Bada Boomz Downtown - Samplers

What: Bada Boomz Sampler
Vessel: Sampler Glasses
Price: $9.00
Where: Bada Boomz Downtown
When: April 25, 2008
Comments: Here's a continuation from the guy's night I had with Brewer McDuff. After dinner at Rock Bottom, we hit Bada Boomz for some good craft beer. We had a great time, with an entertaining bartender (Christopher). There was also a group of folks who stopped in on their way from Atlanta to DarkLord day (it was the next day). For an update on Bada Boomz, check out DIG-B. These are my comments.

Founder's Dry Hopped Pale Ale:

This was an OK beer. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. It had a bit of a smoky flavor, compared to some of the others we sampled. I also gave it another shot at Hot Shotz on 5/3 during lunch. My opinion hasn't changed.

Rating = 4

Mad Anthony IPA:

This seemed more like a pale ale than an IPA. Having said that, it was nice and hoppy. I'd order it again (and again).

Rating = 3

Bell's Hopslam:

Yeah, I really like this beer. The hand pull adds another dimension to it.

Rating = 1

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA:

It seemed to have a smoky aftertaste, similar to the Founder's. It also seemed to have a nutty flavor. I was enjoying it until the aftertaste kicked in. I really didn't like how it finished.

Rating = 4

Stone IPA:

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. It was smooth and hoppy. It really seemed to smooth out at the end also. A very nice finish.

Bell's Oberon:

As the bartender, Chris, said - this is just like Blue Moon, but everyone loves it just because it's Bells. I wasn't crazy about this year's offering. There just wasn't too much to it. It tasted a bit like a lager to me. (For the record we sampled all the IPAs after all the non-IPAs).

Rating = 5

Red Hook CopperHook:

The mouth feel on this was a bit slimy, but not necessarily in a bad way. It seems a bit like Budweiser, but more "funky" (in a weird way). I don't think I'd get this again.

Rating = 5

Abita Turbo Dog:

I didn't write down too many notes 0n this one. I might need to give it another chance. My notes say "nutty, watery, but smooth".

Rating = 4 (with a 3 scratched out)

Brugge's Triple De Riple:

I really like this beer. It was pretty solid, but not as good as I remembered it being. Having said that, it was still one of the best of the night.

Rating = 2

3 Floyd's Gumball Head:

This had a nice floral hop profile for a wheat beer. It also had a nice hoppy flavor. Pretty good.

Rating = 3

Founder's Devil Dancer Triple IPA:

Christopher, the bartender, was nice enough to let us sample this one. He was raving about it. It was pretty good. It's an extremely complex beer. It had a nice hop profile, but it was also scotchy, warm and buttery. Evidently the only places this is on tap is at Founder's and at Bada Boomz (although they were almost out of it at Bada Boomz).

Rating = 3

Mad Anthony Brewing Co. - Mad Anthony IPA

What: Mad Anthony Brewing Co. - Mad Anthony IPA
Style: American IPA
Vessel: Pint Glass
Price: $1.75 (Thanks BadaBoomz!)
Where: BadaBoomz (downtown)
When: April 7, 2008
Rating: 3
Comments: I was so happy with the first beer of the night - the Mad Anthony Pale Ale, I decided to go for another Mad Anthony brew. I wasn't disappointed. I thought the IPA was even better than the Pale Ale. It had some great hops and wasn't as sweet. I'm now a big fan of Mad Anthony. Only if they could get some information about their beers on their website.....
Ratebeer Link: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/mad-anthony-india-pale-ale/47516/

Mad Anthony Brewing Co. - Mad Anthony Pale Ale

What: Mad Anthony Brewing Co. - Mad Anthony Pale Ale
Style: American Pale Ale
Vessel: Pint Glass
Price: $1.75 (Thanks BadaBoomz!)
Where: BadaBoomz (downtown)
When: April 7, 2008
Rating: 3
Comments: After seeing posts on DIG-B and the related comments about the absolutely incredible $1.75 you call it pints at BadaBoomz yesterday, the ever supportive wife and I decided to make a go of it, before heading to a friend's house to watch the "big game" (calling it the big game won't get me in trouble with Myles Brand and the evil empire I like to call the NCAA, will it? Now, because I had the nerve to mention the game, on a non-commercial blog, that they are getting hundreds of millions of $, as a not for profit, I'll probably need to send them a check).

This was, incredibly, our first visit to BadaBoomz since they changed from BW-3's. We had been to the north side location (can anyone out there tell me the relationship between the two locations - they seem to share a philosophy, but the food options are slightly different and the experience is quite different), but not the downtown location. It got off to just a bit of a rough start as we weren't sure if we were supposed to seat ourselves and we had a couple of workers walk by and ignore us. We decided to venture in and choose our own seat and we were promptly greeted and the service was excellent from that point on.

Sorry about the detour...back to the evening and the beer. After much hand wringing and indecisiveness, I decided to start off with the Mad Anthony Pale Ale. I was pretty happy with my selection. It had a good hop undertone with a mild sweetness. This was the first time I experienced anything from Mad Anthony & I liked it. I liked it enough to try another.
Ratebeer Link: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/mad-anthony-ol-woody-pale-ale/4172/