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  • Brooklyn Brewery Lager

    I promise this is the last review for this week ;)
    Hopefully you still find it interesting.


    This evening I'd like to do a little review of Brooklyn Brewerys Lager Beer.
    I tried this once before on a tasting session in Berlin, and found it to be
    very characterful. So when I spotted this one at my buddys store, it had to come home with me.

    Some information about Brooklyn Brewery:

    The Brooklyn Brewery was founded in 1987 through Steve Hindy and Tom
    Potter. It is situated in Williamsburg (Brooklyn) NY. The production ouput was listed with 213.000barrel for the year of 2013.

    Brooklyn Lager:

    The look -> When pouring in the tasting glass, the Lager shows a very intensive amber coloration. Very close to the coloration that Grand Manier usually shows.


    The smell-> When smelling close to the beers surface, the first thing that comes to my mind is...milk.. yes right I said milk. There is this light impression of condensed milk. Kind of sweet an diffuse.
    Followed is this aroma by tones of herbs, citrus fruits (kind of grapefruitish) and some hints of a very faint ginger note.
    It smells really nice and somehow lifely, but also reminds me of the Ricola swiss cough drops.


    The foam -> Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against people that don't like
    a nice foam crown on top of their beer. But why in the name of the lord do people such a bad job in the production process.
    The foam is litterally only there for maybe 15 seconds and then breaks down to a thin layer that looks more like a poisend river than a nice beer.
    I know that many Lagers don't have much or any foam, but the Brooklyn Lager is neither fish nor meat. Weird.

    The taste -> With high expectations I took the first swig. And sure enough
    I was really disappointed. The first thing you taste is this all covering bitterness that tastes like old orange cests. I really had to play my A game to get any other taste out of the Lager, at least in a clear describable manner.
    So under this blanket of bitterness there were very faint hints of herbs malt.
    All in all I thought this beer was kind of washy. Nothing left from the complexity I had saved in my memory. I won't say it tastes bad, as it sure does not as far as "industry" beer goes. But I will say this: This is not the flavor and quality I know, Brooklyn Brewery normally offers.

    My thoughts -> I'm really sad, that this beer is so far away from its former glory. In my opinion it is not recommendable anymore. The appeareance of the foam shows some technical weaknesses and the all covering bitterness indicates an overdose in dry hopping. Besides the color there ain't much to call this thing an american Lager anymore and the difference to industrial made beer is insignificant.
    I paid 3€ for a 0.33liter bottle, I'm sorry, but it just ain't worth it.


    Did you guys try this one? If so, what arenyour thoughts?
    Does it fit the image of an american Lager?

    Have a good one
    Matze
    Attached Files
    Cooking on a Kingstone grill, nothing fancy but
    always fun.
    Me loves some nice southern style barbecue... ah and some nice asian food ;)

  • #2
    Keep posting the reviews - they are a joy to read!

    One day, I would like to learn more about "Berliner Weisse" - I think that it also might be called "Berliner Blonde."

    This beer is unavailable in my area, but perhaps I might be able to figure out how to brew a batch. I like the idea of a slightly-sour wheat beer, and it is interesting how it is balanced with syrups I have homemade raspberry and chokecherry syrup to try - but no woodruff.
    Fundamentals matter.



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    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by TasunkaWitko View Post
      Keep posting the reviews - they are a joy to read!

      One day, I would like to learn more about "Berliner Weisse" - I think that it also might be called "Berliner Blonde."

      This beer is unavailable in my area, but perhaps I might be able to figure out how to brew a batch. I like the idea of a slightly-sour wheat beer, and it is interesting how it is balanced with syrups I have homemade raspberry and chokecherry syrup to try - but no woodruff.
      Glad you like them.

      Berliner Weisse is a fun topic. I'll grab some when I'm back from England so we can talk about that. I know it is available on the east coast, maybe we can find an online store so that you can try it?.
      I must say Berliner Weisse is really weird, but then again sourbeer has a long
      tradition :) I'll see what I can come up with :)
      Try searching for "Kindl Weisse", that is the original recipe. It is possible
      to brew this at home, but as I recall takes some effort when it comes
      to fermentation.
      Cooking on a Kingstone grill, nothing fancy but
      always fun.
      Me loves some nice southern style barbecue... ah and some nice asian food ;)

      Comment


      • #4
        The standard offerings from Brooklyn don't do much for me. I think most of them are made in Utica at Matt Brewing's 350,000 barrel brewery. I don't know if all the large format bottles are made in Brooklyn, but they are much more interesting. I got to try a bunch of ghost bottles that included Local One aged on cider lees, Local One aged in a mezcal barrel and a kettle sour.

        Which brings me to Berliner Weiss, it's traditionally not boiled and the lactobacillus on the grain is allowed to sour the beer. Then it's heated or boiled and hops are added.

        I made a batch last year. I made a starter and pitched a handful of grain. I kept it at 100°F and it made something that tasted kind of like pineapple juice. I pitched this into wort and kept it at 100°F. Because I had some hops (about 7 IBUs worth), it didn't get as sour as I would have liked, and I pitched the yeast after about a week. I was disappointed in this beer for about 6 months. Now it's pretty good. The Mad Fermenationist has a bunch of good tips on making a Berliner.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by scotth View Post
          The standard offerings from Brooklyn don't do much for me. I think most of them are made in Utica at Matt Brewing's 350,000 barrel brewery. I don't know if all the large format bottles are made in Brooklyn, but they are much more interesting. I got to try a bunch of ghost bottles that included Local One aged on cider lees, Local One aged in a mezcal barrel and a kettle sour.

          Which brings me to Berliner Weiss, it's traditionally not boiled and the lactobacillus on the grain is allowed to sour the beer. Then it's heated or boiled and hops are added.

          I made a batch last year. I made a starter and pitched a handful of grain. I kept it at 100°F and it made something that tasted kind of like pineapple juice. I pitched this into wort and kept it at 100°F. Because I had some hops (about 7 IBUs worth), it didn't get as sour as I would have liked, and I pitched the yeast after about a week. I was disappointed in this beer for about 6 months. Now it's pretty good. The Mad Fermenationist has a bunch of good tips on making a Berliner.
          Thanks for sharing your experiences! :)
          I definetely double your thoughts on Brooklyn Brewery.
          Berliner Weisse is quite different, there are many people that like it and the same amount hating it. Never the less it ain't easy to make it :)
          Congrats on yours!:)
          Cooking on a Kingstone grill, nothing fancy but
          always fun.
          Me loves some nice southern style barbecue... ah and some nice asian food ;)

          Comment

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