Imagine, if you will, a bar that has
the beer you want. Whether it be from a specific brewer, beer genre,
combination of tastes or even just a favorite state or country, they
have the beer you want. To be faced with this beer mecca would be
overwhelming to most. Imagine if this sphere of bier also had a
guide that knew and understood the treasures held within this bar.
Such a place could be the “answer to the Ultimate Question of Life,
the Universe, and Everything,” or at least where to get the exact
beer I want. The answer to all of this is 42. Bar #42 is the World
of Beer.
I had been to the World of Beer on
their soft opening party. Obviously, the official review of the new
bar couldn't be on a night when their entire staff was working and
they knew how many people were coming. I rarely let the chain bars
have an easy go due to their deep pockets, preplanned setup and
(normally) their higher prices. This isn't to say if I have a good
time and nothing goes wrong that I'm going to spite them anyway for
being successful.
There were around 15 people at the
World of Beer when we arrived which is only a drop in the bucket to
the large bar. Since we had a bunch of people coming we took a table
over sitting at the bar. The bar is nice, you get a good view of all
the beer options or the band area. I like the idea of sitting at the
bar. It raises the chances of talking to new people but it can drop
the chances of keeping everyone with you in the conversation.
I sat down at a stole at the table and
literally made an oooh sound. It may be the most comfortable stole
in Lakewood. Most of their seating is nicely cushioned and black.
We got all our menus together to figure
out what we wanted to order. These menus include the list of 50
beers on draft and 500+ beers in bottle. The menu talks about the
types of beers, what goes into them, and some featured breweries. A
new menu to Lakewood's World of Beer is craft spirits. They do their
best to bring in locally brewed liquors. Included in this menu are a
line of cocktails made from beers as well.
World of Beer doesn't make craft foods.
What they do do is offer a menu full of other restaurant’s menus
that will deliver to you. Lakewood's WoB gives you options such as
Dominos, and the neighboring Eddie N' Eddie's and Jimmy Johns. You
call them and they bring it to the table. We ordered from both Jimmy
Johns and Eddie N' Eddies. ENE arrived about 30 seconds before JJ
with their check. After paying it, I turned around to receive Jimmy
John's check and food.I ordered the molten burger from Eddie N' Eddies. It was awesome. It included fried jalapenos and onions, Sriracha and cheddar cheese. I ordered their pretzel and beer cheese, which was bready and the cheese was alright.
Johnny immediately called Jimmy Johns
after they left. This caused brief bit of confusion over the phone
as he gave them our table number again. Luckily for them this lead
to a better tip than if our orders had been combined.
My first beer was almost some honey bee
beer concoction but luckily I tried it first. It's very sweet and a
glass would have been unfortunate. What I did start with was Evil
Twin Ryan and The Easter Bunny. It was both slightly sour and hoppy.
It was easy to drink with a mild but complex taste, with a bit of
small bubbled fizz.
The staff at World of Beer goes to a
beer school to learn about beer from the basics to brands. This allows them to help their customers find everything they do and don't
want out of the World of Beer's large selection, using real
information and not just saying that their other customers buy that.
The first whiskey off of World of
Beer's new spirit menu was Cleveland Whiskey. They use a technology
to compress their brew in smaller casks to speed up the process. The
results a very clean and drinkable whiskey.
They now have an additional liquor
school, so that they can properly serve their customers their newest
products. We learned this from Sean the General Manger. From him we
also learned that the after taste of Jim Bean is compared to
furniture polish.
This brings up a prohibition
moonshining poem:
Lincoln, Lincoln, what on Earth have
you been drinking?
Smells like whisky.
Tastes like wine.
Oh my gosh, it's turpentine!
I also learned this night that bourbon
from nonKentucky breweries, legally, must be casked in Kentucky.
Sean, the General Manager, makes his
way around the bar during the night to talk to people and make sure
everyone is having a good time. Even on nights when I'm not there I
have been told this is the case.
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| Free Facials and Hotdogs! You must be 21 and over to drink beer but your sense of humor doesn't. |
World of Beer is classy looking, with
lots of TVs, leather furniture and is a comfortable location even if
you're wearing a suit. It is obvious that the place is a chain that
probably looks nearly identical at any of their locations. Normally,
this would be enough lead me to go somewhere else. World of beer has
an enormous craft beer selection, great service by people that know
their product, comfortable seating, access to great food and a
manager who really does give a damn about his bar. Normally, this
would be enough for me to shout kudos for the bar from the roof tops.
Where does that leave us? There is a reason why a bar becomes a
chain. They have created a product and environment that lots of
people like. Beer may or may not be the meaning of life, the
universe and everything. If it is, then the answer is Bar #42, World
of Beer, the bar to go to if you love craft beer or would like to.
See more pictures and read more WoB blog: http://everybarinlakewood.blogspot.com/2013/03/bar-world-of-beer.html
14701 Detroit Ave
216.221.5253
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