Brooklyn Monster Ale

Protypical traditional English Barley wine. Tastes very authentic, reminding me of Thomas Hardy’s.

’04 bottle. Poured brown with hazy look to it. Nice thick tan head. Aroma of raisins and brown sugar. Taste of dark fruits, spice, and toffee. Also, nice cherry taste in the finish. Has held its age very well. Minimal alcohol burn. Pretty good.

12. oz bottle. This pours a reddish amber with a solid two finger head. It might have been the dark horse stout messing up my palate at first, but now having finished this, I think it’s great. Lots of dark fruits and molasses on the tongue, and some citrus on the finish. I expected a bit more from this brewer, but I’m not dissapointed. Cheers!

2007 vintage. Light red-brown with a thin cover of off white head. Aroma of pit fruits, prunes, brown sugar, citrus hops. Taste is citrus hoppy, with an underbody of sherry, brown sugar, raisins, and a lightly off bittering finish.

Bottle. Pour reddish colour with a nice head. Aroma and flavourof spice, fruit, hops and toffee.

Clear red copper with good, creamy tan head / Sweet, malty and bready nose / Medium to full body, creamy, with moderate sweetness and good finish / Flavors of burnt sugar, toffee, grapefruit, and dry hops / Very nice with excellent, hoppy body.

Unfair rating alert! Multiple vintages rated and averaged out. 2005 vintage 12oz bottle, drank 2-8-09. Pours a thick brown orange color. Relatively lifeless as far as carbonation goes at this point. Big dark fruit alcohol aroma, reminiscent of Sherry or Cognac. I’m not so sure I’d describe this as graceful aging. Maybe corked or on Carbon Dioxide, but this tastes heavily oxidized. A drain pour in most circles, this is way past it’s prime. A-2 A-3 F-5 P-1 O-8 2007 vintage, sampled 2-10-09. After the disappointing 2005, this one was ousted from the aging closet and into the fridge. Sweet aroma, with some in your face alcohol laced hops. Still maintains some carbonation, but shows a touch of aging. Malty and syrupy, I really don’t find this to be in the top tiers of Barleywine. Too sweet, there is nothing mellow about this beer. A-5 A-3 F-6 P-3 O-12

Vintage 2005. Hazy with a small disappearing head. Aroma: Dark fruit, cherry, malt, sweetness, alc and some hops. Taste: Sweetness, plum, balanced well by quite a lot of bitterness, Warming alc in the end.