Brooklyn Monster Ale

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

Serve in Snifter

330mL bottle from my Lickbow. I didn’t even know they were bringing this one in. Then again I’m really out of touch with everything. Pours a deep coppery goldish whatever colour with a small white head. Clear. Smells like booze, nice floral and piney hops, some faint and indistinct malts, and fresh booze. Flavour is full of caramel crunchy malts, thick syrupy body, minor hop bite but more hop flavour, pretty decent. Rounds itself out with some booze and flirts with being over-attenuated, but not tragically and I’m insanely sensitive to that kind of flaw in beer. Over-all, this stuff will get you drunk. You’ll be fornicating with large women in no time.

"Born in 2011" Nose of raisins and rich toffee. Classic flavors for the style. Alcohol is noticeable however, being a young bottle, not bad at all. Not a style I drink much of but... I did enjoy sipping this one. Worth a try. Makes me want to sample a few more of the style.

12 oz. bottle, the label of which informs me, “This Monster Ale was born in 2011.” Sharp, tart aroma features toffee and caramel scents with touches of lemon and yellow plum. Pleasant aroma but nothing special. Pours a clear, dull copper/sable color. Moderate effervescence that is hard to see due to the somewhat dark color. Moderate amount of taupe head. Dull and sweet taste. Bran muffin, black licorice/anise, raisin, tart cherry, caramel, and apple pie flavors. Sweeter than I would prefer. Light alcohol taste noticeable. Dry finish that seems to be from a combination of English ale-style dirty hops and American ale-style piney hops. Dry aftertaste as well. Heavy body with reasonable liveliness given its heaviness. Oily in the palate. Substantial enough to be a bit of a challenge to drink but not in a bad way. Brooklyn Monster Ale is a pleasant, inoffensive beer that hints at potential to be special but does not achieve it. With its sweet heartiness, this is decidedly a dessert beer. Given that I describe it as a “pleasant,” “inoffensive” “dessert beer,” the “Monster” moniker seems notably inapt.

Pours a nice, clear copper color with little to no head. Flavor of licorice and malt, some sweet fruitiness. The alcohol is quite apparent in both the aroma and the flavor as well. An interesting beer--something to sip. Almost wish I had a cigar on hand, too.

Bottle. For once I have a clear barleywine!!! Fuck yeah! Caramel red in color with a medium sized white head. Caramel, cardboard, slight citrus in the aroma. Why am always getting cardboard in barleywines? Taste is rich toffee and caramel, slight citrus, and a touch boozy. Full bodied, rich, pretty good.

Excellent barley wine beer. Most barley wine styles that I have tried have been pretty bitter and I found it hard to down. This one is very sippable and pleasing. My favorite barely so far...

Reddish amber with a fair amount of carbonation. Small thin head that ends fairly quickly. Aroma of sherry and ripe plum. Nice balance of the malt and hops. The alcohol is more noticeable as the drink warms towards the end. Rich filling finish. Picked this up in a six pack builder of $9.99.

Serving glass: Poured from bottle into Snifter. Appearance: Color is somewhere between orange and lava, with a good sized head and nice lacing legs. Aroma: Toffee and plum, caramel and cherry, and some light booziness. Taste: Light caramel and toffee, light fruitiness (plum, cherry, etc), light hops (citrus, spice). The key word here is light. A little too subtle overall. The cherry also lasts, giving a slight medicinal aftertaste. Palate: Full body that nonetheless seems a little thin. Somewhat smooth and warming. Overall: While there are some nice favors here, this is the most boring Barleywine I have ever had.