Brooklyn Brewery's Winter Ale

Here's a winter warmer that didn't make my Winter Warmer Blitzkreig last month because it wasn't in Houston at the time. But, here it is. Hope it's better than their Monster Ale barleywine...

Pours nice and coppery. Light tan head disappears as quickly as it appears, despite decent carbonation.

Smells nice. Like a bock, almost, with the malt but a zippy slightly spicy smell that a warmer should have.

Nice. Bigger in the feel than I expected. A little more bitter than many warmers, but not overpowering and not very specific in the type of bitterness. It just grabs you a little without being piney, floral, or grassy. A little less malty than I thought it would be based on the smell. It's pretty zippy, but not peppery like many warmers.

This style is bland sometimes, but it's generally a good beer all-around. This is no exception. Good beer, nothing to write home about though.

Brooklyn Brewery's Monster Ale

Looking forward to a bigger beer from Brooklyn. They do lagers and lighter styles well, so this should be interesting.

Pours nice and heavy, with a great deep amber color and decent tan head that stays well.

Smells sweet. It will taste hoppy too, but in the smell it's primarily the huge sweet malt.

Nice. Big feel that goes down smoothly, with a good solid bitterness that's not really grassy or piney, it just is. It has a bit of a lager taste to it (whatever that means), mostly because the carbonation gives it an added zip after a second. Not nearly as sweet as I thought it would be from the smell. Moderate alcohol bite, which is nice for a beer with 10.1% ABV.

Not the best barleywine. But, not too bad, either. I'll stick to others if I want a beer this big.

Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout

Another stout? Sold. Always glad to see more pop up here and there, and of all the styles out there this one is one that I will buy no matter who makes it. It just so happens that Brooklyn puts out some pretty good beer, so this is a low risk one for me.

Pours a completely opaque black with brown highlights and a great, almost cascading, brown head that very slowly recedes.

Solid roasted, raw grain smell. Not bready, just grainy. No chocolate so far, which is good to me because if I want to drink a chocolate cake I'll go for a Young's Double Chocolate. And I don't want to drink a chocolate cake, so subtlety is key to me in a chocolate stout. I also prefer the ones that get the chocolate from the grain as opposed to actual chocolate. I don't know which type this is, but so far it's leaning toward the former.

Yep, strong roasted flavor and a surprising level of bitterness. Very little malt is apparent in anything but the feel. The chocolate definitely comes from the grain, or seems to, anyway, but there seems to be a milk stout feel, but not taste. It just has a bit of a silky feel to it that lactose can give. There's also a bit of an alcohol bite, which is surprising given how strong the other flavors are.

You know, I like this and would choose it if I was out and there was a fairly limited selection of beers, but I much prefer a straight up stout or a non-chocolate variety. Well, I don't know about 'much,' but I do prefer them. The roasted flavor is just a tad twangy and too roasted for the type, to me. But, it is better than Young's, which I will forsake forever.

Very good beer. Any criticism above is just relative to my favorites, not other beer as a whole and shouldn't really be taken as a criticism, just a comparison with my favorites. Think of it like a hot soccer mom next door. You want her, but not as much as the hot coworker who wears the tight skirts and has big ol' fake boobs.

Brooklyn Brewery's East India Pale Ale

Alright, not sure if I can tell East Indian pale ale from West Indian, but let's see how it goes/

Pours a decent, if a bit light, coppery amber with a decent small celled head and moderate carbonation. Good grassy and bready smell.

Taste is much better than I expected from the appearance. Strong bitter hops up front, still backed up with a heavier body than I thought it would have based on how clear it is. Much better than the appearance would imply.

Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout

I've been waiting for this one.

Russian Imperial Stout has been my favorite beer for a while, although it's starting to be overtaken by pilsners, for some reason. That's the beer equivalent of switching from pro-life religious Republican to pro-choice athiest Democrat. But it is what it is...

Anyway, this one pours an inky black, with red highlights but only at the extreme edges because of how thick this one is. Not as opaque as Ten FIDY or Bourbon County, but it doesn't have to be. Good sized head on an aggressive pour that's dark brown and fades to a sheet, but stays there.

Great smell. Deep, grainy smell with a hint of chocolate that comes from roasted malts and not the addition of cocoa, as many have to do. Slight sweetness, from the sheer amount of malt--mashed three times, which has to extract just about every last bit of starch--which in turn contributes to the 10% ABV. As the glass empties the lace on the side of the glass throws off a deep smell of dark bread.

Sharp grainy taste. Not sharp in a bad way, but clean for such a heavy beer. The high alcohol probably contributes to that, and although the alcohol is obvious in the taste it's not in a straight alcohol way. It's more of a deep, dark fermented fruit that gives way to the grainy taste, followed by the alcohol. Some hops bitterness, but primarily in the aftertaste. At the end is just a roasted coffee taste that lingers.

Very good beer. I wish there were less of a vinous/fermented fruit taste, but all in all it's one of the best impy stouts I've had.