Brooklyn Monster Ale

Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Brooklyn, New York USA

Mushroomy barley and orange aroma. Crystal clear copper color, medium head, good lacing. Obvious alcohol, barley malt, and candy. Slight celery finish. Not really my thing.

2005. Pours wholly translucent and firm amber red. Aroma arrives in counterpoint of hollow minerals and rich mead and port like sensations; at times, a simple waft of iron water and burnt sugar, and at others, a dense, detailed wave of toffee, fruitcake, fig, date, and burnt caramel. Bits of sweet peppers and old citrus fruits throughout; pretty dirty and earthy all the way through. Flavor is richly sweet, pleasant and quite simple; a buttery english malt and classic caramel sweetness, underscored by some buried evergreen hop presence and a dry framing of fruit peels; some spice and carpet mustiness in the mid palate. Oxidation in a wooden flash. Palate is full and soft; no burn or abrasiveness even in a hint. Finishes shortly with some dry alcohol and date and pecan sweetness. Pleasant rendition; not stunning, but unfolding so comfortably and simply with a totally streamlined, unassuming presentation. Thanks Mark!

2006 bottle courtesy of GrbDg. Pours a murky caramel with a 2 finger head. Nose is bread and roasted malt. Palate is dark fruits, sweet caramel malts and a surprisingly bitter hop bite in the finish followed by a slight alcohol burn. Moderately creamy mouth, nice lacing, a really good barleywine. Thanks Cliff!

Deep dark amber colored, little vanishing yellow head. Sweet and raisinny aroma, alcohol comes up rather strongly with mild plum and port wine. Medium to full bodied. Flavor is also good basic BW with raisins and sweet caramel in start, aftertaste turns to vinous with medium alcohol. Well, decent BW, still nothing special.

2007 bottle. I just don’t have the patience to let it sit longer. Pours a copper color with some ruby red in there and a thick off white head which settles to a thin layer. Aroma is rather subtle considering the abv with some tangy fruits, caramel malts and alcohol. It’s sort of like a fruity brandy. The beer is definitely a sipper but it didn’t blow me away. At first taste it is rather mild with tangy fruits and some caramel. The hops show a little late with some spices and a cherry alcoholic flavor. Actually it kind of reminds me of cherry cough medicine but not that strong. Warming with a mild alcohol burn. Considering what this is it is really easy to drink. A good, fun beer to try that surely gets better with age as it does lack character.

2004 Bottle - 4 years old. I remember I first tried this in 2004, and it was too alcoholic for my taste - at least that’s how I remember it. The aroma is full of fruit, malt and alcohol. The flavor is full of fruit like prunes but also malt and a burn from the alcohol - great balance. A beer which is worth aging.

2005 bottle. Onya voota! Fantastic aroma on this one - it’s all rich, fruity aged character which is weird considering it’s only three years old. Lots of dried fruit, marzipan and nuts - any hop character is long gone and malt (at least in its young, obvious incarnation) isn’t all that far behind it. The flavour can’t quite live up to the massive aroma. Relatively light-bodied with almonds and toast. Quite clean and plain, even. No hop. Disappointingly plain flavour, but I could’ve sniffed this one for ages. Don’t think it much more left in the tank at three years old either.

Tasty barleywine. Not overpowering with sweetness. Aroma is sweet malt though. Taste is well balanced between the malt and the hops.