Brooklyn Ale

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

Serve in English pint, Shaker

Nice amber color with about an inch of quickly dissolving head. Doughy aroma with a bitter but smooth flavor. Nothing special, but a good session beer.

Red orange in color, with a sweet malty aroma. Some acidity on the tongue. Not bad but I may have to rerate it again when better chilled.

Chestnut pour with a light offwhite head. Aroma is sweet toasted malt with some biscuit and and mild mild bitterness. Flavor is light, toffee, toasted malt, more biscuit and some light breadiness. Mild bitterness at the finish. Overall rather enjoyable.

WTF - mine has Pennant Ale ’55 on it and I bought it just 2 days ago. Aroma of pine and hops - I would have guessed Cascade, but looks as if there’s a few others in there. Taste is a bit sweet or sappy, but pretty good. Baseball is just two months away.

Soft taste. Malty with hints of bitterness. Has kind of a coca-colaish feel to it. Floral aroma. Bit of a sweet aroma.

Pours light amber with a big white head. Aroma is caramel and biscuity malts, with hints of earthy hops. Flavor is caramel malts, with a little bit of bitterness and earthy hop. Not bad.

UPDATED: NOV 13, 2011 I drink so many craft beers that I’ve reached a point where I might consider certain beers “run of the mill” even though they’re of higher quality than mass-market brews. Brooklyn Pennant Ale ’55 is a good example of this. It’s a fairly normal pale ale that tastes good despite not having any real distinctiveness. But that’s a “flaw” I can easily forgive.

POUR, COLOR AND AROMA

Pennant Ale pours smoothly to a clear, honey-colored complexion. It’s a pretty shade of light brown and dark orange with a touch of red noticeable. Not overly carbonated, the beer forms a slightly less-than-average-size, off white, soapy head which dissolves at a nominal rate but leaves only a trace amount of lacing on the glass. The aroma points towards a hoppy body with a dark pine scent and just a hint of citrus to the nose.

TASTE

Pale ales are known for their bitter taste due to their heavy use of hops, which is true of Pennant Ale. However, unlike most beers of the genre, this one is not quite as crisp and light, but imparts a darker, heavier, thicker mouthfeel. Caramel seemed to be a main ingredient, although the bottle says the beer will have a fruit taste. While a citrus-like taste is faintly noticeable, this is not what I would consider a fruity beer.

Much like the nose, pine seems to be a key ingredient. Combined with the seemingly caramel-like taste it’s actually quite rich with a taste of dark sugar or syrup. But unlike those “imperial” beers which drink like alcoholic syrup, Pennant Ale still drinks like a beer and is tasty without being gimmicky.

FINISH

I often criticize beers that do not have a smooth finish, but such a finish is not always an expectation. Since Pennant Ale is a pale ale with a strong hop component, it’s not surprising it has a strong presence on my palate. And while the finish isn’t extremely easy, it’s far from difficult. At the very least it’s quite drinkable.

BODY

What surprised me about this beer was its sheer volume. Ideally, this should be a fairly light or at least average weight beer, but considering its rich texture and taste, it drinks like a much stronger, darker, heavier beer. Pennant Ale is only 5% ABV which makes it something of a session brew, but its body imparts something more for moderation. Let’s just say after only two bottles I was more than content but not overwhelmed.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m glad there are still beers out there like Brooklyn Pennant Ale ’55 which will throw me for a loop now and then. This beer challenged me as a critic and a connoisseur, and I’d imagine it’d have a similar effect on the everyday drinker as well.

Bottle. Clear amber with large creamy head. Aroma is earthy with caramel, vanilla, and roasted nuts. Flavors of caramel, cherry, vanilla, and roasted nuts. Medium body with slick mouthfeel and moderate to low carbonation. Nice to watch the game with.