Brooklyn The Companion

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

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle… Clear amber ale with orange highlights and a small, creamy, white head. Good retention. The malty nose provides caramel, spicy grain and a whisper of ethanol. Full-bodied and chewy with busy carbonation. The flavor is of caramel, toffee and dry, grainy wheat. Finishes malty and grassy with a kiss of wheat crispness. A good amount of alcohol warmth here, but not at all overbearing.

Has kind of an apple juice vibe going on, both in appearance and the light fruity notes in the aroma and taste.

On Tap..Pour is golden honey with a thin white head..Nose is honey, wheat, apple, white grape, floral..Taste is fruits, apple, white grape, light malt, honey..Palate is light with fruits..

On tap at Akkurat during Brooklyn tap takeover, April 27, 2012. Dark golden with a large, thick white head. Alcohol both in the aroma and taste. Also fruit, some banana and notes of toffee. Dry mouth feel, almost like white whine. Not bad but on the heavy side. 25cl was almost too much for me.

Draught at Akkurat when Oliwer Garret was over. Thick lasting white head. Clear golden color. Wheat aroma with both pears and unripe apples.Semi dry taste with small bitterness. Very big drinkabillity for a 10 % beer. Coulp perhaps be a litle more sparkling.

Draught at Akkurat, Stockholm. Hazy deep golden, rich firm head. Fruity nose with pear and caramel. Full bodied with soft mouthfeel. Sweet and fruity, soft and gentle, apple pie with white pepper custard. Nice.

Appearance: clear deep oranges. Creamy off-white head fades into a collar with lace in its wake. A thin puddle lingers in the middle.
Nose: mandarin orange oils. Floral throughout with lavender, daisies, and chamomile. Grape musk – pinot grigio then Riesling. Softness underneath of lightly honeyed wheat. Pink oranges. Elegance - Victorian royalty.
Palate: full, creamy, smooth, and silky. Floral underneath flows into a floral finish – rose petals, lavender. Bitterness of flower petals and stems on the back top of my tongue. Key lime oils. Tropical essence/oils – banana and guava, star fruit. Banana peel is prominent in the middle but doesn’t last long with a touch of agave. Wheat offers an additional softness to the mouthfeel.
Final Thoughts: delicate. Sophisticated. Complex. Lovely. A fine companion to the Oxford Companion of Beer edited and headed by the one and only Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery. I love Brooklyn beers; never had a bad one and never will. Granted you may not love it - the flavors are bold and unapologetic - and that’s okay. I’ll love it enough for both of us.

750 ml corked bottle, at a tasting with Garrett Oliver. Described as a "wheat wine". ABV was 9.1%. Deep golden to orange colour, moderate white head. Spicy and slightly oaky aroma, wheaty notes, some alcohol. Slightly spicy flavour, fairly sweet, some alcohol. Okay, but did not blow my socks off.

Tap at Big Texas Beer Fest. Barley wine??? I don’t think so. Anyways tasted spice, grapes, apricots, citrus, and dough. Ugly cat piss yellow color. Nice zest on palate. Overall light but complex. Decent lil brew

Draft. Pours clear copper with a finger of white head. Aroma is pretty sweet.. Almost Belgian. The taste had some orange and apricot. The mouthfeel is pretty silky.

A lightly orange amber barley wine with a thin lacing off white head. In aroma, a Belgian-like ale with fruity ester malt, chalky notes, coriander, a bit more like an Imperial Pils than a barley wine. In mouth, a sweet lightly maderized malt with oxidized spices, a bit watery, disappointing. On tap at Three Penny Taproom, March 12 2012.