Brooklyn Monster Ale

Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Brooklyn, New York USA

Pours a ruby red with a thin frothy light amber head. The aroma is sweet, alcohol, some hops, caramel. The flavor was kind of rough. Alcohol mainly, harsh, not too hot.

2006 bottle. poured a clear reddish amber with a decent cream-colored head that quickly faded to a film. good spicy caramel malt, with notes of pear, apple, raisin bread, and a brief flourish of hops. similar spicy caramel taste, with bubblegum hops, along with bready and earthy malt notes, and a bit of alcohol in the finish. warming lightly bitter finish, with a malty sweetness taking over as the bitterness fades. chewy full body with a thick coating oily mouthfeel, with a decent amount of carbonation giving it a light pleasant bubbly tingle. this is a really tasty barleywine!

bottle from 2006. pours a dark copper color with off-white head. has an oily appearance when swirled around the glass. lots of fruit and alcohol in th nose. taste is well rounded, sweet malts blending seamlessly with a fruity undertone. hides its alcohol very well in the taste but you feel it in your throat after you swallow. mellow hoppy finish. quite delicious.

Lord all mighty, this was a serious beer. I hated it at first, but it got better the more I drank. Very sharp and sweet at first, then mellow. I loved it at the end, but that may be due to the fact that I was buzzed by the end of it. I may buy this again, but maybe not.

on tap in a tulip snifter, at Hop Devil’s "Daze of the Devil" festival, 1/19/08 [1998 Vintage] A: Looks like a fermenting tank! A bold orange/copper color with a murky body and very little in the way of head, just thin, swirling wisps of off-white bubbling to let you know that the beer is in fact, carbonated. S: Huge malted nose, wave after wave of sweet bread, toasted biscuits, brown sugar and perhaps some plum. Smells like a candy factory. T/M: Wow, I guess this is what happens to a big, complex barleywine that’s been aged properly for nearly 10 years. Amazingly well-balanced and true to the English style, there is almost no hop presence. Instead, prepare yourself for a thick mixture of brown sugar, sweetbread, toffee, caramel and raisins. I took my time with this 9oz. glass and every sip was well-worth it. D: Dangerous. That’s the only word I can come up with here. Nearly 12% ABV? Come on, there is not even a hint of the alcohol in here. Now if I only had a case of ’98 vintage...

Bottled, 2007 A thick, syrupy barley wine with a lot of fruit and yeah, very sherryish.

The aroma is wow, a little hoppy, sweet, molasses. The head is small and mostly diminishing with good lacing. The body is clear, and a dark amber in color. The initial flavor is a little bitter, swet and creamy. The body is medium and the texture creamy, the carbonation soft.

2007 bottle: Aahh barlewine... Pours a brown tinged amber with little head as expected. So far so good. Large body with rock solid hop representation round the tounge from beginning to end. Brooklyn seems to be changing my mind that they can actually pull some things out of their usual mediocrity. I can only sense a bit of the sherry they speak of in the finish and that is more from the throat. A solid barleywine and welcome on this cold evening.