Friday Cheer! Brooklyn and Belgium Beer Tasting

We went to another Burgers and Beers tasting event last night, and the theme was Brooklyn Brewery and Belgian Beers.  An interesting mix, right?  I'm not sure how they decided to combine these two styles, but the result was delicious.

The brews we sampled.
Brews 1,3, and 6 are from Brooklyn Brewery.
Brews 2, 4, and 5 are Belgian (not from Brooklyn Brewery).

Tasting Notes:
1) Brooklyn Lager - light, crisp, from a can!
2) Flo - extremely floral and moderately sweet, it reminded me of Jeni's Ylang-Ylang and Honeycomb ice cream from last summer. Not my favorite, because I don't like sweet beers.
3) Brooklyn Brown - well-balanced, though very mildly flavored. Not strongly malty or hoppy. I think I'd choose other brown ales before this, but I'd drink it without complaint.
4) Leffe Bruin - another brown ale, but with the characteristic Belgian spiciness (clove, banana) from the yeast strain. I like Belgian style beers, so this was tasty.
5) Tripel - direct from Bruges, Belgium, where it is made with 500 year old equipment (though I'm betting they have some new equipment too). A cloudy gold color with both spiciness and a definite floral note, as well as the higher alcohol content you'd expect of a tripel. Tasty.
6) Sorachi Ace - made with rare Sorachi Ace hops, this beer was surprisingly light after the heaviness of browns and a tripel. A distinct citrus note played on a wheat and hops background. Nicely balanced. Very tasty, probably one of my Brooklyn Brewery favorites.

We also tasted the elusive Black Ops, a Russian Imperial Stout from Brooklyn Brewery produced in very limited quantities every year.  It was extremely dark and thick, but without a heavy feel.  My roommate claimed it smelled exactly like the chocolate and bourbon cake she makes...and it did. Since the stout is aged temporarily in bourbon barrels, it definitely had the chocolate + bourbon combination going on.

Our burger of the night was The Seven Napkins, consisting of a burger, barbecue sauce, creamy coleslaw, onion rings, and the perfect bun.  I know the combination of barbecue + coleslaw is revered in parts of the South, but honestly, I wasn't sure I'd like it. After all, I've never liked coleslaw, whether it's creamy or a vinegarette dressing.  But this was insanely delicious. All the ingredients worked together perfectly.

Because the Brooklyn Brewery rep was there, we also made off with some swag.  A coaster (to match the one we already have) and a miniature button for everyone, plus two t-shirts we won in the raffle.  If the metal sign of the Brooklyn Brewery logo had still been available when I went to claim my prize, I would've grabbed that for Eric's new bar...but a t-shirt for my New York roomie is an awfully good second.

Happy Friday!

I hope there are some frosty drinks in your weekend forecast to help you survive this crazy heat wave! It's 100+ degrees here in Ohio! Yikes!