Brooklyn Ale

Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: English Pale Ale
Brooklyn, New York USA

Bottle 12oz. English style pale ale that smells of sweet malt and has a mild bitter hop finish. Head is very small and non lacing white. Nothing too impressive here but drinkable.

With its new label of Pennant ’55, I wasn’t sure what to expect and was thinking it would be a hoppier brew. Not the case. Felt somewhere in between a pale and a lager, with some malt present. Not quite malty/tea-like enough to seem like an English Pale to me. The worst I can say about this beer is that it’s really quite indistinct. But it was very easy to drink and it certainly didn’t taste bad. Good with food. Not big in the flavor department, but solid. Sounds like a back-handed compliment, huh? I’ll say this about it: they named it perfectly... can’t think of a better beer to have at a ball game with a hot dog.

Some light roasted malts, light bitterness, and a fairly creamy palate. Overall, not bad, but I think this is what Bass light would be like.

Bottle is labeled Brooklyn Pennant Ale ’55 which as a baseball fan I think is a pretty cool name. However I am a Red Sox fan and the beer, being brewed in New York is clearly referring to the Yankees 1955 pennant. I’ll try not to hold that against them :-) The beer is alright. Pours an amber body and after less than a minute is topped with almost no head. Halfway through I looked at it and it appeared more ruby colored. Caramel, malty aroma with a well defined malt flavor. Almost like a mild Scotch Ale. Subtle hops in the finish. Medium bodied. For whatever reason I was expecting something lighter. I guess the label had me thinking summertime, sitting in the sun, watching baseball, etc. This would be nice during the fall. Ok, so they won the pennant in the fall. I get it. Anyways as I said earlier it’s alright.

Golden color with nice thick white head. Nothing extraordinary about this other than its well balanced tending more towards the malts.

A rich, brass-colored ale with a pleasant aroma. Nutty, bready taste - a little dry and sour too. Hops are a little sharp, but not too intense. Pretty well carbonated. It is nice to see a brew pay tribute to the great Brooklyn Dodgers teams of the 1950s.

12 oz bottle, courtesy of my sister and bro-in-law. Pours a clear medium coppery orange with a good-sized off-white head that lingers and laces. Aroma is very nice - sweet toasty Marris Otters mingle with a variety of hops - the English varieties dominate, but there is that distinctive U.S. aroma from the Cascades. Slight metallic quality on the nose as well. Flavour dead on for an EPA, at least the ones I’ve had. Lots of malt but expertly balanced with a good dose of woody, twiggy hops. Earthy and fresh. Low carbonation lends a very soft mouthfeel and the abv% make this a truly excellent session ale. Good show, and a perfect beer for tomorrow’s MLB season opener. Play ball!

Pours a nice amber. Not sure if this is really a pale ale, more like an ESB. Yeasty, bready aroma. Decent hops in the taste, very well-balanced and smooth. A good ale, especially as a session ale.