Brooklyn The Concoction

Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Brooklyn, New York USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

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Tap at BP Dupont Circle. Unfiltered orange-tan. Steady white head. Straight up fruity ginger beer, sweet, not sharp or bitter. Lemon juice, dulled out, not so great. Very ginger dominate. Drinkable, but not impressive.

Draft in a sampler at Great Lost Bear. They had this listed on the menu under "Pale Ale" - I hadn’t heard of it before, and wow, was that misleading. Pours a clear, amber-gold color with a small off-white head. Aroma of spicy hops, berries, winter spices, rosemary, and a shitload of ginger. Same ton of ginger shows up in the flavor along with sugar, various herbs and spices, lemon, and smoked malts at the end. Light-medium bodied, with moderate carbonation and a super spicy mouthfeel. Almost scratches and burns if not for some balancing sugars and a strange smoky aftertaste. Interesting as hell.

Draft. Pours orange with a white head. Pretty sure they hit the nail on the head with what they were trying to do. Ginger, lemon, and peat smoked malts. The smoked malt is more evident in the flavor. Really weird, but hey, I like weird.

Appearance: orange and bright under a soft off-white head which fades into a thin layer bordered by a solid collar.
Nose: mint, ginger – ginger is heavy and intense – followed by spice and caramelization. Warm honey. Oak and scotch and wafts of salty peat much like ocean spray. Thyme, basil, grains of paradise followed by earth rich in greenery – ferns and moss.
Palate: caramelized and raw ginger all over. Raw lemon along with the essence of lemoncello in the breath which also mingles with ginger. Mint, sage, and bay leaves. Medium weight and clean mouthfeel. Raw oak, sea spray, ocean, seaweed, iodine, and a wee bit of Scotland. A sense of time and place – jazz, prohibition, speakeasy, zoot suits.
Final Thoughts: I loved this beer. Like all (or at least most) Brewmaster Reserve beers the Concoction changed on a weekly basis in terms of flavor profile dominance. That alone brings out new flavor profiles and abstractions and combinations. As a single-malt fanatic and novice cocktailarian I wholly appreciated this cocktail inspired beer. In tasting this beer I now want to taste the cocktail which inspired it. I see a lot of online ‘boo-hissing’ of this beer and while it might be what we expect of ‘beer’ isn’t that quite frankly the whole point of the Brewmaster Series? To explore the beery unexplored? Garrett is a beer geek foodie cocktailarian cigar aficionado etc etc… Garrett is a burgundian. Garrett is a flavorholic and flavor explorer. I can relate. To all those who ‘boo-hissed’ this beer, all that much more for me.

Tap at barcade, bk - sweet toffee, bready malts with cherries, apricot fruits, nice herbal spice & a nice tanic note. At the end you get a touch of smoked peat and oak. Nice mouthfeel, light booze finish.

I like odd beers, and this is one of the strangest I’ve had in a while. Served on tap at Stub & Herb’s, this was an interesting combination of many flavors. About 3/4 way though the flavor explosion was a mineral / soapy taste that I did not enjoy, but it quickly mellowed and finished nicely. I would be happy to have this again, but wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

Draught at St. Augustine, Vancouver
Cloudy light amber color. The aroma is perfumy, a bit herbal and spicy, soapy. The flavor is sweetish, and as described by the recipy is a mix of everything, resulting in a honeish herbal spicy (ginger is evident) concoction.
I don’t know if this potion can heal anybody, and it’s not the kind of beer I prefer, but it’s a funny, drinkable experiment.

On tap at HopCat. For those liking scotch and peaty taste. very peaty, smoke aroma, anise. Sour acidic edge. Lacey.

on tap @GABF-pours yellow/gold with a light tan head. Aroma is lemon, peat. Taste is lemon, smoke/peat/ash, some spice hops. Interesting.

draft @ the avenue pub .. . Pours a tan gold .. medium foam .. . ginger, tea with a mild sweetness .. . This beer feels like drinking tea in a jamaican hospital .. . .
Shady Pines, Ma!
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