Brooklyn Local 1 Review

Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery | Beer: Local 1
Style: Belgian Golden Strong Ale | ABV: 9.0% | IBUs: 32
Serving Method: 750ml bottle poured into tulip glass

The first in Brooklyn's Big Bottle series, Local 1 is a Belgian Golden Strong Ale (though Garrett has been known to refer to it as a "strong Saison"). It debuted in 2008 and is based on the old draft-only brew Fortitude. Despite being on the shelves for just a couple of years, the beer has already built up a lot of buzz and spawned a second beer in the series.

As for basic construction, the backbone is built from two-row Pilsener malt from Bamberg, Germany, hop character comes from Hallertauer Perle and Styrian Golding varieties, and everything is brought to life with Belgian yeast. The recipe also calls for raw sugar from the tiny island nation of Mauritius. Once fermented, the beer is bottle conditioned for more depth.

Here's how Brooklyn describe the finished product:

Behind the full golden color you'll find an alluring aroma, a dynamic complex of flavors, Belgian flair, Brooklyn fortitude, and a dusting of our special yeast.

Sounds great, let's pop this cork and get started.

Appearance: Wow, what a gusher! Despite a week of sitting still in the fridge, after carefully removing the cork from the bottle, the beer starting flowing out of the bottle like champagne within seconds. In fact, a few minutes after pouring the first portion, a two inch tower of dense foam snaked out of the bottle and softly floated down to the table. It's alive! Once you finally corral the beer into a glass, a beautifully hazy apricot-orange body is revealed. Up top, a massive cap of off-white head fades slowly and leaves great lacing. Local 1 puts on quite the show, even before you've raised the glass to your nose.

Aroma: Clearly a Belgian-style beer, the nose is a mix of golden fruit, a bouquet of spices, bubblegum-like yeast, earthy hops, and some nice alcohol.

Taste: Much the same as the aroma: leafy and earthy hops, mild bubblegum, golden fruit, cloves, coriander, peppery phenols, and bready yeast all over a pale malt backbone. The alcohol is masked beautifully. Fruity and yeasty in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with great carbonation and a drying finish. Just a hint of burn from the alcohol.

Drinkability: This is certainly a beer to be savored, but it's hardly a task to polish off a glass or two.

Verdict: To be perfectly frank, after sampling a few of Brooklyn's more mainstream beers, I was starting to wonder what all the fuss was about. But after a bottle of Local 1, I wonder no more. This is, without a doubt, one the very best Belgian-style American beers I've tried yet.

Grade: A

Duvel Review

Brewery: Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV | Beer: Duvel
Style: Belgian Golden Strong Ale | ABV: 8.5% | IBUs: ~30
Serving Method: 12 oz. bottle poured into tulip glass

The Flemish Moortgat brewery essentially created the Belgian Golden Strong Ale style when they released this incarnation of Duvel back in 1970, and the beer is still the definitive version of the style today. Duvel has become one of Belgium's most popular beers and is exported to over 40 countries.

Originally, Duvel (Flemish for "Devil") was a rich, malty beer somewhat resembling a Scotch Ale. As time went on though, the world started to favor lighter style beers, and the brewery decided to make some changes to the recipe. In the process, they ended up creating a whole new kind of beer.

In the new brew, the backbone is built of lighter Pilsener malt and white sugar, while bitterness is provided by Saaz and Styrian Goldings hops. One of the key ingredients is a special strain of ale yeast originally derived from a bottle of McEwans the brewery studied just before the Second World War. As for the actual brewing process, the beer endures two fermentations at the brewery before it's bottled and undergoes bottle conditioning.

Don't be fooled by surface appearances though, while the recipe may call for Pilsener style malt and it has a Pislener style look, this is hardly a Pilsener style beer. It's built quite a devilish reputation for biting those that fail to treat it with the proper respect over the years, due to its deceptively high alcohol content.

With that in mind, let's pop the cap and take trip over to the dark (light) side.

Appearance: A beautifully hazy, golden-straw body topped with a mile of pillowy white head. The head looks like a dollop of meringue, lasts until the end of the glass, and leaves brilliant lacing. Simply gorgeous.

Aroma: Yeasty, spicy, and fruity with a whiff or two of booze. Thoroughly Belgian.

Taste: Intense. Lots of fruit (mainly apples and light citrus), bready yeast, and spices (pepper and clove). All of this over a tasty pale malt backbone. That over eight-percent alcohol content is there, but it's masked remarkably well and what does manifest itself is nothing but complimentary to the rest of the flavors. The aftertaste is complex, with many of the bready and spicy flavors in full effect.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and creamy with a terrific carbonation and occasional hints of alcohol. Dries a little in the finish.

Drinkability: Certainly more drinkable than the alcohol content would suggest, this is surprisingly quaffable.

Verdict: Duvel is truly a brilliant beer and thoroughly stands up to it's rather lofty reputation. If you're looking to start your journey through the fascinating world Belgian beers, you certainly won't go wrong with this as your first step. A classic in all regards.

Grade: A+