Brooklyn Antwerpen Ale

Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Belgian Ale
Brooklyn, New York USA

on tap @ the tasting room @ Brooklyn Brewery. Amber-brown color with sweet malt flavor. Belgian yeast somewhat there but lacking something. easily drinkable @ 5% but nothing really special. Enjoyable but for a brewmasters reserve one might expect a little more.

On tap at MacGregger’s. Pours a nice amber color. Taste nicely spiced with big malt favors but also pretty mild. Very enjoyable ale

This had a fruity aroma. The palate was malty. This was a very tasty beer (draft at MacGregor’s) and very nice to look at, reddish, good lacing and retention.

On tap at Mile Square in Hoboken. Caramel color, very sweet, just like i like it. The body of the beer is very light, and while it might look like it’d be hoppy, it surprises you.

Draught pint at Redbones on 4/13/07
Deep auburn body has slight amber-beige hues and is topped by an off-white head that is small and recedes slowly to cover, lacing minimally. Clarity is high.
Somewhat dry, rather reserved nose seems muted by some toastiness and dough. Caramel sugars peek out from behind the dry, slightly acidic grains and some plum, cherry and strawberry fruitiness perks up on the end, especially with warming. Light vanilla cream hints eventually soften things as well, but there’s a sourish/astringent toastiness/breadiness that persists. Medium to medium-weak aroma strength overall, with a very clean yeast presence adding some light nuttiness. No alcohol or flaws perceived.
Sweeter, initially, than the aroma would suggest, there seems to be some type of strong toasted malt dominance that dries it out significantly on the finish. Don’t know if it’s vienna, or caramunich (too hard to be aromatic malt, I think) or what, but it’s slightly sour and very bready, leaving some acidity and a sort of oiliness behind. (Just looked at the grain bill and I see it’s a combo of munich and aromatic. No doubt the filtration of the beer leads to the higher perceived hardness on the palate than I would expect from both aromatic and pils malt). The vanilla-caramel sugars do enough of a job up front, however, to keep the beer drinkable. The yeast is quite clean, leaving only muted esters of nectarine, strawberry and melon. Only the barest bit of spiciness, most likely from the hops. No flaws, as usual, from Brooklyn, though maybe just a speck of soapiness. A deKonink clone sounds like a good estimation, I’ll buy that. I really don’t like deKonink though....

I thought Brooklyn was better than this - Clear amber pour with a small head. Aroma is lightlu sweet and somewhat bready/grainy. Taste - this is where things go wrong. Odd grainy, funky flavor with some "hop" bitterness added, but without any balance. Pale-lagerish in character. I would prefer they stick to replicating bigger Belgian styles.

Tap at Sunset. Muddy light brown pour. Harsh aroma caries over into the taste, very minerally. A total freakin’ mess. A miserable beer.

On tap at Amici’s in Ebensburg. Had a fairly weak aroma, mild hoppiness with a light neutral fruitiness. Mild dusty grains and not a lot of much else. Clear amber golden body with a thin off-white head. Light in texture with medium carbonation. Dull grain flavor with light sweet maltiness. Some carbonic gassy tangyness. Light neutral fruit and mild floral hops. Bitter finish with a dry chalky bitter after. Overall, kind of watery. I like mild Belgian ales, but this one didn’t have much to offer.