Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn Local 1

I picked up a 750ml bottle of Brooklyn Brewery’s Brooklyn Local 1 at my local wino-mart for $10 to accompany Connoisseur Javier’s steak & Guinness pies. The bottle design caught my eye among the microbrews available because of the clean graphic design and art deco styling of both the bottle and the label. Additionally I have had very good luck with Brooklyn Brewery’s offerings in the past.

I brought the bottle home and uncorked it, the smell was very much that of hops, slightly medicinal and bitter, but mouthwatering at the same time. It poured a pale, cloudy straw color with a tight, bubbly head. The taste is sweet and bitter on the attack, with a raw sugar taste playfully dancing with the herbal bitterness of the hops. The full mouthfeel lingers as the sweetness relents to a more sour bitterness with notes of aged sharp cheddar and citrus pith. This beer straddles the line of American Strong Ale and Belgian Ale, but because of its origin I’d dub it the former, additionally the alcohol content is 9% so it doesn’t hit nearly as hard as its Belgian traits would suggest. I find it hard to imagine a food that this beer wouldn’t go well with, but it would be best enjoyed with a zesty arugula salad and a lemon-pepper whitefish fillet.

I thoroughly enjoyed this ale, adding another notch to the ever-growing “win” column for Brooklyn Brewery.