Brooklyn Monster Ale

Bottle at Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Pours glowing copper with a medium tan head. Nuts and raisins aroma. Good dry nutty flavours, hint of chocolate, some fruit. Full-bodied. An enjoyable barley wine.

The aroma has (dark fruit) raisins, toasted malt, caramel, and yeast. The appearance is light brown with an average head. The flavor is like the aroma and bitter. The palate is smooth. Overall it’s good.

Hazy copper with an earthy caramel aroma. Spicy, fruity, dark caramel flavours.

This is a fantastic classic-English-style Barleywine. I prefer it to Sierra Nevada, I think. I have now added “barleywine” to my MS Word’s spell-check dictionary. As should all beer drinkers, based on this offering from Mr. Oliver & co. Rumor is that they blast the opening chorus from Carmina Burana when they brew it. This is what we call a “fighting beer.” Useful in hand-to-hand combat, I’m sure. Treat it with respect and it will satisfy you long into a cold winter’s night. Try it with dessert, especially if dessert means creme brulee.

Bottle. Pours copper with a beige head. Aroma is ripe fruit, caramel and citrus hops. Medium/full body, smooth. Flavor is ripe fruit, apple, apricot and caramel. Nice.

Mushroomy barley and orange aroma. Crystal clear copper color, medium head, good lacing. Obvious alcohol, barley malt, and candy. Slight celery finish. Not really my thing.

2005. Pours wholly translucent and firm amber red. Aroma arrives in counterpoint of hollow minerals and rich mead and port like sensations; at times, a simple waft of iron water and burnt sugar, and at others, a dense, detailed wave of toffee, fruitcake, fig, date, and burnt caramel. Bits of sweet peppers and old citrus fruits throughout; pretty dirty and earthy all the way through. Flavor is richly sweet, pleasant and quite simple; a buttery english malt and classic caramel sweetness, underscored by some buried evergreen hop presence and a dry framing of fruit peels; some spice and carpet mustiness in the mid palate. Oxidation in a wooden flash. Palate is full and soft; no burn or abrasiveness even in a hint. Finishes shortly with some dry alcohol and date and pecan sweetness. Pleasant rendition; not stunning, but unfolding so comfortably and simply with a totally streamlined, unassuming presentation. Thanks Mark!

2006 bottle courtesy of GrbDg. Pours a murky caramel with a 2 finger head. Nose is bread and roasted malt. Palate is dark fruits, sweet caramel malts and a surprisingly bitter hop bite in the finish followed by a slight alcohol burn. Moderately creamy mouth, nice lacing, a really good barleywine. Thanks Cliff!