RateBeer
   Home Sign Up or Login Advanced Search
   People Ratings Events Places Forums Shop Magazine
      Top By Category  RateBeer Best  Latest Ratings  Top 50    

Brooklyn Monster Ale

Brooklyn Monster Ale - Barley Wine

* picture credits
copyright may apply

 Percentile 
91
overall
Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Barley Wine

Brooklyn, New York USA

bottled
common

on tap
available

Broad Distribution
Find this beer

Add Distribution Data
send corrections | shelftag |

 Ratings  Average  Score  Seasonal  ABV  Style Pctl  Serve in 
9003.57/5.03.56/5.0Winter10.8%58.1Snifter
View Statistics  P 

Commercial Description:
Brooklyn Monster Ale is a classic barley wine, a style of ale originally brewed by the butlers to the English and American aristocracy. It is brewed from three mashes of heirloom British malt and spiced with aromatic American Willamette, Cascade and Fuggle hops.

After four months of aging, it has a magnificent burnished copper color, an aroma redolent of sherry, citrusy hops and fruit, a soft, warming, complex palate, a spiritous finish, and a strength of 10.8%.

It is vivacious when young, but will age gracefully for many years, becoming more complex over time.

Food Matches

Brooklyn Monster Ale is a fine accompaniment to cheeses, ice cream, flourless cakes, crème brulee and good cigars.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 Svesse (2597), Hässelby, Sweden
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/515/20
Jun 8, 2007  
(Bottle, vintage 2005) Dark copper colour with small, very brief head, leaving just a beige ring around the glass. Fruity nose with notes of caramel, toffee, treacle, marzipan and hints of dark rye bread ... Earl Grey tea? A dash of rubbery hops hovers above it all. Fiery, fruity taste leaning in a vinous Madeira direction, accompanied by notes of dried fruit (dates, figs), marzipan, moccha and molasses. A sweetish, but fresh dash of hops sends you off towards the finish. Full bodied, syrupy, but still smooth. Definitely a bit sweet, but well balanced with the hops in the finish being exactly what is needed. Not as aggressive as many barley wines, but brilliantly balanced and actually very nice.


 ChainGangGuy (2522), Kennesaw, Georgia, USA
3.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/57/103/514/20
Jun 7, 2007  
"Born in 2004" Good to hear, Brooklyn! Thanks for the 411. Appearance: Pours a robust brown, with a touch of red. Like an English Breakfast tea, except its beer, and with a crowning off-white head which faded (there it goes!) into a tight, neat bubble ring around the glass. Smell: Cherries soaked in alcohol. Possibly a bit of freshly cut pears, but its rather difficult to smell around the alcohol. Taste: Hoo-boy! Very sherry-like in flavor, with bit of wood in there. Hmm. I’m not really getting any clear cut malt or hop signals beyond the alcohol fumes. Long, spicy finish that eventually begins to erode the back of the throat. Mouthfeel: The body is a bit thinner than most barleywines (reminds me of Young’s Old Nick, except way more alcohol). Its all rather coarse on the palate, but it’s only a young barleywine and one that I feel is much need of a good, long nap in the cellar. Drinkability: 11.80%?! Well, that explains alot. Hmm. For some reason I thought it was less, but I certainly *feel* the ABV. I was wondering why my typing skills were degrading throughout this review. Not one of my favorite barleywines.


 aobecksy (661), Middle of no where, Ohio, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/518/20
Jun 5, 2007  
Great under estimated mega drink! The manly barley wine. Beautiful color, nice and strong yet sweet and warm with biting finish. A lovely drink.


 ghostmonkey (182), budd lake, New Jersey, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/518/20
May 26, 2007  
bottle . . pours deep dark brown with a light white head . . aroma is raisins, malts, whiskey, dried fruits, slight hops . . taste is molassas, brown sugar, raisins, slight hops and grapefruit . . alcohol is hidden well . . i really enjoyed this one . .


 moejuck (1165), Ohio, USA
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/59/105/517/20
May 26, 2007  
After having this beer, I became convinced that we need to have vintage rating available on the site. 2000 bottle sent by Drewbeerme, thanks! This was a spectacular example of an aged barleywine. The aroma is lots of wonderful melted caramel and toffee with light brown sugar and malts. Deep brown body with a thin head. The palate is delicously creamy and full. Taste is amazing! Tons of toffee, caramel, sweet fruits--raisins and plums. Absolutely top notch.


 cking (1012), North Canton, Ohio, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/104/516/20
May 23, 2007    Updated: Jul 8, 2007
2005 batch, cracked open August of 2006. Scrapping my initial review for the following: 2006 Edition: Revisiting this one because I wasn’t satisfied with my initial thoughts on this brew. Glad I got this years batch because either it’s better, my taste has improved, or both because this beer is great. Beautiful cherry red color, fuzzy white film on top, splotchy lacing. Sugary malt scent with dark fruits and some medium floral hops. Sweet and creamy mouthfeel with a quick burn. Flavor is much better than I recall. Dark cherries, sherry, and sugary bready malts. Low bitterness, quite floral and really tasty.


 Egon (392), Gothenburg, Sweden
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/55/104/516/20
May 22, 2007  
Bottle. Amber brown with white head. Caramel, bitter, sweet. Good, complex aroma. Medium body. Short after taste. Quite strong.


mazfln (83), Florianópolis, Brazil, Brazil
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/56/104/515/20
May 21, 2007  
Very nice strong bitter aroma. Nice amber color. Balanced bitter and sweet aroma. Complex taste with some fruits and alcohol. Nice beer



CONSIDER FREE RATEBEER MEMBERSHIP



Join us! RateBeer is made by beer enthusiasts for the craft beer community. Your basic membership is free and allows you to read all beer ratings. Click here to create your account... and give your opinion!

SIGN UP NOW »

View Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90

What's Your Opinion?
Tell us what you think of this beer. Start your free RateBeer account now.
» Click here.

More Barley Wines

Lost Abbey The Angels Share (Bourbon Barrel) (4.2)

AleSmith Barrel Aged Old Numbskull (4.14)

Lost Abbey The Angels Share (4.11)

Three Floyds Behemoth Barleywine (4.09)

Kuhnhenn Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine (4.06)

Hair of the Dog Fred from the Wood (4.06)

Victory Old Horizontal (4.04)

AleSmith Old Numbskull (4.03)

Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws (2003-) (4.02)

Marin Old Dipsea Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine Style Ale (3.98)

Barley Johns Barrel-Aged Rosies Ale (Batch 2) (3.98)

Flossmoor Station Wooden Hell (3.98)

Midnight Sun Arctic Devil Barley Wine (3.98)

Three Floyds Bourbon Behemoth (3.97)

Third Coast Old Ale (3.97)


About RateBeer | Add A Beer | Add A Brewer | Edit Personal Info | 100 Beer Club | FAQ | Log out | Feedback? | Copyright 2000-2009, RateBeer LLC