The Defender - Brooklyn Brewery

merc7186

New York

3.03/5  rDev -22.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

On tap at Coles in Buffalo NY, poured into a pint glass.

A: Hazy Amber Hue, Passes Some Light, White Head Ring, Minimal Lacing

S: Mild Yeast, Mild Floral

T: Mildly Yeasty, Mild Cherry

M: Average Carbonation, Medium Bodied, Mildly Drying

Overall, a pretty weak offering from Brooklyn, can't grasp the hype.

Serving type: on-tap

12-28-2012 06:46:53 | More by merc7186

JGam115

New York

4.35/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A: Gorgeous, piercing amber color that it incredibly clear. Almost crystalline-like shine on that amber.

S: Subdued nose of clean grass which hits you first. Then on come the hops which are definitely apparent, but not in excess.

T: Very light and crisp. Thirst quenching, even. Very flavorful.

M: Not as aggressive as other Imperial Pales, but has a good amount of bitterness that works well with the malts.

O: I'm glad I had the opportunity to try this. Maybe they'll be a redux of this in the coming years under a different name.

Serving type: on-tap

05-14-2013 13:32:16 | More by JGam115

dar482

New York

4/5  rDev +2.3%

02-08-2013 02:30:36 | More by dar482

derekdenim

New York

4/5  rDev +2.3%

01-08-2013 01:21:45 | More by derekdenim

C-Dog

3.5/5  rDev -10.5%

11-27-2012 06:22:56 | More by C-Dog

tempest

Pennsylvania

3.95/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Ordered a pint at One Mile House in LES, Manhattan, and I'm glad I did. This is an interesting red. It seemed to pair a smooth and creamy caramel with a fruity, juicy hop character that comes off with a pleasant cherry kick. It's on the more drinkable side for a 7.2% ABV, which given how tasty it, is dangerous. Give this a try.

Serving type: on-tap

11-13-2012 02:20:36 | More by tempest

shockrocker65

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +15.1%

11-11-2012 17:58:45 | More by shockrocker65

DrinkSlurm

Connecticut

4.38/5  rDev +12%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from tap into imperial pint glass at Mugs in Brooklyn. It pours a nice amber/slight brown with a good amount of head. Look is good...but the smell is FANTASTIC! This was a debatable 5 for me...just fresh hop bombards the nose. It actually smells like there is a glass of wet hops under the nose - pretty fantastic. Taste is hop bomb but very very well balanced with the malts. Very resinous fresh piney hops, sweet caramel like malts...
fantastic brew - better than Nugget Nectar for me - but not as good as Zoe.

Serving type: on-tap

11-07-2012 13:32:15 | More by DrinkSlurm

metter98

New York

3.8/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

On-tap at New York Beer Company, New York, NY

A: The beer is hazy yellowish amber in color and has a slight amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high off white head that has very good retention properties and consistently left a thin head covering the surface.
S: There are light to moderate aromas of citrusy hops in the nose- grapefruit and orange seem to stand out in particular.
T: Like the smell, the taste has flavors of citrusy hops along with hints of caramel and toasted malts from the underlying malts. There is a light amount of bitterness.
M: It feels medium-bodied and a little chewy and smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is easy to drink and the taste has a nice balance between malts and hops.

Serving type: on-tap

11-04-2012 13:57:59 | More by metter98

csmartin6

Illinois

3.25/5  rDev -16.9%

11-01-2012 17:31:40 | More by csmartin6

brbrocc

New York

4.25/5  rDev +8.7%

10-28-2012 20:28:14 | More by brbrocc

RyanCMcGovern

New Jersey

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%

10-28-2012 11:48:23 | More by RyanCMcGovern

scootny

New York

3.95/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Growler from the Bronx Ale House. Bought it over a week ago finally getting around to cracking it open. Pours a hazed dusky burnt amber. Big head with lots of lace has an off white color and it fades slowly leaving a nice covering. Some carbonation visible along the sides of the glass. Smell is sweet with a light fruitiness that carries dinner rolls and pine as well. A healthy toasted malt comes through with a bit of toffee. Taste is smooth and bready with a bit of sun dried grape tomato, ( had some earlier ). It has a light floor malt signature as well. Hops are oily and firm but not over the top. This is a skilled, artful presentation of a hop forward beer. The grapefruit is firm but never covers the malt which is caramel sweet and accented by a distinctive fruitiness. Dry clean finish leaves light hop oil and a touch of whole grain rolls. Feel is almost cask like with a low carbonation that at first seemed too low, but it grows on you and gives it almost English pub feel. Crisp with a quenching character. It goes down very quickly and with a great deal of pleasure. You could session it but the abv is quite well hidden and trouble looms after the second glass. A good solid brew and it certainly defends the home Comic-Con crowd with big flavor and thirst abatement.

Serving type: growler

10-16-2012 01:10:35 | More by scootny

cowboy83

New York

4.5/5  rDev +15.1%

10-12-2012 18:34:00 | More by cowboy83

mdfb79

New York

3.78/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

From 10/06/12 notes. This is the beer they brewed for the 2012 NYC Comic-Con.

a - Pours a clear medium orange-amber color with moderate carbonation evident and one inch of off white head to it. Looks pretty good.

s - Smells of wheat, citrus hops, fruity malts, grapefruit, pine hops, bready malts, and toasy malts. Pretty nice and some definite hops to the nose; I liked it a lot.

t - Tastes of fruity malts, bready malts, toasted malts, citrus hops, and light grapefruit. Taste is maltier and fruitier than the nose, with less grapefruit and hops.

m - Medium body and low to moderate carbonation. No bitterness to it, and easy to drink.

o - Overall a pretty nice hoppy amber ale, though I would have liked more hops in the taste. Definitely didn't feel like 7.2% ABV, and would certainly have it again.

Serving type: on-tap

10-12-2012 18:16:37 | More by mdfb79

dbrauneis

New Jersey

3.53/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Served on tap at Beer Authority in New York, NY

A: Pours a clear light amber in color with some hints of orange and copper when held up to the light and some light amounts of visible carbonation. The beer has a finger tall dense creamy light beige head that reduces to a thick layer covering the entire surface of the beer with a thicker ring at the edges of the glass. Significant amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Light to moderate aromas of pine/resin hops with lighter notes of citrus/grapefruit/orange hops and some toasted malts.

T: Moderate to strong flavors of toasted malts underneath some pine/resin and citrus/grapefruit/orange hops that contribute light to moderate amounts of bitterness which lingers.

M: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Light amounts of dryness in the finish.

O: This is the NYC Comic-Con beer from Brooklyn Brewery. I would call this beer an Amber IPA but as it is a hybrid, I put it in the same category as Nugget Nectar as they as similar in style. Would have enjoyed some stronger hop aromas but a quite enjoyable beer nonetheless.

Serving type: on-tap

10-12-2012 02:14:45 | More by dbrauneis