Ok, so the biggest and oldest of the local breweries in our borough, the Brooklyn Brewery, is neither obscure nor particularly hard to find, but I’ll admit I do go through phases where I’m not so impressed with their output. It’s a problem that probably wouldn’t happen if I didn’t live in NYC where I have regular opportunities to sample the full range of Brooklyn Brewery’s creations.
For anyone unfamiliar with the Brooklyn operation, they have essentially three categories of beer. There are the year-round beers, which show up in 12 ounce bottles and kegs, are widely distributed beyond NYC and cover standard styles, including an IPA, a Vienna lager, a pale ale, and a pilsner. In the past couple years a number of large-format year round bottles have appeared, with the Local 1 and Local 2 Belgian-style ales being the two regulars. The second category is the seasonal beers, including summer and winter ales, an Oktoberfest beer, the outstanding Black Chocolate Stout and my personal favorite Brooklyn beer, the Black Ops, which is a bourbon barrel aged imperial stout that is released near the end of each calendar year. Most of these tend to make it around to the same markets as the year-round beers. The third category is the Brewmaster’s Reserve series, which are special concoctions available only on draft and typically only in New York City, with the occasional kegs making their way up and down the East Coast. Some of the Brewmaster’s Reserve beers appear somewhat regularly, while others are one-offs.
It must be a big day in the life of a Brooklyn beer when it gets its own tap handle.
Last time I counted, there are over 30 different Brooklyn Brewery beers I’ve tried, with Brewmaster Reserve items making over half the total. Having the opportunity to try all of these beers is definitely a benefit to living in Brooklyn, even when the beer is disappointing. I’d been on a bit of a lackluster run of beers lately, but I was excited when I read the tap list for a Brooklyn Brewery event at The Gate, one of the oldest (if not the oldest) good beer bar in our neighborhood.
Top of the list for me was the Dark Matter, a brown ale aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels. I’d tried this at a cask festival last spring, along with its cousin, Darker Matter, which was aged in barrels that had just had Black Ops drained from them. Both were interesting, if slightly on the sweet side, and I was interested to see how the flavors had developed.
Detonation double IPA and Dark Matter. Two beers in the neighborhood of 10% ABV, served in pint glasses. Draw your own conclusions.
This time around, the Dark Matter was excellent. It gained a light tartness that complemented the maltiness of the brown ale and the sweetness of the bourbon very nicely.
I also had a glass of the Detonation, Brooklyn’s first proper double IPA. When I first tried this several months ago, I remember it being unusually sweet with not as much hop bitterness you would expect for a double IPA. I’m not sure if it was time or simply contrast with the Dark Matter, but the Detonation was excellent this time. Some toasted and caramel malt flavors followed by a bracing hop bitterness that was assertive without being overwhelming.
The Gate served both of these beers, which are 8.8% and 10.5% ABV, respectively, in 17 ounce pint glasses. Naturally I had no complaints at the time, as it meant more beer for me, but the next morning was a bit rough. Such are the hazards of the beer-loving life. The good news is that I am excited about Brooklyn Brewery again.