• ABV: 7.6%, Style: Saison
• Brewed in Brooklyn, NY, USA
• Best before ? (No date on bottle)
• Served: 650ml bottle poured into an Achel chalice
• http://brooklynbrewery.com
• £14 from Font Manchester

I’ve been wanting to try this beer since I tried the Mikkeller single hop IPA Sorachi Ace last year. Font tweeted they’d got some bottles in so I had to dash and get one. Even with take-out discount, it worked out about £14 for a bottle.

This hobby ain’t cheap.

Look: Hazy, pale orange beer with lots of tight champagne-like bubbles rising. White head, not too dense. Only about one finger deep. I’ve also got to draw attention to the packaging as it bottle really is visually appealing. They’ve gone with an ace of diamonds card theme and it’s very attractive but again missing a best before date. I’m not sure this beer would age particularly well.

Aroma: Very lighty scented. Orange peel, grass and lemon blossom. Belgian yeast there too.

Taste: Starts slowly but builds into lemon blossom, biscuit malt and mild sourness. Finish ends quite neutral with a light hint of bitterness and residual alcohol.

Mouthfeel: Fizzy carbonation that clears the pallette as you drink it, but makes the beer feel a bit thin. A little drying.

Overall: Hides the alcohol really well but not really a beer I’m a huge fan of. The soft lemon flavours get rather cloying. Not really a full saison or a full pale ale. Glad I tried it, but I don’t think I’ll be trying it again. 3.5/5

- 11th December 2012, Sustainable Alcoholic

• ABV: 10.3%, Style: Barleywine
• Brewed in Brooklyn, NY, USA
• Best before November 2014
• Served: 330ml bottle poured into a small wine glass
• http://brooklynbrewery.com

I don’t know much about barleywine. My opinion runs as follows: I don’t think I’m a fan and I think it’s too sweet. However, US versions of styles are always a bit different so I was willing to give an American barleywine a try.

I stood at Micro Bar staring at Brooklyn Monster Ale, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot and  Flying Dog Horn Dog. I knew I was going to get one of them but I couldn’t decide. The lady behind the counter informed me that they were running out of Monster and it wouldn’t be brewed for another year so that made up my mind.

Now that I’m home and I’ve checked them all on Beer Advocate, the consensus would appear to be that I should have gone with the Bigfoot. Oh well, I know what to get next time!

Look: Golden, viscous beer with an orange glow. The head wasn’t too pronounced but it was made up of tight, yellow bubbles. There’s no lacing. The beer has slight legs but it’s not too dramatic.

Aroma: Alcohol forward, as you’d expect for a beer with ABV over 10%. Raisins, brown sugar and toffee. Spice.

Taste: Big malt which is fruity and sweet, hint of peanut. Hops add a decent bitterness to the finish which serves to emphasise the spiciness and balance out the alcohol sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Syrupy. Not much carbonation and not too drying.

Overall: I quite enjoyed this, I shared a 330ml bottle so I didn’t get too much of it down me, I think if I’d drunk the whole bottle I might have got a bit bored by the end.

The half that I had was rather fruity and enjoyable. Like a Belgian quad, but with virtually none of the vanilla sweetness and a lot less dry. I’ll look forward to trying the Bigfoot next. 3.5/5

- 5th September 2012, Sustainable Alcoholic

I drunkenly turned up at Port Street the other night because I really wanted to try Brooklyn Brewery Blast! which is their attempt at a West Coast IPA. I took some photos and tapped some notes into my phone but really they’re not proper reviews so I thought I’d lump them in together here.

I also know that I made everyone at the bar eat bacon gumballs. Sorry about that guys.

Brooklyn Brewery - Blast! - 9% Double IPA

Aroma: Sharp, fruity, lemon sherbet with a hint of the malt. There is also an odd hint of mint.

Taste: Fairly flat tasting, sour and malty with hints of coconut. Finish is medium and reasonably bitter citrus with raisins.

Mouthfeel: medium carbonation, very full and round, similar to Brooklyn Lager.

Overall: Much more appealing to me than the Lager and very drinkable. Rounded and hoppy, but still not amazing. 3/5

Brouwerij Emelisse - DIPA - 7.9% Double IPA

Aroma: Malt and hoppy spice.

Taste: Booze, lovely booze, citrus, malt undertones, big bitter finish. Very American tasting.

Mouthfeel: Medium carbonation but full bodied.

Overall: Huge beer for a double. Compared to the TIPA I had last month, no idea. This is good and bitter though. Recommended. 4/5

- 30th March 2012, Sustainable Alcoholic

• ABV: 5.2%, Style: Amber Ale / American Lager
• Best Before: July 2012
• Brewed in Brooklyn, NY, USA
• Served: 355ml bottle poured into an Odell shaker
• http://brooklynbrewery.com/

Brooklyn Brewery has a unique attitude to beer naming. The names of their products are always a style, but rarely does the name actually match my expectations of that style. I think that once you’ve got over that, their beers are ok, but if you buy a Brooklyn Lager, expecting a lager, you’re going to be instantly disappointed. Perhaps they should just come up with a selection of wacky names instead. A bit of digging suggests that this style is a Vienna Lager which has far more caramel to it. Still seems odd to me!

This post is part of my series of reviews of US craft and craft-style beers which are easily available in UK supermarkets. See the full selection here: US Craft Beer - UK Supermarket.

Aroma: Caramel, spice, earth, socks.

Taste: Metallic, syrupy, boozy. This is essentially a brown ale, it would be interesting to do a side by side test with Newcastle Brown as I’ve not had Newkie Brown for a long while, but I seem to remember it tasting a lot like this. There is hop bitterness here, but they only come out very late.

Mouthfeel: Unpleasantly dry, low carbonation.

Overall: Brooklyn Brewery beer appears to be well loved, but I’ve not found one I like yet. I don’t know if that’s just because I’m hop obsessed and they don’t have the same priorities as me or if the beer is actually bad. They have great distribution, great looking bottles, but looking through the Beer Advocate reviews I feel like I’m drinking a different beer to most of those people. Overall, for me this beer is a disappointment. 2/5

- 5th February 2012, Sustainable Alcoholic