Brooklyn Pennant Ale '55 Review

Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery | Beer: Pennant Ale '55
Style: English Pale Ale | ABV: 5.0% | IBUs: ~35
Serving Method: 12 oz. bottle poured into pint glass

Brewed to honor the 1955 championship-winning Brooklyn Dodgers, Pennant Ale '55 is an English-style Pale Ale. Being an traditional English take on the Pale Ale style, it bookends nicely to the company's English-style India Pale Ale, East India Pale Ale. Pennant Ale is one of Brooklyn's core beers, and unlike baseball, it's sold year round.

As for construction, the backbone is built from Scottish Maris Otter, Belgian Aromatic, and British Crystal malt varieties, while the beer is hopped with Hallertauer Perle, Willamette, American Fuggle, and Cascade hops varieties. Put it all together, and Brooklyn describe the result as:

A honey-colored pale ale with a brisk pale malt palate and finely balanced hop character.

The Dodgers are under .500 this year, but hopefully the beer named for them fares a little better.

Appearance: A crystal-clear brownish-copper body capped by two fingers of off-white head holds well, but leaves patchy lacing.

Aroma: Bright, brassy, and herbal hops over a paleish caramel malt base.

Taste: Just what the aroma promised: lightly citrusy and grassy hops over a caramel malt backbone. There's a little bit of soapiness at times, but it's not a major issue. The aftertaste is earthy and biscuity.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with good carbonation and a drying finish.

Drinkability: With the agreeable flavor profile and mild alcohol content, this makes a great session choice.

Verdict: In Pennant Ale '55, dem bums from Brooklyn have brewed up a tasty and highly-drinkable English style Pale Ale that's bang-on for the style. If you're looking for a solid English Pale to session, you won't go wrong here.

Grade: B

Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin Ale Review

Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery | Beer: Post Road Pumpkin Ale
Style: Pumpkin Ale | ABV: 5.0% | IBUs: ~20
Serving Method: 12 oz. bottle poured into pint glass

Back in 1998, Brooklyn bought out the Post Road brewing company. Best known for their flagship Pale Ale, Post Road was an early player in the New England craft scene with a stable of beers brewed under contract by the now defunct Catamount.

The only Post Road beer to survive today is Pumpkin Ale, which apparently had enough cachet to make the cut. Each batch is made with hundreds of pounds of pumpkins along with American Two-Row, Belgian Biscuit, and Aromatic malts and Willamette and American Fuggle hops.

The end result is what Brooklyn describes as "a beer with an orange amber color, warm pumpkin aroma, biscuity malt center, and crisp finish."

It might not be fall yet, but I'm always in the mood for a good pumpkin brew. Let's dig in.

Appearance: A crystal-clear, pumpkin-orange body capped by around two fingers of off-white head that sticks around nicely and leaves great lacing.

Aroma: A wonderful blend of pumpkin, spices (nutmeg and cinnamon mainly), and mild caramel malt, creating something strikingly similar to pumpkin pie.

Taste: Much closer to beer than pie in the flavor profile, as the malt body perks up and a citrusy, earthy hop component comes alive. There's still plenty of pumpkin and spice to be found, but it's much more balanced than in the nose. The aftertaste features citrusy hops and some spice.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with good carbonation and a drying finish.

Drinkability: An easy-drinking brew, a few bottles of this would be perfect during a large holiday meal.

Verdict: Akin to a mild English Pale Ale with a pumpkin pie twist, Post Road Pumpkin Ale is a highly drinkable and tasty holiday brew—one of my favorite examples of the Pumpkin Ale style.

Grade: B+

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

Brooklyn Summer Ale Review

Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery | Beer: Summer Ale
Style: English Pale Ale ABV: 5.0% IBUs: ~25
Serving Method: 12 oz. bottle poured into pint glass

This review is a part of an article on summer seasonals as part of the monthly beer blogging project The Session.

Brooklyn describe their summer seasonal, Summer Ale, as a an modern take on the "English Light Dinner Ale" style that was popular from the 1800's until the 1940's. I've listed it as an English Pale Ale here, as that seems like the closest match (if you think there's a better fit, please let me known in the comments). I love when a brewer chooses something other than a lager for their summer brew, and I love it even more when brewers try to bring a defunct style back to life, so I'm pretty excited about this one

As for ingredients, Summer Ale's body is made up of two-row British malts while bitterness is provided by Perle, Cascade, Fuggle, and Amarillo varieties. Here's how Brooklyn pitch Summer Ale's flavor profile:

A light-bodied golden beer [with] a fresh bready flavor, a light crisp bitterness and a citrus/floral aroma, resulting in a beer with a very sunny disposition.

Sounds like just what I need in this crushing Houston heat, so let's give it a whirl.

Appearance: A crystal-clear golden-amber body with two fingers of off-white head. The head recedes slowly and leaves decent lacing. There's just something about the tone of amber that's very satisfying.

Aroma: Grassy mild hops, biscuity malt, and perhaps the barest hints of alcohol.

Taste: Clean and crisp. Up front there's a wave of earthy, grassy, and slightly citrusy mild hops. Underneath, the mild bready malt backbone is almost wheat-like in it's lightness. The aftertaste is a mix of grains and a little lemon.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with crisp carbonation, almost approaching soda levels (but it works). A dry finish.

Drinkability: Everything is right here to make for a very quaffable brew.

Verdict: Summer Ale is a solid enough mild beer that works as a great warm-weather alternative to all of the Lagers and wheat beers out there. It's not the most complex or interesting beer out there, but it's not meant to be. Certainly worth a try.

Grade: B

Brooklyn East India Pale Ale Review

Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery | Beer: East India Pale Ale
Style: English India Pale Ale | ABV: 6.9%
Serving Method: 12 oz. bottle poured into pint glass

When I first started getting into the world of beer, Stout was my favorite style. While looking up new Stouts to try, I kept running into massive praise for Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout, but it simply wasn't available in the Houston area. Much to my surprise, Brooklyn beers started showing up here a few months ago. Unfortunately, Black Chocolate Stout was not amongst the few varieties that made it down here in the first wave.

What did make it's way down was their India Pale Ale, Brown Ale, Lager, and Local 1 (a Belgian Strong Pale Ale). As IPAs are one of my favorite styles, I decided to start with their attempt. After so much waiting, this is the first Brooklyn beer I've had the pleasure to try, and I'm very much looking forward to diving in.

But first, perhaps we should pay attention to the beer at hand. Brooklyn devised this beer in the more traditional English style of IPA, rather than the American style that dominates here today. Considerably more mellow than the hop-bombs we've started to crank out here in America during recent years, the English style is closer to what actually made it to India all those years ago, a hoppier and maltier version of the normal Pale Ale, designed to make the arduous journey without spoiling like a weaker beer.

Brooklyn describe the beer as a "deep golden beer brewed from British malt and a blend of hops featuring the choice East Kent Golding variety. It is traditionally dry-hopped for a bright aroma of hops, lemongrass, pine and citrus fruit, and has a robust bitterness, a warming malt palate and a clean hoppy finish."

Appearance: Crystal clear and bubbly pale golden-amber body. Pours a rather large and bubbly white head that quickly melts into a solid finger, leaving good lacing all the way down.

Aroma: Sweet caramel malt with some clean, floral, and perfumey hops and some sweet fruit. A few notes of apple cider. It's all pleasant enough, but as this is an IPA, I was expecting a lot more from the hops.

Taste: Grassy and bitter (not a normal hop bitterness) with a weird metallic taste. There's a solid lightly roasted malt backbone that tends to overshadow the hops, which is odd for an IPA. The alcohol is always present, I'd like to see it hidden a little better. To be frank, this is a confusing beer.

Mouthfeel: A solid medium body with moderately-high carbonation.

Drinkability: This would be quite sessionable, if it weren't for the alcohol being so prominent.

Verdict: Seems much more like an English Pale Ale, than an English IPA, to me. Even then, there are a lot of problems with this beer. I'm not deterred in my quest to sample the rest of the Brooklyn line, but perhaps becoming a little anxious.

Grade: C