Abbey Singel
Brooklyn Brewery

Enjoyed this at Tyler's Taproom in Carrboro, NC. It was served in a Brooklyn chalice style glass.

I was seated just a few feet from the bar and watched this one as it was poured. Bright clear golden color with about 2 fingers of smooth pure white foam. Head retention was relatively short, just a few minutes, and then reduced to a thin sheen of bubbles. Very light lacing.

Aromas were subtle, with a bit of grassy hop goodness and some other light spicing. Other hints of pale malt were also present.

First taste washed lightly over the tongue with a surprising amount of fine carbonation. Solid flavor profile but relatively light, nothing to heavy or overdone; rather nicely balanced. An interesting mix of flavors ranging from spices like coriander to something a bit fruity with some subtle sweet tendencies. Finishes clean and mostly dry with just a bit of a lingering bitterness of hop. Nice.

I found this to be very enjoyable. It sort of reminds me of a lightweight triple or weak golden ale. Flavor is solid and very enjoyable without the heavy ABV. I had half of the brew alone and then the rest with dinner. Very good and recommended if you can find it.

Hazy amber with a reddish hue, topped by a fine beige cap of foam. Good head retention with some streaky lacing. Bready aroma with a bit of clove and plenty of banana. Mild bitterness with bready malt dominating. Fruity banana and grain filled out the mid and it had a ripe fruit finish. Nice texture, definitely a little dry with carbonation on the high side. I enjoyed this one. Good with food.

A-Golden yellow with a thin white head.

S-Earthy hops with the typical "Belgian" esters.

T-Bit of hoppy citrus and that good ole typical Belgian candi sweet yeasty taste. An odd sourness...is it supposed to be this way?

M-Very fizzy on the tongue, a bit overcarbonated. All in all a bit off...a bit to thin and that odd sourness in the finish

D-Overall not bad...a nice smell and taste but the mouthfeel is off bringing things down a notch.

Had this on draft at the Mellow Mushroom in Decatur- shockingly in a non-frozen glass (requested)! This is a nice, simple beer that is quite enjoyable. Pours a very pale golden with a thin head but active carbonation. Light aromas of Belgian yeast with notes of banana and clove. The taste is light and crisp with apple, lemon, banana, and clove flavors. These flavors are restrained and enjoyably refreshing. Mouthfeel is crisp and soft on the finish. Very nice, if it is true to the Singel style, the monks have it good.

Bright golden pour into the appropriate Brooklyn chalice, a high paper white head falls quickly, leaving little lace.

Aroma is fresh and inviting; pale malts, specey yeast, banana, clove, and fruit. A notion of grassy hops round it out.

The flavor is fruity and vibrant and not as sweet as the nose. It smacks of bubblegum and banana with clove and light coriander notes. The mildly hopped finish has grass and noble bitterness, but not much. This is very much a Belgian session beer IMO, I would love a keg of this on tap at home during the lawnmowing months.

Body is on the light side which is perfect for this complex quencher. I could honestly drink this all night.

A- Bright yellow with 2 finger head. No lacing after you drink it down with is non-typical with a Belgian-type beer.

S- Grassy, and hoppy with citrus all throughout.

T- Taste is good with honey, citrus, and maybe a tad of coconut in the finish.

M- Mouthfeel is alot of carbonation. Very fizzy on the tongue, but not bad.

D- Good beer. I could see myself tossing back a few of these if I had them on hand. Nice beer!

My lovely Cock and Bull pulling out another "one outer" as we say in the poker industry. Howie says that Brooklyn Brewery "special" sent this for them.

Awesome selection. I was told quote unquote, that this was a recipe from the typical monk "everyday" beer. This means in no way a "simple" beer. I am one NOT to session beer drink but I drank several servings of this beer. It had an incredible amount of carbonation but in no way affected the beer. This beer is THE answer to the everyday beer. Perfect balance of hops and malts. Nice sweetness giving the high level of drinkability. I'm at a loss of words.

This was another surprise at the Cock & Bull Pub in Sarasota, Fla. Brooklyn is pretty new to our state and I hadn't even heard of this beer before. So of course I had to try it.

It's light amber in color with a slight off-white head. It smells lightly of malt, caramel and even bubble gum, but nothing too powerful, but exactly what I would expect from a beer of this style.

The flavor is much like other Belgian abbey-style ales, only lighter. This has plenty of fruity flavors that blend well with the sweet malt character.

Again, Brooklyn seems to be able to brew good beer in any style. They don't mess around. Definitely worth seeking out.

Quick hit points:

* Doesn't look all that impressive, more like a light lager than anything. Golden and see-through.
* Very minor head, some bubbles of carbonation.
* Has the dry spicy smell of a Belgian but smells lighter and a bit sweeter; not harsh like many dubbels/tripels.
* It is a mild Belgian; doesn't try to bludgeon you with its Belgianness.
* Creamy and bubbly in the feel
*A bit sweet to counter the spiciness; also a considerable alcoholic/liqueur flavor added in
* Really pleasant, not hard to choke down
* It tastes good and is very drinkable, the presentation just isn't that amazing.

I'd tend to categorize this one as a wit, but whatev...the name says it all. On tap at Tyler's in Durham.

a: Served with a fluffy white head in a Brooklyn logo snifterish type glass. Slow recession and nice retention, with light lacing on the glass. The beer is an opaque, yeasty, golden-white in color.

s: Very nice. Flowery aromas blend with gentle spices. Light, fuzzy fruits such as apricot. Aromatic yeasts abound, and a light hop aroma rounds things out. Balanced complexity make this one very appealing.

m: Smooth, delicate medium carbonation and a silky light-medium body. Finish dries quite nicely

t: A tempered sweetness of clean wheat malts, with deep flavors of yeast and spicy fruits and seeds. Floral notes similar to the aroma. Just a touch of peppery hop snap in the finish, which I really enjoy.

d: High. I'd love to have a six pack of this. Perfect on a hot, late summer night.

On-tap at Clark's Ale House in Syracuse.

Just a well-made Belgian pale ale here. It has a slightly funky nose (good) and a sweet malt body mixed with traditional Belgian spices. Highly drinkable and smooth - darned tasty overall. You know it didn't blow my socks off, but I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

Appearance: Clear golden body with a medium, lasting white head.

Smell: Soft spicy aroma with a touch of breadiness and a light floral hoppiness.

Taste: A mingling of light, sweet maltiness and spices. Mild breadiness. Strong bubble gum notes. Light, leafy hop flavors on the spicy finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Moderate carbonation. Somewhat watery.

Drinkability: A light, refreshing beer that pairs terribly well with temperatures in excess of one hundred degrees.

On tap at Teresa's Next Door...
Appears a transparent, light, straw toned yellow with a small white head that slowly fades into a mild cap. Pockets of CO2 rush to the top of the glass. Scattered spots of lacing are left around the glass.
Smell is light, mildly fruity of apricots, pear, and vanilla, along with hints of bubble gum, gentle caramel, fried dough, subtle banana notes.
Taste is of the mentioned aromas with some notes of honey coming through in the flavors to compliment the simple but nice mix of flavors pulling through.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a crisp, yeasty dryness that tickles the tongue on the swallow.

Poured into a small tulip glass a very light pale golden with a rather large but quick to fade clingy white head leaving some spotty lace very spotty.Lighter aromas a bit of phenolic clovey spice and lemon with a hint of medicinal-like hop.Easy drinking light to medium mouthfeel,yeasty and bready qualities up front on the palate with some phenolic smoke and clove with a sharp pepper and herbal finish.A decent "table" beer to be hand it real seems less in alc than what it is,pretty good.

Yeasty pale, a case where Saaz hops worked. Yeast and the hops in the aroma No lace, Active carbonation. Medium mouthfeel like a Golden except lighter. Blind taste would say this was brewed in Belgium. Pepper and cloved, in droves.Good for the style.
On-tap at the Old Toad.

Latest Brewmaster's Reserve beer on tap in my basement. Pours a slightly cloudy, bright gold with a thick, compact white head. Initially good lacing fades as the glass empties, but leaves a tiny layer of foam. Bready palate with banana notes. Weisse-like, but has a definite Belgian yeastiness. Taste of the floral Hallertauer Perle and Czech Saaz hops on the backend. This is a very easy drinking light-bodied beer at 6%. Very session-like.

On tap at McMenamin's

Served into a pint glass, travesty.

Smell, very bready up front, sweet notes of honey, apple, and a faint bitterness round it out

Taste, more bread and honey notes, carbonation is lively on the tongue also. No real stand out flavors, sweet notes with it all tied together with an underlying bitterness.

Overall, pretty spot on for the style, no flavor takes control; this is just an easy drinking beer. I love what Brooklyn and Garrett are doing with the Belgian styles. This one is a keeper; hopefully, they'll start bottling this brew.

Pours a light golden color with a substantial frothy head.

The smell is of wheat and a sweetness of sorts.

Taste is very yeasty and full of wheat with a kind of light sweetness. Not too much to it really.

The brew feels balanced but a bit doughy for me.

Overall I was not impressed with this brew and would not get it again. There just is not that much to it at all. If you're going to buy something from this brewery stick with the Black Chocolate Stout.

Consumed vom Fass at the Launch Party at Barley's Taproom on 06/26/07...

Bright yellow in colour, hazy and murky. Thick, pillowy head sat firmly on top. Good carbonation all the way through and a nice lacing throughout the glass. Aromas rich with a light frutiness, balanced very well with the yeast backbone. Nice and chewy in nature. Smooth on the palate, the Abbey Singel offered high drinkability. Serious banana notes were prevalent the longer the brew sat and warmed.

I must admit, this one was a surprise for me. While I am not the biggest fan of Belgian anything, I found this brew to be very pleasing and almost sessionable at 6%. A very nice offering, and I can only hope some other accomplished brewers take it upon themselves to attempt this style.

Zum wohl!

Ahh the long awaited debut of the Brooklyn Abbey Single into the upstate. Nice little launch party down at Barleys for this one, pint glasses and hats abound. Got there early and got to have one of the first glasses poured. This came out a light yellow, very cloudy with a big white head that faded for nobody. Lots of visible carbonation was evident and some very silky looking rings and streaks of lace were left behind after its demise.

Smell was very light and fruity, obvious yeast tones were evident from the start, but it was much more then that. As it warmed nice notes of Bananas, and even some kinda fig like fruit smell became apparent. Subtle grain and cereal were also detected. First impression of the taste was very light and drinkable, a very nice light beer for a hot summer day. Of course the huge carbonation led to a silky smooth and lively palate feel and effortless drinkibility. First flavor notes consisted of grain and yeast with a subtle bitterness in the finish, which was also quite dry for the style I thought. As it warmed up the flavors started to make their case known. The banana that was evident in the aroma became even more pronounced in the taste and gave a great balance to the profile. A very light peach or pear was also detected toward the end, or maybe that was me. The feel was superb though.

Overall this was extremely enjoyable, and the three that I managed to put down can attest to that. This was a very light belgian ale, as you would expect from a single, and would probably make a nice introduction to the style for someone not accustomed to it as it is very light and nothing comes at you shockingly. Don't know if this would transition to a bottle well or not, but as is, it is pretty damn enjoyable. Would definatly recommend giving this one a try. Now onto its release partner tonight....