It is entirely possible that the brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery has been stalking me. The brewery was founded in 1987, coincidentally just 2 years after I was born. Despite my lack of any real connection to New York, I’m convinced that they found the toddler version of me and began a long, drawn out study of my habits, ultimately planning to brew the perfect lager to suite my temperance and palette.
After 24 years of surreptitious study and millions of dollars of flavor testing, agents from Brooklyn placed a sampler right in my line of sight while I was stocking up for the bachelor party, knowing full well I would put it into my cart and ultimately into my stomach.
I was fated to drink this beer.
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: I’m not a lager man. No active dislike, just no active like either.
This beer could change my mind. It has the airiness of a beer that has a perfect amount finishing sugar (and in turn carbonation), and was clearly bottled at the perfect moment when the planets align and Mercury is in retrograde to seal in supreme crispness. When chilled to slightly below ambient temperature it is almost spicy, packing far more flavor than any lagers I’ve had in the past few years.
It has abundant head which smells bready and sour. It didn’t fully dissipate until I was almost finished with the glass. The flavor is surprisingly pungent and in-your-face. I expected lager, I got a genetically designed, masterful Oliver-bräu.
A word of warning, this is about as anti-lager as something with a lager on the label can get. Not in a bad way, just in a surprising way. It looks like a normal brown lager, but the powerful aromas hint at potency hidden under the copious bubbles. This is a beer-man’s lager, a delicious brown homogeneous mixture of taste and satisfaction.
So, to recommend or to not recommend?
I recommend. This is smooth and tasty, but doesn’t leave any after-taste like overly hopped ales. It is very mild and lacks any major semblance of bitterness. It is packed with delicious malty notes. It is refreshing but intense. Kind of like me.
It was designed for me, after all. Thank you Brooklyn brewery, I look forward to the next concoction you have in store for me.
8.5 out of 10.
Backgammon is a difficult game. Especially when you've never played before and you try to learn the rules while drunk.
Next up: Harpoon White UFO!
Thanks for the review because I have been eyeing this brew but would pass it up based solely on the lager label. Same as you, I don’t dislike lagers, I just see them as someone I crossed paths with on my life’s journey & now they are merely an acquaintance on Facebook. I will definitely give this one a go.
I find that so many lagers taste exactly the same. Similar problem with pilsners. I really like it when a brewery does something different with the style, and this one is done quite well.
Enjoy!