Review: Black Clover Beerfest

72 beers. That’s my excuse. 72
*hic* beers.

The idea of mounting a hip-hop show at the Riot Room after the audience and the performers have spent three hours sipping beers from 30 different breweries sounds like a recipe for disaster. Clearly, though, Black Label president Jeremy Willis knows what he’s doing. The only thing that went down in flames on Friday night’s Black Clover Beerfest was my ability to write coherent notes on anything before stumbling happily home.

Okay, so Mac Lethal fumbled the words to “Makeout Bandit” and his remix of Hotstylz‘, “Lookin’ Boy,” but these are minor details when you consider that, a few hours before, both Mac and DJ Sku were raving about the bacon beer.

Yeah, I said bacon beer. Scattered all over the Riot Room on Friday night were tubs upon tubs of iced brews, each manned by a knowledgeable liquor rep or brewer who’d happily fill everyone’s cute sampling glasses while explaining the peculiarities of each bottle. The guy manning the “bacon beer” station would try to explain that, yes, the flavor is smoky, but smoky like smoked cheese, or anything smoked, not bacon at all, really — only to be drowned out by somebody dragging a new friend to the tub, like, “Yo, you gotta try the bacon beer.”

Another big hit was the Mikkeller coffee-flavored beer. I called Missouri Beverage‘s Mark Tarry a liar when he told me that it’s made from weasel shit, but I’ve got to apologize now, because the brewer’s website confirms Tarry’s story. Weasel shit tastes great, by the way.