Scorcher (2005)
Brooklyn Brewery

 

Some slippery lace that leaves a few spots on the glass. Not much of a head but there's always a layer of bubbles on top. The color is dirty gold and mildly hazy.

The smell is a bit muted but there are definite notes of earthiness and background grapefruit rind. Attractive but subtle.

This beer is drier than most Pale Ales; perhaps it has some rye in it. The earthy tones appears in the taste as well. The finish is dry and earthy too, but there's also some balancing hop. Aftertaste is quite short. The body is appropriate. Last note: there's a nut flavor in the aftertaste that I most closely equate with peanuts, quite strange.

On tap at Mad Mex Robinson. Appearance: Slightly hazed orange gold light white head leaves lacing sporadically around my pint. Aroma: Citrus hops very zesty with light biscuit malt profile. Taste: Mild flavor, very mild touch of the citrus zest flavor with a sweet bready malt finish not what I was expecting from the title. Maybe it's like refreshing lightly hopped ale for the summertime type of Scorcher? Mouthfeel: Light body mild carbonation very tame on the palate. Drinkability: Easy drinking pretty underwhelmed from this Brooklyn offering.

This was served with little to no head, which was somewhat disappointing. The nose was piney, like it had been super-hopped. The color was a slightly cloudy pale-yellow. The mouthfeel was medium with a light hops spiciness on the tongue. Overall, the taste was more like a lemon-citrus than I expected from the nose. The finish was slightly dry with the citrus continuing to linger. An interesting drink, but not the first thing that I would reach for again.

On tap at Delaney's, New Haven. Pours a bright, almost sunflower yellow. The aromas are really citrusy, lemony and slightly sweet. The beer goes down very smooth, great carbonation, balance and mouthfeel. The beer slides by and has a decent body. The flavors are really crisp - citrus, green apple, almost tart. Very refreshing and clean - like a lager with west coast hops. what a great summer beer this would have been. Would make a great session beer, great for cook outs and would really be great to advocate the masses

Bought a sixtel for my kids' birthday party.
Pours a clear, light golden-amber with a nice, white fluffy head. Starts with a hoppy pine smell, but upon first tasting it the sweet malts come into play. Finishes dry, but only with a slight hoppiness as the sweetness tries to come back through. Crisp mouthful. Slight lemon in the aftertaste. Not too bitter. Light-boldied. It made a pretty good quencher as it was over 95 degress out that day. Not one of Brooklyn's better beers, but I think it served its purpose on such a hot day.

Barely hazy, golden sunshine colored beer. Creamy, brilliant white head faded slowly to a thick coating. Herbal hops and fleshy fruits in the aroma. The body is just thick enough to carry the flavors of plums, lemons, and spring flowers. Finish is just barely bitter, balancing out the lightly fruity flavors. A perfect beer for hot summer days.

Had to break out the spf 45 for this one on 7/2/2005. 16-oz. pint in a shaker glass at Redbones.

1/8-inch sea foam of creamy head with generous amount of stick. Hazy, yellow/golden hue with tons happening inside. Real hop presence on nose, almost green in its resinous, with only a whisper of smoke crunchiness. Like its nose, the initial hit on the mouth is hoppy, but that is tempered quickly by a slight jolt of crisp charring, though not overdone in any way.

At the end though, with its crusty character, I’d only have one and be done.

On-tap @ Fire Waters in Hackensack, NJ.

Pours a pale yellow color with minimal head. Reminded me of a pilsner but I guess it's a pale ale, and a weak one at that. The malts are almost non-existant and the hops are all you can smell and taste. Slightly citrusy with no balance whatsoever. Mouthfeel was a little dry from the hop bitterness. If this beer was a pilsner I could see where they were trying to go with it, but if it's a pale ale, then I'm confused. My least favorite offering so far from Brooklyn. If this is the first Brooklyn beer you try and you don't like it, don't be discouraged. There's much better Brooklyn options out there.

had this on tap at mug's in brooklyn, and last night at eli's in middletown. seems to be popping up everywhere.. soon to be in bottles im sure.

straw gold with orange lightdrawn highlights. not much head, mild watery thin lacing. real mild floral hops, a sweet scent. my nose gets stuck to the sugary interior of the glass while smelling. wheaty taste and some fruit from the hops.. slight bitterness but nothing but balance.. not lingering or too hoppy. finishes somewhat lagery and metallic. drinkable and perfect for hot 'scorcher' summer days. drink gumballhead, drink hop sun if there is no gumballhead, drink this if there is no hop sun.

i prefer the bigger beers from brooklyn but this one is not bad.

What can I say about this beer....

It's yellow. Looks like a Miller Light, but I have to admit, it's a hell of a lot better. Not that that says very much.

Pours into the glass with a white head that quickly dissapates. It's golden in color but other than that, nothign much to note about the look of it.

Fruity esters in the smell, but hops come through stronger.

The first thought on taste was the sweetness of the fruit taste in the beer, then the hops in the back. I didn't think it was "Bad" per say, but it wasn't anything all that great.

The carbonation was there, but in tiny sharp bubbles. Again, nothing that great, felt like drinking soda pop.

Good beer, but if there's other things on tap I would take those.

On tap at Eli's.

A mellow white head a top a clean, slightly thin golden appearance with an orange hue. Some faint spotted lacing with decent strength. The aromatics remind me of a lager: metallic, wheat, grain; and just a touch of floral hops and pine that remind this is a Pale. Musty perfume-drenched grainy nose. At first sip, the notes of pine and some peppered spice are evident. This is followed by a bland wheat and grain flavor, that also suffers from the perfume-infused floral hop taste. Ends slightly bitter with a touch of lemon and pine. Light bodied; fizzy and almost weak on the palate. Although this is a light offering from Brooklyn, it seems to fall far from the style itself. I would've guessed this one to be a lager of some sort, or even a Pale Wheat. Its characteristics are off and the flavor itself is nearly unpleasant.

Very pale in color it looked almost watered down. A thin film-like head sat on top of the beer. No lace formed on the side of the glass. The mouthfeel was almost, but not quite, crisp. The hops were not bitter and just slightly sweet (like honey). The hops are best described as just being there. The carbonation was kind of strange, the beer has a fizz-like quality when it reached my mouth--very much like soda.

This is my second review of Brooklyn Scorcher. The original review was of a tap serving, which I found to be an excellent. This review is of the cask version, which was very disappointing.

The cask version of this beer tasted extremely watered down. The mouthfeel is very thin and watery. The taste is utterly free of anything on the palate until immediately following the swallow. At this point the entire beer flashes on your tongue for a brief second, just long enough to remember what the tap version tasted like.

An unfortunate take on one of the better beers I have tasted.

This is the only beer I've reviewed in two formats, mainly because the tap was enough of a difference over the cask to merit this review. This beer was better on tap, the carbonation helped heighten the hop flavor and take away some of the "blandness" of the cask, and the effervescence gave it a more exciting mouthfeel (I like the smoothness and flatness of casks, but this one needs the extra punch of being on tap.)