Brooklyn Manhattan Project

Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Brooklyn, New York USA

On tap at Brass Tap in Wesley Chapel, FL. Pours clear amber with copper edges and firm tall tan head. The aroma is very malty and sugary sweet with spiciness and rye swirling around. The taste begins sweet and creamy becoming very very full with rye, spices and a solid sweet wheat like sensation. Full force flavor here. I wonder how it will age. I’m guessing it will be yum.

Quite an unusual and exotic, yet somehow familiar, invention. August maroon in color with a ring of cream. Sour cherry and aged-wood aromas ooze from the glass. Muted cherry flavor morphs into a palate of mystery. Wood-aged sourness, with a long-island iced tea finish. Restrained phenolics further dizzy the senses.

Sample at Buckeye Beer Engine. Pours cloudy brown with a medium beige head. Bready malt aroma with caramel notes. Caramel and bready malt flavor with some sweet cherry character.

Draft at Rustico Restaurant & Bar, Alexandria, VA. Came to the table a slightly hazy brown with a very thin tan head. Spicy aroma of caramel, rye, fruity esters, and some woodsiness. Full-bodied. The flavor starts off with lots of caramel, dark fruits, wintry spices, herbal qualities, hints of nuts, and an overall roasted maltiness. Vanilla extract, woodsiness, and booze tastes follow. A drying biscuitiness at the end. Warming alcohol is apparent throughout. Reminds me a little of my brother’s homebrewed winter warmer. Quite complex and very tasty. I’d definitely like to have a few more of these.

On tap at RFD in Chinatown, DC. Poured a cloudy, muddy brown with a thin white cap. No retention or lacing. Aroma is as if this has been barrel-aged. Aroma is ESB fruitiness: lots of warm, spiced apple pie. Plus some spicy whiskey. Taste is strong whiskey, rye toast, biscuit, caramel. Very interesting. Like whiskey barrel-aged ESB. Very unique.

Nose was spicy, cherries, bready, aromatics. Flavor was a spicy blend of rye, wheat, caramel, marachino cherries and some yeast undertones. Excellent beer.

On draft at Brass Tap. At first glance I was a bit skeptical. One smell and sip and I was convinced. Pours brown amber with a soapy white head that does not dissipate. Nose is faint cherry, faint rye, light malt, and a light booziness. Flavor is amazing: cherries, rye, malt, almost no booze presence, and a memorable lightly fruity and grainy finish. Wonderful and one of a kind.

On tap at the Eulogy Belgian Tavern in Philly. Pours a deep brownish-red colored body with a thin, pinkish beige, creamy head that dissipates quickly and leaves a light lacing. Aroma has a lambic cherry to it with a sweeter, thicker, ripe fruit maltiness. Some oaky, vanilla, earthy spice accompanies a thin raisin and white grape as well. Very mellow. Flavor is pretty solid while remaining relatively mellow as well. Thick malts up front with a finishing raisin and soft cherry lambic. Its not sour, but tastes like it WANTS to be sour...if that makes any sense. I like that though. There is some bourbony caramel, oaky vanilla, and a nice rye spice as well. The thick malts have a moderate sweetness that really balance the fruits and spices well while keeping everything pretty subdued. Finishes with a very light bitterness, white grapes and cherry, herbal spices, and thick malts for a moderate aftertaste. Full body and smooth. Overall, this was a pretty interesting beer. I’m not very familiar with Manhattans or vermouth, but this was nice. It was pretty malt forward, but had enough other things going on to keep it balanced and relatively tame. Not bad.