Brooklyn Monster Ale

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

Bottle. Nice warming beer but strong alcohol masks the beer’s flavor. Definitely not one of Brooklyn’s standout beers.

Fresh out of the store, I’ve got 5 more that have earned a spot in the cellar. Well, I’ve only had a handful of sips and my brain is already buzzing - guess I won’t be slamming this. I managed to get a decent sized white crown out of the bottle and into my vintage Budweiser chalice (it’s true!!) but it died and lives as a ring, no surprise there. Crystal clear dark burnt orange with more emphasis on the burnt hue. The aroma is not over the top and has some really nice sherry smell along with the usual boatload of malts (quite sweet, bread, background caramel) and a wack of hops (fuzzy peach 5 cent candies, weak grapefruit, possibly lemon and a large flowery presence) with the hops at this point being dominant. The sips are excellent - very tasty and flavourful with the citrus and floral qualities of the hops taking the lead. The malts seem a bit dark, sweet and probably breadlike. The hops, well, at this point, I’ve almost lost them along with most of my motor skills. Pretty close to full bodied. Nice and smooth. Whoa - by sucking my tongue to the roof of my mouth I’ve hit a wealth of woody qualities (no homo) that remind me of bark. Briefly tart, intense bitterness and a bit of heat but it’s not really prominent. Long permanent bitter aftertaste with something that reminds me of walnuts? peacan? I guess I’m not too familiar with nuts... Looks like after a 30 second break in the perpetual sipping that the malts have destroyed everything in sight. Man, this sucker really gets you going all over the board. Very tasty brew, reading past reviews guarantees a long cellaring life. Whadda ya know? I did end of slamming this - I think I’ll drink another one right without even chilling it. God dammit, this is why I freaking love beer. Cheers.

"I also managed to get a decent sized tan crown out of the bottle and into my vintage Budweiser chalice (why does this chalice exist) and as all barley wines the crown reduces to a small ring around the edge. The body appears to be blood orange (thanks Nat for that new color name). First sniff is very woody with mild chocolaty notes, peachy hops, and alcohol round off the aroma. To much alcohol in the flavour for my liking, wow after the first couple of sips my stomach feels like its on fire. Lots of dark woody malts in the flavour, wow this is intense, loads of bitterness in the after taste. Way to much alcohol in this for me and its not hidden very well nor is it the kind that is tasty. For a beer this is dam tasty but for an English barley wine it’s kind of disappointing but my god after one 355ml bottle my head swimming.

Sample from bottle at CBF 09. Deep red body, small head. Wine-like beer with lots of dried fruits and berries in aroma and taste with underlying sweet, dark malts. Bone dry ending with some impacts from the alcohol. Full bodied. In danger of being a bit too sweet (17.05.2009).

In short: A basic by-the-book heavily caramelized American barley Wine. Good.
How: Bottle 12oz. Vintage 2007. Consumed when about 1.5 year old.
The look: Partly cloudy amber body topped by a very small beige head
In long: Pleasant strong nose of toffee and fruity-flavoured hard-candy. Taste is straightforward but effective. Sugary caramel, dry toasted bread, hard-candies. There is a weird but pleasant dryness in the finish that resembles roasted wood and it makes the beer more drinkable. Warm alcohol presence, not annoying but not well hidden either. Very drinkable but very ordinary for the style. If all monsters would that ordinary the Yeti and the Medusa would be gardening and mowing their lawn in a New-Jersey suburb.

Bottle. Clear amber body. Off white medium head. Sweet malty aroma with some dakr ripe fruit. Flavour is sweet malt, tobacco and raisins. Medium bodied. Ends up warm and alcoholic.

Not terribly impressed. Aroma of interesting caramel notes. Flavor was kind of bland though.

THOUGHTS: Really nice, but not the best barley wine. The alcohol was a little harsh, but not bad in this beer. Seemed a little more like an American strong ale than a barley wine. At first I first I liked the flavor more than the aroma, but halfway through my opinion switched. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a clear, medium to dark, amber with a small, off-white head that mostly diminished and left fair lacing. The aroma was moderate caramel, light grain, light to moderate hops, light almost leathery yeast, brown sugar, sort of a maple syrup not, light alcohol (very light for the ABV), fruits, something like duck sauce and a little cream. The initial flavor was sweet and bitter just like the finish, which had an average to long duration. There was fruit, caramel, peach, pancake syrup, and metallic and piney hops. The medium to full body was a little syrupy with fizzy carbonation and a slightly metallic, moderately to heavily alcoholic (but not bad for the ABV) and sort of dry finish.