Brooklyn Black Ops

Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Brooklyn, New York USA

Serve in Snifter

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This is a heavy beer in every sense of the word. Big flavor. Very floral, very hoppy, and very high in abv. It’s fantastic if you can get your hands on it. It’s also a night ender.

Style and Glass: Imperial Stout; Snifter ABV, Volume & Calories: 10.7% in 25.4 fl oz. estimated at 400C Purchased at: Canal’s Lawrenceville, NJ for $23.00 Aroma: intense coffee and licorice aromas, alcohol is very present, inviting, enticing. Berries, grass, and wood. Oaking is evident. Roasted, burnt scents throughout. A bit acrid, and enjoyably so. Visuals: Packaging is engaging, classic, and perfectly done. The body is absolute pitch in color, viscosity, and heft. As deep black and opaque as anything I’ve ever seen. Head is tan, starting thick and fluffy, then dissipating, but not fully. A thin head remains. Lacing is exquisite. Taste: Crisp body gives way to sultry chocolates, coffee, and caramel. Luxurious. Surprisingly balanced for the style and treatment. I expected to be bowled over, but instead, I’m treated to a very drinkable (dangerously so) beer. Palate: Perhaps the best part of this beer is the set of sensations in the mouth and throat. Starts with a bubbly crisp effervescence, followed by a mild transfer to smoothness that carries those roasted flavors, then a sweet cream milkiness, then a bit of chalk, followed by a three part finish consisting of sweetness, roastiness, and hoppy bitter burn. Overall: This is a once in a lifetime beer, very well done, and I’m thrilled to have enjoyed it. I only wish I was celebrating something besides Saturday night, as this beer deserves a celebration. Source: Brooklyn Black Ops Oak Aged Imperial Stout « BeerCritic from http://beercritic.wordpress.com/2009/02/01/brookly on Sat Jan 31 2009 22:17:18 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time)

This for me was the perfect beer. Very chocolatey. Tempered sweetness, as kinds of lingering tastes that changed on the way down.

Wow! If you know Brooklyn's chocolate stout you will really like this big beer brother. All of the familiar characteristics only more intense. After 12 months in the cellar, very smooth and not too alcoholic. Worth the price. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Brooklyn Black Ops 750mL brown bottle (caged & corked) I was lucky to get a good size taste of this at the Great Orlando Beer Fest. A: poured into a tasting glass. pours a pitch black obsidian color with a deep rich tan head with an amazing retention level and excellent lacing. S: amazing rich roasted malts in this with a wonderful vanilla and cherry aroma from the oak. chocolate, caramel, and coffee. T: its like an angel pissing on your tongue. So much chocolate and coffee form the roasted malts followed by that wonderful vanilla and cherry oak flavor. M: smooth and buttery mouthfeel, with a hidden 10% abv. crisp and clean tasting. solid carbonation level. D: unbelievable, and a hard brew to come by. Garrett Oliver has no limitations. Could be the best beer I have ever tasted.

Wow. Had very high expectations, and I was very pleased. Had just the right bourbon flavor/smell fro my taste. Can’t wait to find another bottle.

Awesome beer! This brew fits its description to a ’T’. Pours black with fluffy brown head. The champagne notes are easily detected on the nose as is bourbon and coffee. Very complex taste, bourbon, chocolate, coffee and vanilla throughout followed with a long lasting finish.

UPDATED: FEB 25, 2009 750 mL bottle purchased from Chucks Liquor in Bowling Green, KY. Shared with a group at the inaugural Barrios’ tasting. Poured a dark brown/almost black with a two finger brown head. The aroma was bourbon and vanilla with an alcohol note. The flavor was vanilla and bourbon, with smoked meat present, and a serious lack of roasted malt. The palate was above average, with a creamy mouthfeel, soft carbonation and a full body. This was an above average beer. I am glad I was able to share this with a good group.

750ml, corked & caged bottle, 2008 edition @ 10.7% abv from grape & gourmet. pours a stunning, oil thick, jet black with a rich, dark brown head and a sticky ring of lace. aroma is is one of those epic ’beer geek’ moments when just about everything comes together perfectly. im talking huge notes of dark chocolate, graham cracker, toasted coconut, and yellow cake batter with subtle hints of roast coffee, toffee popcorn, and smoked pecans with a subtle touch of vanilla and woody bourbon. flavor is absolutely wonderful with huge, semi-sweet dark chocolate, dark red fruits, and toffee malts up front that smoothly transition to dark, roast coffee, campfire smoke, and absolutely beautifully integrated oaked bourbon with just a touch of sweet vanilla. palate is full bodied and decadent but superbly drinkable given the carbonation provided by the champagne yeast with a soft roasted malt and bourbon finish. overall, i feel that mr. oliver at brooklyn was thinking of me when he aged an imperial stout in barrels that once held my favorite bourbon of all time, Woodford Reserve, and he made one hell of a brew.

Neck and neck with bourbon county falls the Black Ops. Had this one at the NYC cask ale fest and couldnt get enough. Oak, vanilla, coffee...goes down so smoth its dangerous!