Brooklyn Local 2

Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Brooklyn, New York USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

(750ml bottle) Purchased at Brewery Creek in early January 2010. Lasting thin, frothy beige head atop an opaque deep brown body. Nice trappist style beer - with a strong honey flavour. Mild citrus in the front and a thin and light body - though its lacking in texture and image. Why pay $20 when I can get a better Unibroue???

Hmmmm! A very nice looking dark brown beer, strong aroma of malt and yeast. Flavour is quite malty, a little spicy, and fully bodied. Smooth and satisfying. This is a great American rendition of a Belgian strong ale without the trappist price tag! Very very satisfying on a winter day!

Good head. Dark Belgian dubbel scent. Drinkable dusty high ABV malty brown Belgian. Kind of middle of the road.

750ml bottle sampled @ Woodshop 5.0. Poured a medium and cloudy brownish color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas of yeast, chocolate, spiciness, chocolate, and roastiness. Tastes of chocolate, candi sugar, honey sweetness, chocolate, caramel, spices, and some dark fruitiness. Alcohol content well hidden.

Reviewed 1/12/2010 (Bottle): Pours a dark reddish brown color body, big fluffy head, off-white, lasting. Berklgiany floral aroma, sweet. Honey. Floral taste, very light, carbonated sweet taste. Like light liquid honey. Strong honey taste. Somewhat heavy feel. Good but a little heavy for my taste.

Bottle 1089, but no discernable date; Sampled October 2009
The cork just explodes off this beer as soon as I twist off the cage. Luckily I was prepared for this and didn’t lose a drop of beer to the floor. A careful pour yields five fingers of head, some of which actually over-flows my 25cl tulip glass. The head is a pale brown tinted, tan color and the beer is a mix of dark plum colors and brown; the head leaves ample lacing on the sides of my glass as it slowly subsides. When held up to the light the beer shows a brilliantly clear plum tinted, ruby hue. The nose has a complex spiciness to it that is earthy, clove like, with woody pepper notes and perhaps even some savory spice notes. There is a rich, dark fruitiness that just lingers underneath the spice notes; it reminds me of raisins, a touch of brandy and some prune notes. There is a solid malt structure here as well that provides a rich, whole grain bread crust wholesomeness and lots of biscuit character. The malt and fruit notes combine to make me think of toast (that is only lightly browned) and jam (concord grape jam even), while the spice combines with both to produce an almost cola like aromatic note; this cola like note is actually quite prominent now that I have noticed it.

Only lightly sweet with a fairly light body, both of these are not usually found in beers of this strength. The beer finishes with some spicy, hot alcohol notes that likely could have been tempered a bit if this beer had more body. Spicy notes of clove lead in to an astringent peppery note in the finish. There is a bright fruitiness that reminds me most of raisins, but also has some fig / prune notes as well as some berry-like notes. The finish has a touch of roasted bitterness as well as a soft hop bitterness, but really the balance to the fruit and sweetness is the hot alcohol spiciness. The spiciness in this beer also contributes a sort of cola like flavor here as well, and it also makes me think of a Concord grape soda as well. I like the mix of fruit notes that this beer has, and the fact that it is not too sweet also is enticing. I can see this doing quite well as an aperitif, but I can’t see it standing up to a main course pairing.

While I like my Belgian inspired ales to be light, this beer seems to be a touch on the light side. The hot alcohol in the flavor also gets accentuated a touch too much as well; though I am admittedly harping on it a bit more than I should, this is a 9% alcohol beer afterall. Still this is a pretty enjoyable beer, and I could actually see this improving with some more age. This is not bad, I just think the recipe needs a bit of tweaking; actually the recipe is likely just fine, I think a slightly different fermentation profile would help quite a bit. As with the Local 1, this beer seems a bit too refined and austere (I am not sure if this is a nice way of saying this is too filtered / conditioned or not); it is well crafted, but needs some more rusticity to it to be really great.

A: I poured Brooklyn Local 2 into my Piraat tulip glass to reveal a dark brown beer with plenty of bubbles and a fluffy off-white head. S: The yeast really took this one over. I don’t get much (if any) of the honey or orange peel advertised on the bottle. Plenty of bready characteristics and typical Belgian esters. T: A pleasant sweetness of dark fruit, candi sugar, and lots of bready malts. The yeast is less pronounced than in the nose, but still gives that "Belgian" flavor. Again, the honey and orange are not all that noticeable in terms of the flavor. A very light chocolate note and some mild alcohol come through as the beer comes to temperature. M: A good effervescent feel on the tongue along with a fairly full body. D: The alcohol is not overly present, but it can certainly sneak up on you. The flavors are good, but not great, but better than I was expecting from the nose.

750ml bottle. Pours a deep, red-brown colored body with an inch thick, creamy and very frothy, off-white to tan head that dissipates slowly and leaves a veil of lacing on the surface and glass throughout the session. Aroma is solid. Lots of dry, dark fruits and distinct raisin with a mild caramel sweetness and plenty of spicy yeast. Dry malts with a light floral hoppiness, cocoa, citrus, apricot, and other soft spices. I like the flavor a bit more. Lots of unsweetened raisin and other dried, dark fruits with a lighter caramel maltiness up front and a bit of a berry taste as well. A good amount of spices and spicy yeast come in, but not dominant like the Local 1. The malts keep this nicely balanced. An unsweetened maltiness along with some prunes and figs leads this into the finish where a very light chocolate covered orange comes in. Finishes dry with lots of timid, dark fruits, unsweetened malts, yeast spice, a hint of alcohol, and a very light, somewhat metallic bitterness. Lengthy, raisin-yeast spiced aftertaste. Light to medium body, very soft, clean, and smooth with a moderate amount of delicate carbonation. Overall, it was hard to pick a favorite between Local 1 and this one, but I think the Local 2 just barely takes the cake. I like the raisin, fig, and dark fruits in this. Similar to the Local 1, there is a lot of yeast spice, but the Local 2 has a very unique, unsweetened maltiness that keeps it in check. The alcohol is much better hidden in this one too. Another solid offering from Brooklyn.