No prizes for guessing Brooklyn Brewery is from Brooklyn. It is quite a young company but now has a large following. How will their non alcoholic beer compare to their alcoholic stable?
You can check out the current price on Amazon by clicking through on this link.
About Brooklyn
Brooklyn Brewery was formed in 1988 by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter.
Hindy actually learned to brew in the Muslim Middle East, namely Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, no mean feat indeed.
Originally all their beer was brewed by contract by Matt Brewing Company, and the pair started their own distribution company and personally transported and marketed their beer to bars and retailers around New York City.
In 1996, they acquired a former matzo factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and converted it into a functional brewery.
Nutrition
The nutrition data is alway telling in the non alcoholic world. Have they tried to replace the alcohol with sugar or have they tried to brew in lots of flavour?
Calories – 29kcal per 100ml
Carbohydrate – 6.3g
Sugar – 2.9g
Alcohol – 0.4% ABV
So plenty of sugar, i hope they can back this up with flavour as well.
Type of Beer
They state it is a “hoppy lager”. I’ll not bore you with the technicalities of yeast makes a lager etc but most lagers aren’t too hoppy or bitter.
The Look
It is pretty dark for a lager, almost into ale territory.
The Aroma
Plenty of bitter hops to smell with some citrus
The Taste
You’d not really pin this as a lager. It doesn’t look like one, smell like one or really taste like one. It’s just too hoppy, which I think is a good thing.
In my opinion it’s more a mix between an IPA and amber ale. There is good full flavour of hops with a hint of caramel. Citrus notes and possibly a hint of grapefruit.
You aren’t looking for the missing alcohol here. It doesn’t feel like there is something missing, feels like a complete beer. Now that might be because they’ve included more than their fair share of sugar but at least they’ve included flavour at the same time.
The Verdict
If you’ve never drank Brooklyn and were hoping for a lager you would be “bitterly” disappointed with the hop forward brew (terrible joke sorry).
It has more in common with the taste of Nanny State (my review here) than a lager like Heineken 0.0 (review here)
This is good, its not a lager style but its a nice pale ale style if a touch sweet but not as much as others. There is bags of flavour to balance it.
The Score
8/10. Nice beer if a bit high in carbs
Find out where this beer ranks compared to all the beers i have reviewed on my updated “Best Non Alcoholic Beers” page
Where to buy
You can buy these absolute beauties in a number of places.
Sober Sauce in the UK have them and if you use the discount code OPENINGTHEBOTTLE you get 5% off
You can of course click through to Amazon to see if they are cheaper
In Australia you can get 10% off with code OPENINGTHEBOTTLE at CraftZero
*Affiliate Disclosure – if you click on the links and buy from these providers, i might receive a small commission*
Brooklyn Notes
Brooklyn Special Effects Hoppy Amber tastes just like a regular beer, but therein lies the special effect: it’s not. We use a special fermentation method that develops the flavors, aromas & character of beer with none of the alcohol, and a generous dry hopping resulting in lively hop notes and a clean finish.
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SUMMARY
This is good, its not a lager style but its a nice pale ale style if a touch sweet but not as much as others. There is bags of flavour to balance it. |
4.0
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