Brooklyn Ale

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

Serve in English pint, Shaker

Brooklyn’s Pennant Ale comes to the plate with a rusty orange color along with a medium home plate colored, foamy head. The glass delights the senses initially like a knuckleball with a sweet, floral aroma, but the excitement tapers off from there. With so many excellent beers in their catalog, it’s hard to imagine Brooklyn Brewery couldn’t engineer an above average pale ale. The starting pitcher seems to have been pulled after 2 innings: The body is thin, even a bit on the watery side. The flavor is too sweet with its citrusy overtones and brown sugar hints. The closer is an ending that is round with a rather stale bite to it. Pennant Ale isn’t terrible, but certainly doesn’t live up to it’s siblings in the Brooklyn lineup. There are better pale ales for the Midsummer Classic.

The usual Pale. I’ll try to find the words. Toffee, light grainy notes, nuts in the nose. Appearance is fine, amber with a standard head and some lacing. Taste is sweet, caramel dominates. Not a lot going on here, but it serves the session beer purpose fine. Thanks for the trade JB.

Tap at Il Gatto, Minneapolis. A gold colored beer. Light hops in both the aroma and flavor. Flavor is mildly bitter with notes of bread, which must be from the Maris Otter. A fine session beer, but it doesn’t bring much to the table for the $5 I paid for it.

The pour is a amber orange with a nice beige head. Aroma is sweet and malty with a significant hop nose. The middle is mostly malty with a sweet bready toffee malt. A light sweet grassy malt pervades the taste profileand then the moderate hops take over. A great session beer, very drinkable and awesome for a great tasting brew.

Bottle, Pours clear orange amber, off white head, tightly capped with a touch of lace. Earthy floral hop aromas, grain, touch of caramel. Light-Medium body, medium-high carbonation. Medium bitterness, hop flavours underneath a touch of caramel sweetness and grainy finish. All very nicely balanced, satisfying and not lacking dimension.

Drank as Pennant Ale ’55. Pours bright orange-gold and pretty, with a fluffy head that comes and goes with calming ease. Doesn’t smell great, nor bad, just kinda like average English Pale Ale: nutty, grainy, and yeasty. My old friends Maris Otter malts show up, meaning I’m already partial to this beer. The malts are a mix of biscuits, mixed nuts, and apple cider, while the mild hops provide enough of a bitter finish to keep things moving along. Feels nice, tastes good enough for regular summer consumption...but I miss the baseball packaging. (6/2/09)

12 oz bottle from Princeton’s. Golden pour with a foamy white head. Slight hoppy aroma with some notes of citrus. Flavor is more of the same. Good pale ale but nothing too special.

Bottle. Copper color, nice head. First taste was promising, spicy hops and cereal right away, but then a mix of cardboard, soap, and a metallic somewhat watery finish. Strange brew.