On the (insert number) day of Christmas-

I met a friend for lunch yesterday at Bodega, a cafe/bar/restaurant in the Short North conveniently about a block from where I was staying with my sister (good thing too, as there was a -15 wind chill). I had been once before for lunch (but no beer) around Thanksgiving and had a glazed pear and onion panini, which sounded much better than it actually was (the pear was overcooked and basically became jam: good idea, poor execution). This time however, I avoided the long panini list and ordered a pizza with marinated portobellos, red peppers, and fontina cheese. The pizza was good, the ingredient combination was tasty, but there was very little cheese on it; when they first brought it out I thought I had mistakenly ordered a cheeseless pizza! It was a decent size for the price though, and of course, pizza is the perfect companion for beer.

I wish I had more time to explore Bodega's beer offerings, because they were substantial. I didn't count the number of taps but there must have been close to 50. The beer menu was 5 pages long and included a large number of bottles, which I didn't pay as much attention to. I wanted to try something seasonal and local, but out of the dozen or so seasonal beers, the only ones that appealed to me I had tried previously at the Surly Girl or could easily get in Massachusetts. I, like the sucker for advertising that I am, went instead with their most popular (and one of the most expensive) beers on draft, the Founders Breakfast Stout. It was $4 for an 8oz glass (pint glasses are 16oz, so it would have been $8/pint). I didn't take any tasting notes because I was busy catching up with aforementioned friend I hadn't seen in 2 years. This also meant that I didn't spend much time thinking about the beer as I was drinking it, because I was too busy talking/listening. A sad fate indeed :D I was expecting something great, since I rarely pay that much for a pint, but I honestly don't remember the specifics of the beer, which is a shame because it's supposed to be really good. All in all, I'll have to try it again to decide if it's any good and the moral of the story is that I shouldn't buy expensive beers that I really want to taste if I'm planning on ignoring them once they're on the table.