Brooklyn Monster Ale

12oz bottle from wholefoods. I asked a wholefoods employee if they sold singles of this so i could try it. She went and got a pricing gun, pulled a single out of a six pack, and shot a $1.50 price tag on it. She was very helpful and knowledgeable. This pours a nice orange-red color with no head. The smell is very piney and sweet. The flavor is lightly nutty with a bitter hop bite. The 10.8% is present, but blends very well with the bitter hops and very light carbonation. This is not the best barleywine that I have had, but it is light, easy to drink, and contains some good dry walnut flavors as well as a strong hop smack.

pours somewhat thin for a barley wine amber with a disappearing tan head. aroma nice piney hops slightly floral. hints of nutty toffee malt. sweet nutty toffee slightly spicy flavor up front leading to a bitter piney hoppy finish. full bodied but it seems a bit thin for the style. flavor seems to drop off a bit at the finish. decent barley wine. on the easy drinkin side of the style.

Bottle "born 2005" and brewed in Utica, NY. Strong sweet malty aroma, but clean crimson body topped with tiny bubbles. Plum, fruity flavors, followed with warming alcohol. I imagine some mellowing with the bitterness has taken place in the bottle. I mention the label stating it was brewed in Utica (FX Matt) because I find it both interesting and impressive that this quality barleywine was contract brewed.

On tap-MacGregors... I don’t know why but this was sort of a let down maybe it is because I had some ridiculous barleywines recently but this wasnt really what I was expecting. I think it was served a bit to cold and that might have taken away some of the taste as well... Pours a deep rusty ruby color with quite a fair head... It smells of plums, some malts lots of fruits. tastes plums malts with a ridiculous amount of alcohol warming going on in the finish. --------------------------------------------------- vintage bottle 2000- pours very cloudy chocolate water color with some ruby highlights, tiny bubbly head indicates high sugar content. ahhh, it smells amazing. brown sugar dominates, some malts. fruits, perhaps apples. maybe plums. it smells delicious. taste isnt quite as pleasant as the smell. lots of alcohol, brown sugar, lots of malts, apples.

This monster was born in 2003. Pours a clear ruby copper color, topped by a quarter inch of tan foam. The quickly head recedes to a thin cap and a thicker ring, then disappears altogether. A little lacing at first – then nothing. The aroma is rather mild at first with caramel a light fruit. Later, after its been in the glass a while, a Japanese plum wine aroma kicks in. Well, the flavor definitely is not mild. In fact, it is quite nice with toffee and toasted malts and heavy sweet caramel up front. It finishes with a drier flavor that is earthy and a little woody, and tinged with a little cigar smoke and tart liquer. The flavor gets a high score primarily due to the toasted malt and cigar smoke combination. Nearly full bodied, mildly carbonated, with a lingering alcoholic presence.

Brown but pretty pale. Lots of cascade which I like. Toffee, caramell, overall lots of flavour. Alcohol is warming but not sticky.

Bottle. Pours a copper color with a short off white head. Aroma of sherry, rasin, a bit of cocoa butter, sweet malt and some booze. The flavor holds a good bit of candied fruit, sherry, some light bitter earthy hops, some toffee as well. Not overwhelmingly heavy, but still has a solid body and finishes with a warming/hot/somewhat fruity finish. Not a bit little barley wine for the price although it runs a little bit hot.

awful barleywine...just awful...dark reddish brown body with small head..aroma is of sugar, alcohol, and medicinal elements..flavor is a sweet, soapy alcohol mess...blech..a 5 for flavor may be kind; one of the worst barley wines i have had; almost a drain pour