World of Beer, Key West

When I hear “World of…” followed by anything food or drink related, I always think of Willy Wonka and the factory where everything is edible. What World of Beer lacks in flowing rivers of beer throughout, they make up for in selection.

I will admit that when I heard World of Beer was opening a Key West location, I wasn’t too excited. So what? We already have plenty of

bars and loads of places to get good craft beer. Now that I have visited, I have changed my tune.

If you are a regular reader, you know that I am really more of a wine kind of gal. But I can enjoy beer as well, especially if it is hot out, after playing tennis or sitting by the pool, or if it is just good beer.  One of the nice things about WOB (as it is written on staff shirts, ads, etc) is that they live up to their name with over 500 bottled beers and another 50-plus on tap.

It is overwhelming. I said to FKGuy that I now understand when people go into restaurants, are unfamiliar with many things on a wine list and get overwhelmed. I felt their pain. When the (well-trained) bartender asked what I would like, I had no idea. I told him that I don’t like wheat beer, or fruity beer (or worst of all – fruity wheat beer!) but I was open to suggestion. That is when the samples started flowing.

I tried several different beers before I got to a winner. I tried the Victory Prima Pils (good; I would totally order this if I were going for something on the lighter side), Sixpoint Harbinger Saison (which FKGuy promptly piped up with “oh, the farmhouse beer”; either way it was too herbal for my tastes), Cigar City Jai Alai (always a good fallback option), Krusovice (light beer, not particularly memorable) and the Green Flash Imperial IPA (very good, unique flavors; FKGuy had one of these).

But the one that I tried that I think might just be the best beer I ever had (no, I am not exaggerating) is the Avery Maharaja Imperial Double IPA. At a whopping 10.5% alcohol, it is no joke. This is a full bodied beer with a huge nose and an extremely long finish.

Besides the beer, the WOB has quite a few other things going for it. For one thing, you don’t like beer? No problem. They have a selection of ciders and even a few wines (but I am most definitely sticking to the beer here.) They have live music, and last night was a group from Tampa that managed to play both Pearl Jam and the Violent Femmes in the short time we were there. They were surprisingly good. WOB is dog friendly. Babka will soon have her photo taken on another Key West barstool. We are amassing quite the collection of those.

But that is not all… there is an outdoor patio, flights of beer, and if you are hungry you do not need to subsist on wheat alone (in the beer). You can order delivery from most local restaurants, and the friendly staff will even provide you with some menus.

Have you been to WOB yet? What do you think? (And have you tried the Avery Maharaja???)