Black Lotus Brewing Company - Part 2

Time to babble now.  

If you saw my post from yesterday, you knew I was at the Black Lotus Brewing Company.  For no particular reason, it seemed like a neat place to go.  I had not been there and, as always, have an interest in new beer.

As you may have read, I was concerned about the beer quality vs. traffic.  Long drives for crappy beer would be, I suspect, about as much fun as pruning shears in your head.  Fortunately, the beer was good...for the most part. 

The Oktoberfest (#1,088) was, hands down, the weakest of the four.  Sure, the amber color was nice, but it was downhill after that.  The sweet, caramel tones on the tongue were "eh" at best and it was, in my opinion, kinda flat.  I am really not sure what to make of it.  Needs work as far as I am concerned.  Two out of five. 

World Wide Wheat (#1,089) and Blazin' ESB (#1,090) were both much better.  The wheat, with a standard visual profile, had excellent character of aroma.  I would have liked a bit more banana in there as the cloves were a bit higher, but I'm being picky.  On the tongue? Nice.  Very well done.  Four out of five.

The same can be said for the ESB.  Beautiful gold tones. Fair lacing on the glass.  The alcohol, hops and malts tones were in perfect balance through out.  It was also had a wonderfully smooth and creamy body.  Damn good stuff.  Five out of five.

The Black Bottom Oatmeal Stout (#1,091) was average with no surprises.  Roasty on the nose (quite powerful, actually).  Dry finish.  I think it could have been a bit thicker, but it was not bad. (It should also be noted that the photo from yesterday gives the Stout what appears to be a yellow head.  NO. I am not sure what to make of it.  It was not that yellow in real life. It was a pleasant tan, as it should be for stout.  The yellow must be an artifact of the photo. I have no other explanation.)

The food menu, however, was a bit lacking. Don't get me wrong. My turkey burger with Blue cheese and onions was excellent as was the Hummus appetizer. But, if you don't like burgers or sandwiches, you are pretty much sunk here.  No chickens. No pastas or pizzas.  Nothing like that.  

All in all, the feel of the place was quite nice. Dark.  Copper-topped tables (COOL!).  A small stage.  Neat art.  If I lived in Clawson, I would certainly get there more often.  

But what could be the coolest part of the evening, was not the place, but the people.  

One fellow was, I swear, Nicholas II of Russia. I have no doubt.  The facial hair. The eyes.  The posture.  I am certain. History has him, and his family, getting gunned down and stabbed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.  I say crap.  He lived and was having a beer in Clawson just last night.  Scientists supposedly pulled his acid-pocked bones from a ditch a few years back and confirmed the bones were his using DNA analysis.  Nope.  Somebody botched the test.  The fact that he would be 143 years old today is not the point.  It was him.  I think it was very clever on his part to ditch the fancy early-20th century clothes for something more modern.

Buy me a beer some day and I will tell you about the one-legged Santa Claus....