoopid, only stronger!

The taste is like the smell: Bitter and hoppy. Big, big citrus flavors mix with vegetable hop flavors. Little malt flavor. No balance. No problem.

The body is light, but not watery.

This is a great double IPA. A must-have for hopheads. Kat described it well: Hopslam light. And that's not derogatory.

Review: LongShot Cranberry Wit

This is the third of three beers in Samuel Adams' LongShot six-packs this year. As I've written before, LongShot beers are the winners of Sam Adams' annual homebrew competition.

I've been slacking on this review. I'm so late, it's probably not in stores anymore. I didn't see any at Total Wine & More on University Parkway the other day.

A witbier, or wheat beer, is similar to a German hefeweizen. Both beers are brewed with malted wheat, in addition to the regular malted barley. Witbiers are a Belgian style that also use spices like coriander and orange peel. German beers cannot use spice because of their famous purity law, the Reinheitsgebot, which prohibits the use of anything in beer other than water, malted grain, yeast and hops. I totally respect the German law, because it means you won't have junk like rice or corn put in your beer without your knowledge, but it prevents German brewers from making some really interesting beers with fruit, spices, honey, etc.

Wheat beers are almost always unfiltered and therefore cloudy. Yeast and other perfectly safe sediment will settle at the bottom of the bottle. You are supposed to pour two-thirds of the beer into a glass, then swirl the remaining beer in the bottle to stir up the compacted sediment, and finally pour that into the glass. Without the sediment, the typical wheat beer flavors are greatly subdued.

What are wheat beer flavors? Banana and clove, primarily. And these flavors don't come from bananas or cloves. Instead, they are esters (flavors) imparted by the yeast.

A lot of wheat beers in restaurants and bars are served with lemon or orange wedges. I avoid garnishes because the citric acid can kill the beer's head and garnishes mask the beer's flavor. Whether to garnish or not is a hot topic among beer geeks.

My tasting notes:

A cloudy straw-colored beer with a big, white foamy head. Lovely.

It has a spicy aroma of cranberries and earthy yeast.

The taste is lightly spicy and sweet from fruit flavors, yet it has the classic witbier esters of clove and banana. I also notice the grains of paradise that appear in other SA beers. It's very easy to drink.

This is my least favorite of the three LongShot beers this year. But that sounds a lot worse than it is. This is still a very good beer. It's light and fruity and refreshing. It's good for all the hot days here in Florida.

Like its two brethren, this beer should be added to Samuel Adams' regular lineup.

New beers at Total Wine

I wrote earlier about Anderson Valley beers coming to the Sarasota Whole Foods. Today I went to Total Wine & More near Interstate 75 and they also are carrying the brewery's beers. I bought a six-pack of Hop Ottin' IPA.

There were some other news beers there, too: Stone Imperial Russian Stout, Sierra Nevada Kellerweis, Lagunitas Hop Stoopid and Harpoon Leviathan.

I've had the Stone beer before and it's good. The Harpoon, Lagunitas and Sierra Nevada brews are new to me. I bought some and will review them soon.

One of my favorite beers, Bison Organic IPA, was back on the shelf. (All links take you to BeerAdvocate's pages for each beer.)

It's easy to spend way too much money on beer these days.

World of Beer Sarasota-Manatee mini-update

Back in May I wrote about the World of Beer bar that's coming to University Park in August or September. Here's a map from their Web site:

I was in the neighborhood today and stopped by to check on their progress. They had more info in the window about what's coming: 30 taps, 500 beers. Fantastic. The inside was still a long ways from being completed, looked like they had dug a trench in the concrete for pipes and drains.

The window sign also said they are hiring and to visit www.wobusa.com/sarasota.html for more info and to apply.