Why we picked it: In a reutrn to your regularly scheudled winter theme, Brooklyn is a well-respected brewery and none of us seemed to have had this one before. It seemed obvious.
What Brooklyn has to say: Brooklyn Winter Lager is our answer to the heavy ales and stouts that emerge in wintertime. Though dark in color with a sturdy presence, our Schwarzbier-inspired lager layers notes of chocolate, roasted barley, and dark bread into a 5.6% ABV frame that finishes surprisingly light and pleasantly dry. Winter means different things depending where you live, but Brooklyn Winter Lager is ready for any chill.
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: N/A
Fun Fact: Brooklyn has a program with the Culinary Institute of America to "bring beer back to its rightful place at the table." There is now a Brooklyn Brewery at the CIA , and the Brooklyn brewmaster is a James Beard Award winner.
So I warmed up to this by starting with a few margaritas at noon. Then worked through the Bluejacket sampler. Add in a Guinness and a long metro ride and here we are. Poured half of this in a glass for Ro and it sure is dark. But definitely a lager. I am not a lager fan. I guess the darker, wintry flavors make it better than the average lager, but I still would rather pass. 2.5 out of 5 Gil Hodges. Or 2.5 out of 5 locavore, overly tatted, bearded hipsters.
ReplyDeleteI also had some margaritas and some delicious Bluejacket beers over the course of the afternoon...then sobered up over Girl Scouts and PTA. I would much prefer a big glass of ice cold ice water right now than this Winter Lager...in better circumstances it might score higher but I'm not crazy about lagers in general and will also go with right around a 2.5.
ReplyDeleteThis tastes kind of like a German Schwarzbier but a little smoother. I like it a lot. Its tasty and refreshing, with a good amount of malty goodness. I'd drink this on a hot Christmas morning any year.
ReplyDeleteI like lagers, I love Brooklyn Brewery, but for some reason this one is falling flat with me. I think maybe it's a little too dark for what I expect from a lager- sort of too malty (and maybe too coffee-ish?) I was pretty much over the moon re: last night's IPA, so maybe there is some sort of compare/contrast effect operating.
ReplyDeleteWARNING! Random Tangent: Does anyone else find the label on this bottle a bit weird? Like, it looks like it's supposed to be a jeans pocket, but then there's the fur trim, so maybe it is supposed to be a winter coat with the fur-lined hood. (Like "Quinn the Eskimo" from Dylan's basement tapes?) Looks like Brooklyn label is supposed to be some sort of sew-on/iron-on patch. I guess it's supposed to be a coat, but I dunno - if I was going to make a winter coat label, I feel like it would be more recognizable as a coat.
Weird coat label aside, I give it 2 ships and boats.
Also, and just because: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2tbpGkrY4g
Yeah, the fur trim was extremely odd. I thought maybe it was a Brooklyn hipster beard thing.
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DeleteThis one grew on me with each sip. I am not a fan of lagers nor of chocolate. However, I picked up the roasted barley bread concept, and that really worked for me. Still, I'm a hard grader: 2.5 Jay-Zs.
ReplyDeleteThis is my 6th beer of the day. The first 5 were corona. This is the best beer ever.
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