Brooklyn Monster Ale

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

Bottle, 2005 vintage. Pours a clear copper color with a small off-white head that lasts relatively well. Strong aroma, sweet and alcoholic with notes of hops and dried fruit. Similar flavor, starting with a sweet caramel and dried fruit flavor balanced with substantial hops, and finishing with a stronger component of bitter hops (although still slightly sweet) and a reminder of its 10.8% alcohol. Medium body, slightly chewy, with just the right amount of carbonation. A very enjoyable and drinkable barleywine.

(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.

2005 bottle. Pours a rich copper with a thin thin head that settles on the edge of the glass. The nose is strong for a barleywine. Rich malt, alcohol (!), and relatively obvious floral hops blend to give that classic bubble gum/boot leather barleywine aroma combo, but the aroma is stronger here than on average. This beer has some viscosity, but it’s a bit like watery syrup. There’s a nice alcohol burn and the CO2 is low key. This beer shows its age in the flavor. I mean, this bottle really could’ve used some more time to settle down (glad I have another in the cellar). Raw with alcohol, and a bit cloying. There’s some nice floral spicyness, and again definite bootleather and almost oaky qualities. I think that given time, this could be really very nice, not that I didn’t enjoy this beer this go round.

A pinkish red color with a minimal white bubbly head. It smells like sweet honey, caramel and light strawberries along with hops, alcohol. Similar flavour except here the alcohol is even more noticeable, its not quite as sweet as I expected, more spicy than expected, and its especially hoppy at the end of each sip. Overall I feel like its a bit unbalanced, but the combination of flavours is still enjoyable.

Big thanks to Degarth for giving me this 2006 bottle sent south by crizay. Pours clear copper with a thin tan head. The aroma seems like sweet plum candy, dates, cherries and sweet malt. The taste seems mild for a barleywine. The taste is pretty fruity with dates, prunes, cherries, raisins and sweet apples. The fruitiness is hiding a faint undercurrent of sweet of caramelized maltiness. The after taste leaves a fruity grape, cherry, prune and raisiny flavor behind. Very nice. After about 6oz I can just taste hints of the big 10.1% ABV and the warmer beer yields a bit of alcohol in the nose.

I think I am addicted to barley wines. I really enjoyed this one and am surprised at some of the low ratings...Had on draft at Brews in Granville. Sweet and very woody up front, but I thought this one was pretty well blended and perfectly enjoyable...

2005 bottle. This is officially my favorite style of beer, but I must say that American Barley Wines typically taste similar to one another. This one is certainly tasty, but as I drink this, nothing really stands out about it or sets it apart.

Fresh out of the store, I’ve got 5 more that have earned a spot in the cellar. Well, I’ve only had a handful of sips and my brain is already buzzing - guess I won’t be slamming this. I managed to get a decent sized white crown out of the bottle and into my vintage Budweiser chalice (it’s true!!) but it died and lives as a ring, no surprise there. Crystal clear dark burnt orange with more emphasis on the burnt hue. The aroma is not over the top and has some really nice sherry smell along with the usual boatload of malts (quite sweet, bread, background caramel) and a wack of hops (fuzzy peach 5 cent candies, weak grapefruit, possibly lemon and a large flowery presence) with the hops at this point being dominant. The sips are excellent - very tasty and flavourful with the citrus and floral qualities of the hops taking the lead. The malts seem a bit dark, sweet and probably breadlike. The hops, well, at this point, I’ve almost lost them along with most of my motor skills. Pretty close to full bodied. Nice and smooth. Whoa - by sucking my tongue to the roof of my mouth I’ve hit a wealth of woody qualities (no homo) that remind me of bark. Briefly tart, intense bitterness and a bit of heat but it’s not really prominent. Long permanent bitter aftertaste with something that reminds me of walnuts? peacan? I guess I’m not too familiar with nuts... Looks like after a 30 second break in the perpetual sipping that the malts have destroyed everything in sight. Man, this sucker really gets you going all over the board. Very tasty brew, reading past reviews guarantees a long cellaring life. Whadda ya know? I did end of slamming this - I think I’ll drink another one right without even chilling it. God dammit, this is why I freaking love beer. Cheers.