The Bomb Shelter, at 1517 South Second St., has beer. Surprise! I’ve ruined the ending of this article for you.
Honestly though, it really has beer. I mean really. More than 340 kinds of really. And it’s constantly changing. But anyone who drinks beer in this city probably already knows this, so I’ll get right into it.
The Bartender: Fantastic. I only saw one, but the guy was friendly, didn’t push the expensive beer, and made great selections out of minimum input from me.
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| Inside The Bomb Shelter. |
The Bar: Normally, the décor of the Shelter is something that completely turns me off of a bar. Empty beer bottles line shelves installed for the purpose of holding empty beer bottles, lawn darts are stuck in the ceiling, and old knick-knacks and glass pictures of fish and bears and deer (apparently a requirement for most bars in Wisconsin) adorn the walls. But it works. Maybe it’s because most of the bottles are obscure craft brews or vintage Blatz or Schlitz, or maybe it’s because they serve beer, and it’s not a huge leap to see empties.
The Beer Menu: It’s a beer menu, I guess, if something like that can be called a menu. In alphabetical order, and the size of a Gideon Bible, it lists all the beers they serve. But it does something unique, and I’ve mentioned this before, but I feel it’s important enough to restate, the Shelter provides the prices on their menu for every beer they serve. What a novel idea! Showing the drinker how much they’re going to pay to drink. You wouldn’t see a restaurant without dish prices, why is it all right for drinks? And I’m frustrated at how so few places list prices because I don’t want to have to bother the bartender or server with my questions on how much each beer costs (I’ve done the old point and shoot method at a similar beer bar where I ended up paying over $16 for a single, less than 12 ounce beer) and I don’t want to give the impression that I’m cheap, because the assumption that the server is led to is that I won’t tip well, and therefore not worth a good investment of time. Finally, it’s just easier for everyone involved. If you’re in it for the long haul, and racking up an impressive beer tally, you want to have some semblance of the damage it’s going to inflict on your wallet, regardless of how many Benjamins you roll in on your bed at night.
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| The Bomb Shelter. |
The Beer: Great. Pure and simple. They have a lot of impressive things, beers you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else. Left Hand Fade To Black Smoked Baltic Porter is one (try it, if only a sample, because it is an incredibly interesting beer, and tastes like smoke). Also, O’so’s Lupulin Maximus IPA, which not only tastes incredible but also has a hops flower in the bottom of every bottle. To my chagrin, the bar was out of the bottles, probably because the beer itself is outstanding and hops flowers add crazy hops taste and everyone loves it. I settled on the tap version, which will probably be the only time I’ll feel like I have to suffer through a draft version of a beer.
The Bad: I’m a strong believer in time-of-year and how much it affects us for experiencing something (Example: Don Quixote can only be read in the summer). The Shelter is made for drinkers of the colder months; it’s without patio, and because the bar goes deeper into the building with only a few windows framing the entrance, it creates a sense of isolation from the outside world. Not the worst thing in the world, but it makes a bit of a difference.
Lucky for us though, winter lasts quite a while, and there’s always the chance for rain.
