Brooklyn Brown Ale - Brooklyn Brewery

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

2.93/5  rDev -19.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Nice looking brown colour, not much taste and from a bit of bitter and malts. Aggressively carbonated. Ok with food, medium mouthfeel with a spot of nuttiness.Skunky aroma, it may have travelled about but was always kept at good temperature, and before expiry date.

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2005 02:46:48 | More by northyorksammy

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

3.53/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Dark cherry-chestnut that becomes lucent dark cherry with tangerine trim when light enters the glass. It didn't appear as if much head was being generated during the pour, but the end result is a two finger disk of faded sandalwood. The foam is melting unevenly and looks especially creamy as it does so. Thin, broken sheets of lace end up on the glass.

I know that brown ales don't usually have the olfactory power and presence of stouts, or even porters, but this one could use some giddy-up-and-go. It smells like gently roasted malt and barely toasted nuts, with no hops that I can detect. My hope is that the nose is having an off day and that the flavor has brought its 'A' game.

Several mouthfuls later... it looks like the flavor has brought its 'B-' game. There isn't enough malt to satisfy me; something that should have been obvious from the luceny of the beer and the weak nose. BBA tastes like heavily toasted brown bread sprinkled with cocoa powder. Rich chocolate is nowhere to be found. It's still sort of walnut nutty, with a little fruity hoppiness for good measure.

The beer's lightness isn't the sole reason for my lack of enthusiasm. The flavor never really finds its stride and doesn't grab me the way the best versions do. Brooklyn Brown is neither sweet, nor bitter, nor sour. If forced to pick one, I'd say that it's mildly sweet.

The mouthfeel is light-medium; starting out near the latter and finishing near the former. Again, more malt please. As could have been predicted from the pour, carbonation is a bit lacking. All in all, the mouthfeel lacks substance and excitement, although I'll keep style in mind and won't be too critical.

Early on, I wasn't overly thrilled with Brooklyn Brewery beer. The two that I had prior to this one (Pilsner and Lager) were excellent, especially Lager, so my hopes were on the high side for Brown Ale. It's definitely better than average, but better browns shouldn't be that hard to find, no matter where you happen to live.

Serving type: bottle

01-14-2006 15:42:06 | More by BuckeyeNation

mikesgroove

South Carolina

3.68/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a nice dark brown with a one inch head. Qucik fade left a decent lace on the top. Smell was light, but very nice malted grain and caramel, sweet and well rounded. The taste felt much thicker then I thought it would. Taste was grainy with some nice english bitter hops rounding it ou. Very nice. It was smooth and slick, very easy going down with a decent bitter hoppy finish. Great carbonation made for a nice smooth mouth feel. Overall a nice classic brown ale and an excellent session choice.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2007 20:51:05 | More by mikesgroove

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

3/5  rDev -18%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance: Dark red-brown body with a tan head that disappeared almost instantly.

Smell: A nearly nonexistent aroma of chocolate and cherries.

Taste: Indistinct, weak tastes of chocolate and coffee with traces of bitterness leading into a dry finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Slightly watery.

Drinkability: Very average. Far too bland and ordinary for me to seek out again in the future.

Serving type: bottle

09-05-2006 04:05:05 | More by ChainGangGuy

brentk56

North Carolina

3.45/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance: Pours a clear russet brown with some garnet highlights; not much head or lacing but a collar that lasts throughout

Smell: Strong caramel malt nose with a bit of dark fruit and chocolate

Taste: Starts out sweet with chocolate flavors; dries out and gets a bit bitter in the middle, but the finish is sweet

Mouthfeel: Slightly thin, but with moderate carbonation

Drinkability: Certainly a decent Brown Ale, but I would like to see a bit more body

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2005 22:24:52 | More by brentk56

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

3.85/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle: Poured a deep cloudy brown color ale with a huge foamy head with good retention and light lacing. Aroma of huge caramel malt with some toffee notes. Taste is also a mix between some very rich caramel malt with some notes of toffee and no major discernable presence of hops. Body is full with some average carbonation. The best-by date was April 2008 but still very drinkable and more enjoyable then I had expected.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2008 20:05:25 | More by Phyl21ca

BEERchitect

Kentucky

3.63/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

With a crisper, cleaner malt character of toast, chocolate, and toffee- all of these flavors are manifested, but without the sweetness or heaviness that's normally expected from this flavor spread.

A dark, medium brown beer decants into the tumbler with a rich and creamy flood, a creamy light tan head forms in rich and stubborn patience. Good retention and lace shies away from anything outstanding but has better-than-average character.

The dense nose provides a glimpse into medium caramel, toaste, cocoa, walnut, butterscotch, grain, and creamy malt. A very characterful, bold, and inviting scent all around.

Flavors follow suit with a malty-rich upstart of caramel and toffee-like robust sweetness and with the balance of pine, citrus, and earthy wood hop flavor. Sweetness proves fleeting as the woody, nutty, and coffee-like oil taste becomes more prominant. But so does grain, husk, and a subtle cola-like taste late. Grainy-sweet late with a linger of grain and sharp hop bitterness.

Medium-rich early textures foregos the creamy start and quickly favors a hearty mid palate of half sweetness and half dryness that thereafter favors the dryness, toasty-roasty mouthfeel for a somewhat arid dryness of coffee and char.

A fantastic American Brown Ale that doesn't hold true to the halmarks of the nutty-rich and sweeter style; yet hits home with a formitable nutty flavor to back caramel sweetness and suble hop character. Good, just lacking identity.

Serving type: bottle

08-26-2006 20:39:19 | More by BEERchitect

oberon

North Carolina

3.83/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Nice color very little head,nice chocolaty aroma.Nice malty/cocolate flavors with earthy undertones just like a good brown should be.Finished nicelel didnt thin out towards the end like alot of brown ales do.Really enjoyed will have again,hopefully soon.

Serving type: bottle

02-03-2003 07:15:41 | More by oberon

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

3.95/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Clear. Deep russet brown with ruby highlights. The frothy, light tan head holds fairly well and drops to a decent collar which leaves some good lace. The aroma is surprisingly full, loaded with rich, bready maltiness and spicy, floral hops. The body is medium-light with a gentle carbonation that makes it lightly creamy in the mouth. The flavor displays a gently fruity, lightly toasty, and toffee-like malt that's well backed by bitterness and a light piney hop flavor. The finish is dry and lingering with hop bitterness, chocolatey maltiness, a soft roastiness and a light nuttiness reminiscent of wanut or almond. It's unfortunate, but I've had better versions of this. This is also a fresh bottle, but that's the way it goes with contract brewing. I highly recommend the draft version over the bottle.

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2002 13:06:48 | More by NeroFiddled

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

3.75/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: deep, rosy-reddish coppery hue, with a slim tannish layer of film atop.
Aroma: brown sugary sweet, notes of toffee and caramel, light, malty & pleasant.
Taste: hmmm....first of all, the neck label asserts that this asserts a higher hoppiness in contrast to the malt, but, oddly, that's not how I found this brew. Quite the opposite. To continue, tasty mouthfeel, richly rounding the palate and coating it good, brief, but tasty hops, lush, chocolatey malt. Medium body, feeling thinner as we drain the bottle, with a simple, but assured finish.
Definiely tastier than the milder versions out there, (I'm talking about you, Newcastle)but not by too much.
Thanks to 36LbLoveChild for this one.

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2003 08:09:22 | More by feloniousmonk

WesWes

New York

4.1/5  rDev +12%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The beer pours a dark brown color with a thick off-white head that fades to lacing. The aroma is great. It is rich in roasted and crystal malts. It has an intense chocolate smell as well. The taste is good. It is smooth and creamy with a great "brown" flavor created through the use of multiple crystal malts. It also has a decent hop taste that peeks through the malts. The mouthfeel is good. It is a medium bodied beer with good carbonation. This is an awesome brown ale with real malt character; a great sessions ale.

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2004 01:59:09 | More by WesWes

Mora2000

Texas

4/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The beer pours a brown color with an off-white head. The aroma has some caramel and toffee malt, as well as some pine from the hops. The flavor is more of the same. I get some nice roasted malt and caramel notes up front, with a decent amount of bitterness and some piney hop notes also coming through. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2012 05:55:53 | More by Mora2000

zeff80

Missouri

3.95/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Poured out a clear, brown color with a small, tan head of bubbly foam. It left little to no lacing on the glass.

S - It smelled nutty with roasty notes. There was a piney hop presence in the nose, too.

T - It tasted of nutty with sweet chocolate and roasted malt. Nice bitter, piney hop presence.

M - It was crisp, sharp and smooth. A medium bodied ale with a dry, clean finish.

O - This is a very nice brown ale. More hop bite than most of this style.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2012 20:53:24 | More by zeff80

metter98

New York

3.68/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: The beer is clear dark brownish amber in color and poured with a finger high head that quickly faded away into a thin layer of bubbles on the surface. A moderate amount of carbonation is visible.
S: There are aromas of roasted caramel malts and nuts in the nose.
T: Like the smell, the flavor is very malty with caramel flavors and notes of chocolate, coffee and nuts. It doesn't come across as being that sweet due to the hop balance.
M: The beer feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate and is very smooth.
D: The beer is very easy to drink, which makes it very sessionable.

Serving type: bottle

07-27-2010 22:19:21 | More by metter98

TheManiacalOne

Rhode Island

3.98/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12oz. bottle into a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a light brown color with a very thin off-white head that fades quickly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is of chocolate, coffee and roasted malt with a decent amount of hops in the background.

T: The taste starts out with a good roasted malt character, which seems significantly lighter than most beers in the style and definitely not as sweet, along with flavors of chocolate, coffee & nuts. A nice hops presence quickly follows and provides an excellent balance. The after-taste is bitter-sweet.

M: Crisp and smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, clean finish.

D: Very tasty, goes down easily, not very filling, good representation of style, this is a good beer to stick with for an evening and overall is pretty good beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2007 02:59:51 | More by TheManiacalOne

Gavage

New Jersey

4.1/5  rDev +12%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Clear deep bronze / brown in color with a nice 1" head. The aroma is of caramel and sweetness is detected. The flavor is nice as caramel, roasted malt, and light hops are up front, with some mild chocolate and nut tones in the background.

This brew is light/medium in body, and has a smooth and mildly crisp start with a smooth finish. The caramel tone lasts briefly on the tongue. Extremely drinkable - a great session brew.

Serving type: on-tap

10-01-2004 18:21:08 | More by Gavage

jwc215

New Jersey

4.08/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

According to the bottle, it was best served by the end of this month.
It poured a medium light mahogany with medium carbonation and an off-white fizzy head that was, unfortunately, very quick to disappear.
The aroma was a mix of chocolately, coffeeish malt and hops.
The taste was a medium balance of malt and hops. The chocolate and coffee taste were apparent. It would be improved, in my opinion, with a more nuttier complexity mixed in. Overall, it is a good example of this American style of the original British, less hoppier, more malty style.
The mouthfeel was good, almost a bit too sweet, but not sugary.
There was a very slight alcohol taste at the finish.
While not exceptional, it is certainly a good American brown ale.

Serving type: bottle

04-18-2006 03:06:41 | More by jwc215

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This beer pours a clear dark mahogany colour, with orange edges, and a finger of soapy white head. It smells of dark malts, and orange citrus and grassy hops. The taste is slick chalky chocolate orange candy, thin roasted malt, and earthy hops. The carbonation is moderate, the body is kind of thin, and it has a dry roasted finish.

A decent brown ale, but it could definitely stand to gain some weight.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2009 20:28:13 | More by biboergosum

tempest

Pennsylvania

3.83/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

On-tap at Faegan's in Syracuse. I've never really liked brown ales, including Rogue's Nut Brown Nectar, until this beer.

Rich brown body, poured with a short head in the pint glass and left a little lacing.

Not a lot of smell, but malty and sweet.

A rich malty taste that is strong but not overpowering. Some sweetness, but the main focus in on the malt.

Easy in your mouth and easy going down.

This is a great brown ale and I'd gladly have it again. Recommend for any malt lover. I could drink a lot of this one, it's damn tasty and satisfying.

Serving type: on-tap

11-09-2005 06:08:36 | More by tempest

akorsak

Pennsylvania

3.15/5  rDev -13.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This is a 12 oz bottle with a best by date of June 2006, close enough so I'll take it. It is served in a tumbler.

A: The ale has a copper brown color with a small head and no haze.

S: There is a slight malt aroma and no hop presence.

T: The ale could be a little old, as a subtle metallic flavor lingers in the mouth. There was nothing extraordinary here in terms of flavors, the hops were very restrained and the malts were a little nutty.

M: The flavors were there and struggling to get out but never did.

D: The beer is worth another look just to confirm or deny my thoughts.

Serving type: bottle

08-10-2006 13:17:22 | More by akorsak

WVbeergeek

Ohio

3.73/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Best by July 2002 about a year ago, so I will take this into account. Just I will not pour this beer out, must sample and see how it holds up. Appears a very deep amber ruby brown with a cream toffe head very nice looking full three finger sized head that as it dwindles leaves even pattern of trickled lace. Aroma consists of pine cone like hops and a slightly burnt malt character. The two aromas blend fairly well, to form an overall pleasant aroma. The taste is a bit worn by the age, but I can still detect a slightly vinous grap character blended with a mild chocolate/coffe tone and the hop bitterness works well together. Overall one very nice session beer that I will try again due to the age of this one.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2003 17:20:31 | More by WVbeergeek

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.83/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Modest head that leaves low level lace. The color is neutral brown--appears clear.

Warm caramel aroma with a touch of chocolate. Light hop in the background.

The taste reminds me of a pale ale with lots of crystal malts. Pleasant hop finish--still this is a malty beer with light chocolate malts. Relatively thin liquor.

Serving type: bottle

12-05-2009 03:33:29 | More by smcolw

Wasatch

Utah

3.85/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Thanks to drseamus for this one.

Best Buy Apr 08

Pours a nice clean/clear dark brown color, nice carbonation, nice one-finger creamy tan head, some nice sticky lacing follows. The nose is malty, some toffee/caramel. The taste is malty, nice touch of toffee/caramel. The finish has a slight bitterness to it. Medium body. Drinkable, a nice brown ale.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2008 02:23:03 | More by Wasatch

rhoadsrage

Illinois

4.13/5  rDev +12.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

(Served in an American pint glass)
A- This beer pours a dense brown body with a glowing garnet base and a sticky deep beige head that last and last with a some microbubbles gliding up the side of the glass.

S- The faint chocolate malt has some dark Munich malt notes and a dry toffee hint in the finish that grows a bit as it opens.

T- The nice soft well-blended chocolate malt with deep toasted malt and a hint of roasted malt lead to a nice tartness in the finish that stays pretty light.

M- The medium mouthfeel has a slight slippery texture and a gentle fizz note in the finish.

O- This is a tasty session beer with nice fresh flavors that are distinct but work really well together. Rich flavor but easier to drink that a stout. I would love to try this on cask as I thing it would really bring out the wonderful depth.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2013 19:32:45 | More by rhoadsrage

Billolick

New York

4.08/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

12 ounce bottle, best before dating of August 04. Pours almond skin brown, clear, off white head, leaving some lace. yeasty, bready nose. Soft caramel, nutty, coffee flavor notes. Nice subtle maltyness. Medium bodied. Moderate carbonation. Hops well in background, mellow , with a slight grainy texture. Very drinkable, pleasant quaffer.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2004 18:49:59 | More by Billolick