Brooklyn Blast!
Brooklyn Blast! has been making an appearance in this New York’s brewery since 2005 as part of their Brewmaster’s Reserve series. With the opening of the company’s new bottling line down the road in Williamsburg, it will now be available year-round in bottles.
Weighing in at 8.4% ABV and 53 IBU, Blast! is a big IPA. It’s not a complete palette wrecker, but a healthy combination of eleven different hop varieties (Willamette, Magnum, Cascade, Fuggle, Aurora, Zythos, Bravo, Simcoe, Sorachi Ace, Amarillo, Experiment 6300) make for an array of flavors strong enough and bold enough to make any fan of hops drool upon cracking open the top.
Brooklyn Blast! is a complex and layered IPA with a ton of piney and fruity traits, but it’s also a beer that is actually nicely balanced with a blend of British Maris Otter and German Pilsner malts. The result is a beer that brings an earthy, spicy and assertive hop character to the company holiday party without making a complete fool of themselves by causing drama and/or flirting with the boss’ significant other.
Appearance
The brew pours a rich amber in color with a smallish crown of beige foam that fell gently, leaving behind trace amounts of lace on the glass.
Aroma
Bready malt, grain, lemony citrus, earthy pine and herbal notes. It’s not the strongest smelling Imperial IPA that I’ve ever encountered, but it does smell darn good.
Taste
This is certainly a big IPA. Grapefruit, lemon, hints of orange and an earthy, grassy quality arrive first as pine and peppery notes quickly follow. Maybe it’s just me, but I can definitely pinpoint the Sorachi Ace in the mix — and that’s a good thing. The bitterness level isn’t overwhelming by any means, but still packs a solid enough punch before slowly fading in the gently warming finish. The malt profile is also present with hints of grain and a soft sweetness. Blast! has a fairly crisp mouthfeel which helps accentuate the hop bite and bring a measure of refreshment from such a large beer.
Overall
There is a tasty spectrum of hop flavors within this beer. From the earthy pine resin of the subtle nose to the tropical fruitiness of the flavor, Brooklyn Blast! is a darn good brew. For those of you looking for a complete hop bomb, this may not be fore you. It’s a pretty well balanced beer that brings in a good bit more malt character than your prototypical West Coast IPA. It’s arrival in bottle form is long overdue, but now that Blast! will be available year-round, I can see it showing up from time to time in my beer fridge.
Rating: 4/5
This is a review of a promotional sample from the brewery.
