A quest for liquid love

In my search for my next liquid goddess, I found myself walking into an opening at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center. My friend was there nice, cold, and priced very closely to New York, but my love is not deep enough for a six dollar light beers.

First up to the plate was the Albanian artist Anri Sala with the show “Purchase Not by Moonlight”, who created multi-media images exploring the idea of time and how it is tracked. He uses drums, which are normally used to keep time for the bands but for Sala this instrument of his exploration of time and space. Sala accomplishs this exploration by using large projections flashing multiple images of drums being played that were accompanied with actual snare drums that played the same rhythm. While some of his other video installations included a horse on a road and a film projection of Andre Agassi which did not have the same feeling of time.

Still waiting to meet my new love, I ventured downstairs to see the Marilyn Minter’s “Chewing Color” exhibition. She is exploring the love of color, but the image were more about color on people rather then a love for color itself. The photos and paintings resembled high fashion photography with paint dripping from the models. The most interesting piece was her strange video in the corner, with the mysterious form moving the different color around, later to discover a mouth chewing and spiting color. Over all the CCAC was an interesting experience, to bad my friend wasn’t free, but off to the Rock Bottom Brewery and Restaurant. Taking one step into this bar and restaurant, it looked like every other steak house across America, however they do always have seven unique beers that I won’t find anywhere else.

First, is the Cincinnati American, which has a clear yellow colored beer with a slight hop aftertaste. Over all this crisp tasting beer that is similar to most American brews, light and refreshing that leaves the palate relatively clean. The next beer should have been called, That is Shit is Bananas, but this was my first banana flavored beer. The “White Tiger” is a cloudy yellow heffeweizen with an over powering banana flavor conquered any beer flavors that might peak its little head. As a sweet summer brew this drink could go well with tart deserts but to pair this with anything hot or sweet would be total over kill.

Since the Heffenweizen lacked its normal citrus appeal to heal my wounded heart, the Crosley Field pale ale seemed up to the task. This clear yellow brew embodied both the hoppy taste paired with an acidic fruit that creates a spectacular party in the mouth. Swirling this pale ale over your palate leaves a clean finish while the orange aroma keeps you coming back for more. They seem to be mixing up all the draughts on us now, before the arrival of the stout we have an ale that embodied with alot rich flavors. This chocolate ale has a malty flavor with a clean flavor with an overpowering after taste. The Tall Stacks Ale, starts off excellent but has an after taste which seems to be an acquired taste.

There must be millions of people who need coffee just to start their day and if it is the taste of coffee, this beer will knock your socks off. The Brown Beer Brown is colored like its coffee counter part with an amber undertone but remember it contains alcohol rather then an uplifting blast off caffeine. This flavor comes from how long they roasted the barley that allows this beer to make miracles on the palate while leaving a sweet finish behind. This beer is like a good house guess, it comes to hangs out and leaves the place better then you had it.

The last beer on the list permanent list is their stout called Rotating Dark. This stout is dark and when it hits you lips you realize this stout is quite lighter than normal. It feels more like a black lager rather then a full bodied stout. It does however have a clean finish and would pair very well with most bar foods by complementing the flavors of any entrée. Over all this seemed more like a dark Budweiser, but there was a treat in the form of their seasonal beer. The Rocktober is a see-through amber ale with a fruit blast of excitement that could put your taste buds in a state of melancholy. The fruit and hops work together like colored pixels in a high definition television to creating a well balanced flavor. The clean finish of the beer and the fruity aftertaste made this my favorite of the night. For Cincinnati, it seems that their brewery has some potential and is worth visiting.