Monster Beer Rolls into Racer's Cafe

As a woman stepped up to order one of the 14 beers on tap at Parkville's Racer's cafe on a recent evening, she asked the man behind the bar about one particular brew: DuClaw's Colossus.

"It is what it is—it's a huge, huge beer," said Skip Phillips, the perennial barkeep at the locals hangout on Harford Road.

Colossus, DuClaw's rarest draft offering, weighs in at 21 percent alcohol by volume (ABV).

According to the company website, the sky-high ABV was achieved through fermentation alone — making it the 'biggest' beer brewed in Maryland, and third 'biggest' naturally-fermented beer brewed in the United States behind Sam Adams "Utopias" and Dogfish Head's "World Wide Stout.”

According to Phillips the bar was packed for a Thursday night.

"It's too much for me," he said of the beer. "But people love it."

Racer's Cafe is one of 12 bars in Maryland, outside of DuClaw, to have the opportunity to serve the beer as part of DuClaw's 'Colossus World Tour 2010.’

"I walked in at 5:30 and got attacked—people wanted to know when we were going to put it on," said Brad Klipner, DuClaw's lead salesman.

"Everyone likes this beer," he said. "Girls like it because it's sweet and approachable — guys, of course, like it because it's 21 percent."

By and large, those gathered at the bar agreed.

"I'm a huge fan of this beer — the alcohol is disguised by a really complex taste. This beer needs to be served in this glass," said Parkville resident and homebrewer Tim Carey, holding up his snifter of the beer. "As [the beer] opens up it changes like a fine wine."

Rich Merryman, a regular at Racer's Cafe, heard his favorite haunt would be offering the monster beer earlier in the week.

"It's a good beer for a special occasion, I don't know that I could afford it all the time," Merryman said, conscious of the $6 price for a 6 ounce glass. "Everybody likes the specialty beers though, and it's good to support local breweries."

For her part, 24-year-old Stacey Rogers of Parkville agreed with Klipner's assesment.

"It's different—very sweet—and you almost don't know you're drinking a beer, much less one with this much alcohol," she said.

Even you missed out on the Thursday night release at Racer's, you might still be able to get some Colossus down the line.

Check out this list of remaining 'world tour' stops:

• 6 p.m. July 5 – Mahaffey’s Pub
• 5 p.m. July 8 – Judge’s Bench Pub
• 10 a.m. July 10 – T-Bonz Grille and Pub
• 6 p.m. July 13 – Mt. Airy Inn
• 6 p.m. July 14 – The Falls
• Final Location and Time – To Be Determined

Did you get a chance to try some Colossus? Do you wish you had?