Brooklyn Monster Ale

Bottle. "THIS MONSTER ALE WAS BORN IN 2006" as the terrible metallic Robocop label proclaimed. Snifter pour produced a clear garnet color with minimal if no head. Aroma of un-buttered toffee or bronzed rock candy (not quite brown sugar), infused with orange, zesty hops and some herbal and wood notes. Some slight alcohol vapor drifts up as well. Sweet but balanced toffee/caramel flavor with a bit of citrusy hops and woodiness in the back. Warming, though alcohol well subdued in the palate. Barleywines are generally not my thing, but I appreciate this for its "balance" --not too sweet nor too woody.

[rerated 7 Apr 2008] (2003 bottle) My coworker sprung this little surprise on me. (Thanks, Mike!) After half a decade in the bottle, things have changed. It looks about the same as it usually does: cloudy reddish orange and a sturdy little beige head. The aroma is completely changed. Hops aren’t really detectable-- it’s all esters. The aroma is sweet and fruity like a caramel apple. There are also pears, peaches, figs-- it doesn’t really smell like a beer. It’s actually pretty sparkling on the tongue with a dry finish. The flavor continues what the aroma started. Caramel apples and a fruit salad. Sherry, fruit wine and mead all wrapped up in one. Quite an experience! Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 4/5; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 5/5; Overall: 16/20; Total: 4.1 [rerated 27 Dec 2007] (2006 bottle) Brooklyn Monster Ale is a hazy vermillion brown ale with a blotchy beige head that clumps up with oily bubbles as it fades. It leaves great lacing. The hops are most prominent in the aroma: grass, hay and a bit of medicine. A sweet caramel smell lies beneath. There is a bit of a concrete or stone element. It’s not loud and the aroma is elusive. It is medium-full bodied, slick, soft and fluffy. The flavor elements are very fused. It’s sweet for a moment. It becomes a bit salty (like salty licorice) then a resiny semi-wooden flavor sweeps in and turns into a long finish. There is a fruitiness to it, like lime and maybe even mangoes. The malt is a bit like biscuits and waffles. The tongue is left smooth and slick and ringing of grapefruit peel and resin. The alcohol is well hidden. It’s intense, but in a mellow and mature fashion. Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 4/5; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 5/5; Overall: 16/20; Total: 4.0 [rated 2 Feb 2006] (2005 bottle) This beer pours a clear red-gold with a short-lasting off-white head with excellent lacing. the bubbles stay on the side of the glass indefinitely. The aroma is mostly a wallop of barley malt with a twinge of deep tangerine and vanilla, perhaps. The flavor starts lightly sweet and moderately bitter. The finish is long. It starts with apples and oranges and fades to tree bark. It has a rather full, syrupy yet dry (in an English way) texture with light carbonation and heavy alcohol in the finish. The black pepper flavor of the alcohol starts to pick up in the aftertaste. It’s quite drinkable-- more of a Strong Ale than a Barleywine. It seems a little light on body and a little heavy on alcohol. After a year in the bottle, the flavors are fused tightly. Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 5/5; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 3/5; Overall: 15/20; Total: 3.7

Born in 2006 as if it was human or something. Should I go for it? Another barley wine? IMO they are much too strong and average about a 1.7 on the cheapdark scale. If you want a quick buzz, go for it with a barley wine or should I say whine? 12 oz brown bottle upon popping has a sudden sour aroma. Once poured into my poor new coach steeler stein it clears to that old familiar strong alky indicating odor. The color is not unlike iced tea. The flavor is a smashing impact of whisky alky and alky. Does not hide its brutal-ness well. I think I may enjoy the flavor of a cheap malt liquor better. Thick alky viscous-ness and sweet syrupy feel that is tough to accept. Does not agree wit my girlie taste buds, may turn them into men. Those taste buds bow at every sip. Can’t feel much carbonation. Very difficult to drink as a beer. This is right down there with brown shuggah. SN Bigfoot 2007 is definitely better than this stuff. Will not venture again into another bottle of this. It is a very attractive label that got me to buy it but forget about it in the future. You gotta try this stuff at least once to get the effect that words here cannot describe. Finish is bitter lingering medicine that you will not soon forget. Very coarse. This monster come from chiller theater. Rerate on tap at the Bocktown on 5/15/07: Pour is like darker orange yellow brown (340) Has a creamy off white head. The aroma is perfumy or floral of sorts. First taste os pretty strong. Perhaps I do detect some fruitiness in there. Not as strong as other barleywines. Coats the inside of your mouth with an oily feelng. Medicinalbitter quality about it. Difficult to enjoy for a wheat beer lover. Back of the throat alky terribleness. Lingers for a while.

Bottle. Clear, dark amber colour, no bubbles. Average off-white head. Sweet, slightly hoppy apricot aroma. Salt malty flavour with a bitter finish. Full-bodied, low carbonation.

Bottle. Pours a dark amber with a creamy beige head. Malty aroma with not much seeetness at all, but with a strange hint of something (ground beef?) and with too much clearly pronounced alcohol. Finish is very bitter. A little rough, hopefylly my remaining bottles will age well in the cellar.

Bottle from Systembolaget. This monster was born in 2005, so was around a year in the bottle before I unleashed it. Has a distinctly meaty smell upon first pouring - like crumbled stock cubes mixed with alcohol. After a while some sweet malt tones poke through. Lots of rich caramel, apple, fig and sherry flavours, with a glowing spicey alcohol finish. I’m tempted to take away a point or two for the bottle label, which looks like it was designed by a fifth grade art student in the early 80s, but fortunately the beer inside the bottle is a hell of a lot more attractive.

On tap @ Brew Kettle: Deep amber color with an off white head. Aroma, caramel, some toffee, and an earthy/citrusy hop to it. Flavor, some alcohol, fruity, caramel, some mildly bitter hops come through on the finish. Solid beer.

This Monster Ale was born in 2004 and it was July 2005 I tasted it the first time. I have a stock of this vintage in my cellar. The color is dark and syruppy golden and the aroma is harmonic, very full and fruity. The flavour is complex and develops a long time after you swallowed. At first it has notes of hops and citrus, then a lot of fruit (I especially taste raisins and plums), caramel and spice. The alcohol isn’t present as anything else than a nice warmth. It’s one of the best BW’s I know at this point, complex and with a nice bitter finish!