Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery
Country: USA
Size: 33cl
ABV: 10%
Price: 27kr
Systembolaget: 11452
Brooklyn Brewery is a company that I have tried many, many times. They have a presence in a large number of pubs here in my city and so it’s almost impossible to avoid them. The trouble is that they are just so ordinary. When they make a lager, it’s a decent lager. If they make an IPA, it’s usually adequate but nothing more. Apart from the Local 1 Belgian ale we tried at the last tasting, their products don’t exactly set my world on fire. When I saw there was another release of their chocolate stout, I thought I would get it into the easter tasting. If nothing else it would fit with all the chocolate we would be testing that night. Although I had hopes for this beer, it unfortunately fell short like most of its companions.
One bad thing to start of with is the label. I just don’t understand how a massive company like Brooklyn that could put out such a hideous mess of label as that. So asthetically wise the product did not get off to the best of starts. The beer itself was deep black with a burnt umber coloured head that was rather big and creamy. It laced the glass well when swirled, showing the nice silky body. One whiff filled the nostril with big milk chocolate aromas, accompanied by thick cream and strangely a blackcurrant tang. The smell was nice and even smell though. The roasted malts of course were at the forefront with dark chocolate and fresh coffee grounds. Those minor blackcurrant and red currant tones pushed through into the tasting and that wasn’t what I expected quite honestly. The high alcohol content was nicely hidden and worked nicely the help with the tones of the stout. If it had been at say 5% it would have lost a lot of that personality. The stout also felt way too carbonated and practically fizzed on the tongue. The body was rich and coated the tongue well but the amount of bubbles did detract from the overall mouthfeel. The bitterness lasted a fair while but nothing really special of note.
This was a strange one. On the one hand there was some really nice elements to this beer mixed with some strange characters. The berry sourness that was found was quite unexpected and it’s not what I look for when I drink a stout. I tried this with pieces of dark chocolate and it really helped the flavours come together but at the same time this is not a stout I want to drink on it own. There are jut so many better ones out there for this to warrant your attention. Another example of an average beer from Brooklyn.