Brooklyn Brewery Summer Ale

Brooklyn Brewery Summer Ale
Style: Summer Ale
Alcohol Content: 5%
From: Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York USA
Purchased From: Ray's Wine, Ashford, United Kingdom

http://brooklynbrewery.com/

Recently, the weather has been unseasonably warm and my mind can't help but wonder back to those sunny warm days of August past spent relaxing at Hampton Lido, and coming home to a refreshing Pale Ale. With this in mind, and after a beautiful stroll around hampton court palace grounds, a portion of beer battered fish and chips, and a little touch of sunburn, I am really up for this Brooklyn summer ale this evening!

Brooklyn Brewery was started in 1987 by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter. Hindy learned to brew beer during a six-year stay in various Middle Eastern nations such as Saudi Arabia and Syria. Upon his return to his home in Brooklyn in 1984, he and Potter, his downstairs neighbour from Park Slope, quit their jobs and founded the brewery. The pair hired graphic designer Milton Glaser, best known as the creator of the logo for the I Love New York campaign, to create the company logo and identity.

Originally all their beer was brewed by contract by Matt Brewing Company, and the pair started their own distribution company and personally transported and marketed their beer to bars and retailers around New York City. In 1996, they acquired a former matzo factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and converted it into a functional brewery.

Although the brewery looked to expand its brewing capacity in the City, originally most of the production, including all Brooklyn Lager and all bottled products, were brewed by contract in the upstate New York city of Utica, due to the limited ability to meet demand at the Williamsburg brewery, its lack of a bottling line, and the cost benefits of contract brewing. The company later sought to expand its facilities in Brooklyn, but had difficulty finding a suitable site within the borough. However, an economic recession allowed them to remain in Williamsburg and undertake a $6.5 million expansion of the brewery in 2009.

Colour: Pours a bright sun yellow and with a head that fades quickly. Once settled this beer is crystal clear and reminds me of marbles I played with as a kid. Beautiful!

Aroma: Smells like summer, or is it that it smells like the memories of summer? I don't know but I like it! Citrus and watermelon notes steam out of the glass. This is promptly followed by undertones of wet freshly cut grass. Definitely has an outdoorsy vibe to it minus the sunscreen.

Body: Similar to a common lager (though I won't hold it against it) and is rather watery and thin. Doesn't really linger on the tongue but it washes back very quickly. Definitely easy to drink!

Taste: As somebody who is still learning about beer, the first taste reminds me of a Corona.Very refreshing! However, it does have a lot more depth and I can definitely taste a doughy, bread like quality - rather stodgy.  To counter this, the beer has a very clean refreshing edge to it, not too dissimilar to watermelon. It would cut through a smoky BBQ Burger very well! As this beers warms, the flavours get rather more roasted and bread like but the light carbonation and hints of lime promptly clear this away with ease. This is not the kind of beer that I usually go for, but I am really enjoying it. The clean freshness really appeals to me and I would really recommend it as an 'easy' beer.

Summertime in a Glass

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/gambrinus-excellent-11.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/weird-beard-and-electric-nurse-bearded.html

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Ommegang Hennepin

Ommegang Hennepin

Style: Saison

Alcohol Content: 7.7%

From: Cooperstown, New York, USA

Purchased From: Real Ale Shop, Richmond Upon Thames, London, England
http://www.ommegang.com/

Brewery Ommegang is a Belgian brewery located near Cooperstown, New York that specializes in Belgian-style ales. Ommegang began brewing Belgian-style ales in 1997. Founded by Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield, owners of Vanberg & DeWulf beer import company, and three family owned Belgian breweries including Duvel Moortgat. Ommegang started up in a purpose-built building based on a traditional Belgian farmhouse, set on a former 136-acre (0.55 km2) hopfarm in the Susqehanna River Valley, four miles (6 km) south of Cooperstown, New York in the Town of Milford.

Since its opening, Ommegang has grown rapidly — in early 2005, its owner said they have been unable to meet demand for their ales and as a result would add 40 percent to their production capacity over the next year.

By 2003, the Belgian breweries had all been absorbed into large corporations. Feinberg and Littlefield sold their share of Ommegang in 2003 to Belgian brewer Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat, brewers of the world-renowned Duvel Golden Ale. Duvel Moortgat brewed limited amounts of beer for Brewery Ommegang in 2006 to help meet demand, but has not brewed any since then. Ommegang have also started to brew a series of special editions based on the successful HBO series, Game of Thrones. The latest in in this series is the Take the Black Stout. However this review focuses on Hennepin Farmhouse Saison

Colour: Pours a straw yellow with a luxuriously thick white head. This head clings to the glass like its life depends on it and stays with you throughout the drink. Another point of note is that the drink is opaque. Looks like a treat to drink.

Aroma: The label calls this this drink a farmhouse Saison and you can certainly smell why. Big, bold aromas of hay and the farm yard will rise from the glass. There are notes of cracked black pepper mixed and a warm spiciness which will fire you up.

Body: This drink is actually thicker than it looks. The body is very reminiscent of a Belgium wheat beer, nice and creamy. This sensation will cover your throat making you think your drinking a pint of milk. In the glass there is a low level of carbonation which helps to add to the smoothness of this drink.

Taste: The interesting element to this drink comes from the taste. All the flavours a very well balanced which helps to create a very pleasurable and smooth drinking experience. Notes of spicy ginger, peppery coriander and zingy orange peel present themselves straight away. At 7.7 ABV, this drink hides the alcohol very well by introducing a sherbet lemon finish. I will certainly be getting another bottle of this when I pop into the real ale shop this week.

Must learn how to use a flash!

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/tripel-karmeliet.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/moor-beer-company-old-freddy-walker.html

For the latest news on reviews follow me on twitter @beefsbrewery or like me on Facebook at Beefsbrewery

Brooklyn Brewery Lager

Brooklyn Brewery Lager
Style: Vienna Style Lager
Alcohol Content: 5.2%
From: Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York USA
Purchased From: Tesco's

Brooklyn Brewery was started in 1987 by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter.

Hindy learned to brew beer during a six-year stay in various Middle Eastern nations such as Saudi Arabia and Syria. Upon his return to his home in Brooklyn in 1984, he and Potter, his downstairs neighbour from Park Slope, quit their jobs and founded the brewery. The pair hired graphic designer Milton Glaser, best known as the creator of the logo for the I Love New York campaign, to create the company logo and identity.
Originally all their beer was brewed by contract by Matt Brewing Company, and the pair started their own distribution company and personally transported and marketed their beer to bars and retailers around New York City. In 1996, they acquired a former matzo factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and converted it into a functional brewery.

Although the brewery looked to expand its brewing capacity in the City, originally most of the production, including all Brooklyn Lager and all bottled products, were brewed by contract in the upstate New York city of Utica, due to the limited ability to meet demand at the Williamsburg brewery, its lack of a bottling line, and the cost benefits of contract brewing. The company later sought to expand its facilities in Brooklyn, but had difficulty finding a suitable site within the borough. However, an economic recession allowed them to remain in Williamsburg and undertake a $6.5 million expansion of the brewery in 2009.

Colour: Unlike most mass produced lagers, Brooklyn brewery's lager pours a rich copper brown with a light white head. This head will slowly dissipate to leave a small amount of foam in the glass.

Aroma: I must admit, I always enjoy trying to figure out which aromas are contained in the bottle or glass before I drink a beer. So to my great pleasure, Brooklyn lager was a nasal sensation. By placing the lager close to the nose, I could ascertain sweet syrup and biscuit notes. On the second whiff, you can pick up floral, alpine notes that are cut though with notes of sour lime. To be honest, this combinations of smells pleasantly surprised me.

Body: This lager has very low levels of carbonation much like a German Pilsner. This makes this beer, very light and refreshing to drink. Once the beer hits the back of you throat, you will notice a slight sticky sensation. This highlights the quality of this brew. To be honest, it slipped down a treat while I was catching up with my cousin in Manchester. Before I knew it, I had finished three of these little beauties.

Taste: When you have your first sip, you are bombarded with pine notes cut though with a zingy fresh lime. You can also pick out notes of biscuit (possibly very similar to a digestive). On the second sip I could pick out notes of freshly cut wet grass mixed with sweet caramel malts. This makes this beer very refreshing and easy to drink. Some reviewers have suggested that the lager is a little sweet for their tastes. However, as this beer is classed a Vienna style lager, the beer is actual meant to be slightly sweeter. I personally quite like the sweetness. This beer would make an excellent substitution for a Corona when eating Mexican food, as the lime notes would help cut though the smoky fajita chicken.

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