Brewery: Brooklyn Brewing
Country: USA
Size: 75cl
ABV: 9%
Price: 99kr
Systembolaget: 1630
I had great fun when I was trying to find the last beer for this beer tasting. I ordered a box of Chimay Tripel as I wanted to have it as a starting point for the whole night. One day before it was supposed to arrived I checked my order to make sure it was all on track. It was then I discovered that the box wouldn’t be arriving until 2 weeks after the tasting, and they had not even bothered to tell me it was going to be late. Cue frantic looking around for a suitable tripel replacement. Strangely though, there seems to be a massive lack of tripels available up here in Norrland, so I searched for something that was at least similar. Cue, the Brooklyn Local 1. I have tried this at Christmas a couple of years ago and I remembered it for being light and fresh yet still with a lot of substance so I grabbed a few bottles as soon as I found it.
It was light golden in colour, with a big soapy style head that formed and held well. The carbonation was high, mostly due I believe to the bottle fermentation. The distinct Belgian yeast aroma leapt from the glass along with banana, cloves, orange, lemon and apricot. It was a veritable fruit basket if you will. The taste was a mixture of wheat, tart lemon, orange peel, apple, yeast and banana. It was quite dry in the mouth and almost champagne like qualities in its body and bubble. At 9%, it packs a punch and it showed, leaving a definite warmth in the back of the mouth that was almost a bit too much. The aftertaste was a mild spice coupled with lemon and malts.
This was a really nice way to start of the tasting. It was light in fruity in taste yet had a good depth of flavour. I would prefer a slightly less obvious alcoholic hit to it, but it’s only a minor complaint. I would say that this is a beer that is design to be shared amongst friends, as a whole bottle to yourself would be quite a heavy experience. This is probably the best beer that Brooklyn is making right now in my opinion. If you’re looking for a starter drink instead of the usual bottle of prosecco, or just something fresh to eat with some white fish, then I would highly recommend this.