Brooklyn Monster Ale

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

Bottle sampled. Pours amber with a small compact off-white head. Aroma of alcohol, citrusy hops, citrus, chocolate, and piney hops. the flavor is sweet, chocolate, citrus, alocohol is present, fruit, and a piney bitter finish. Good brew.

Mettalic coppery pour with a slightly off-white head that lingers and laces well. The nose is rich sweet malt, citrus hops and alcohol. The flavor is malt forward...roasted caramel and toffee, oak, vanilla, and dried fruits. The citrus hops, prominent in the aroma, recede somewhat upon tasting, bowing to the big sweet maltiness. The palate is dominated by the malt bottom followed by a lingering citrus hop bite in the finish, all interspersed with an intermittantly very prominent ABV that plays peekaboo throughout!

2005. 12 Oz Bottle. Pour of henna-tinged golden orange, with a rim of off-white and light carbonation. Aroma of distant malt, some sweet orange lemon degreaser and fragrant oyster mushrooms. Subdued. Flavor is a calm deep malt of mussels and ground mustard. A tinge spicy and rich. Not much, if any real complexity or depth. Just an alcohol tinging malt and sweet candied apple sugars. Smacks full of toasted almonds and light breading, but I’m still really reaching for anything to say about this beer. It strikes me as the budweiser of american barleywines, seriously. Standard, just plain malt flavor, with a decent hop balance. I can’t get anywhere with this beer, so it loses. It does show some high levels of sweet floral spice, but it maintains muddiness and really never emerges as a distinct character. Palate is fairly full.

2007 vintage. Light red-brown with a thin cover of off white head. Aroma of pit fruits, prunes, brown sugar, citrus hops. Taste is citrus hoppy, with an underbody of sherry, brown sugar, raisins, and a lightly off bittering finish.

A decent barley wine by Brooklyn. Everything was just there but not great...the malty/fruity aroma. The taste of caramel and malt with syrupy mouthfeel. The sweet aftertaste that did not linger. Not bad but there are better out there

Pours a hazy darker amber with little to no head. Very nice floral, sweet malty smell to it although it was quite mellow. Pretty sweet taste with anice bite to it, although it does smooth out near the finish. I get some darker citrus and sweet malts in there as well. Alcohol is pretty prominent in this one. Would love for them to mask that a little better, but this is name monster ale so maybe thats the intention.

Burgundy. Soft, delicate aroma of sweet deep malt, brown sugar, dark fruits, sherry, raisins, plums, along with some slightly medicinal and hop fragrances. As a brewer I think it is much more difficult to brew an English style barley wine compared to an American Barley wine. That being said, as an English barley wine, I think this is brewed fantastically well. Fruity, deep and malty flavor. Chewy. Notes of raisins, sherry, brandy and caramel. Fairly sweet and one dimensional with a pretty thin body.

Ruby pour with a thin creamy head and spotty lace. Cobweb aromas of sweet malts and sharp hops. Flavor is very similar leaning a bit towards the sour end though. Interesting beer. Thanks to Jay!