The other day, I was enjoying one of nature’s most exquisite pleasures: a vine-ripened tomato, picked straight from the garden just minutes before eating. As I took a large bite directly from the fruit and savored the rich, hearty flavor, juices dribbling down my chin, I thought about…… beer.

I know, I know, you’re thinking there goes Bruguru, off his rocker again. But seriously, I wasn’t thinking of brewing up a batch of tomato beer, though now that I mention it, that might not be a bad idea. No, instead I was thinking about flavor. You know, like the wonderful flavor of a fresh garden tomato as opposed to say, one of those dreadfully dull cellophane wrapped monstrosities that try to pass themselves off as real tomatoes.

In a way, beer is much the same. Because to me, most of the beer sold in America, the Bud, the Miller, the Coors, is a lot like those cellophane packed tomatoes. It’s not all that interesting, and it really doesn’t have much flavor. If you want a garden tomato of a beer, then you need a microbrew, something tasty and delicious like a tall glass of Brooklyn East India Pale Ale.

When it comes to IPAs, there are basically two schools of thought. Most American versions of the style tend to be over the top, super bitter hop monstrosities. The English, who invented the style, seem to be a bit more conservative with their hop levels.

Brooklyn’s East India Pale Ale falls into the latter category. It’s hoppy, but not super hoppy. The original IPAs were highly hopped pale ales with an elevated alcohol content that allowed them to survive the harsh ocean voyage from England to India. During that voyage, the beers would mellow a bit, and Brooklyn’s version seems to be modeled on the final product rather than the beer as it might have been like young.

The bottled version of EIPA has an alcohol content of 6.8% by volume. On draft, it’s a different animal at just 6%. Both use British pale ale malt and Kent Golding, Amarillo, Centennial, Willamette and Northdown hops according to Brooklyn.

 

Brooklyn East India Pale Ale pours to a bright orange amber color with a creamy head formation and a spicy hop nose with a hint of caramel malt aroma. Upon sipping, I get a more of that caramel malt flavor, hinting at cotton candy and accented with notes of spicy citric and piney hops.

After swallowing, you’ll notice the once again spicy, citric hops as they progress through the beer. Slightly aromatic, they’re fruity and only moderately bitter as they linger ever so lightly on the tongue. To be sure, there be hops here, but this is certainly not as aggressively hopped a beer as most domestic IPAs.

And I think that, at least for this beer, that’s a good thing. Once in a while it’s nice to enjoy a more mellow brew that knows how to handle its hops but not overdo them, thank you very much. Try a glass with a juicy garden tomato on a hot day. Now that’s living.

Update May 24, 2014: Enjoyed a mug of Brooklyn East India Pale Ale with Taco Mac signature wings today. I just love this IPA and have since the 90s, grassy and citric hops in the nose, bready malt, all that in the palate too and some chewy caramel, a hint of pine, and grassy herbal EKG aroma. Lovely bitterness at the end is perfect with the wings. Has the beer been tweaked since I last took notes on it? Gone is the reference to Amarillo hops on the Brooklyn website. Alcohol content is ever so slightly different, too, now listed as 6.9% )Taco Mac had it at 7% ABV). $5.75 for my 20 ounce draft is a bargain, too.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

 

 



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