Brooklyn East India Pale Ale

Garret came into my store the other day, looked around rather unapprovingly and seemed disinterested in making eye contact. Perhaps it was because I only carry four of the Brooklyn beers, two of those being the winter seasonals. My response to his luke warm reception? Brew better beers. By and large they come across as...eeeh. Take this ’un here for example. Looks tasty. Good abv for an IPA (not that I am hunting for a quick buzz; the better IPAs do tend to exhibit a more aggressive level of liquid depressant). Here is where things go by the wayside. Not much aroma, just a light citric rye waft. Medium bodied introduction on the mouth ends with a slightly unpleasant finish of what tastes to me like wet wool. The hops never make much use for themselves, sort of like the extra buttons on the inside of dress shirts down at the bottom. Technicaly they are there when you need them, but most of the time they just get caught in your zipper. Yes that is a bad metaphor, but the beer isn’t much better.

12oz bottle (thanks to the epeeist) poured a clear golden orange color with a small white head. The aroma had a bit of a hop spice along with some citrus and caramel malt. Taste had a light bitterness with weak malt backing and a slight tin flavor in the finish. Overall a decent IPA yet nothing like the west coast version.

Bright amber orange, lots of resinous hop aroma, quite sharp. Very bitter finish, not as much malt as I usually like when dealing with such bitter hops. Good though.

Pours a gold/orange with little to no head. Aroma is of hops with slight citrus and a little spice. Finishes nice and crisp. Very quaffable. Not over the top like so many IPA’s out there.

12oz bottle. pours golden with not too much head. great earthy and cirtusy hop smell. medium body and nice dry hoppy finish as well. a good ipa, worth having but not over the top noticable.

From a 12 oz. bottle with a notched best before date along the right side of label, June/2007, also what appears to be a coded freshness date/lot number on the shoulder of bottle. Poured a clear bright amber with a small foamy head that settled into a fine, slightly sudsy lacing. Aromas of toasted grains, bready and citric, minty hops. Medium carbonation and a crisp, dryish, smooth medium bodied mouthfeel. Tastes of toasted grains, bready, a light citrus fruitiness, mint tea-like hops that have a soft, but lingering bitterness, a little earthiness as well, and a dry grainy, earthy, leafy, hoppy finish. Not a bad English IPA, smooth, quaffable drinkability, I’m glad this is finally available in Illinois.

Golden, OK head. The aroma has notes of hops and malt. The flavour is full, round and malty with a long finish, where both malt, hops and a bit of floral notes have a go, but it’s a bit too monotonous in it’s sharp citrus acidity.

Bottle. Amber-gold, with a small loose head. The aroma is all IPA, with a lot of citrus and resin. A bit of a strange malty flaver is present under the hop bite. The body is a bit too light to have that much malt.