Brooklyn: Special Effects (USA: Low Alcohol. 0.4% ABV)
Visual: Clear, a darkened caramel brown color. A caramel coloured inch of mounded head.
Nose: Spicy. Crushed pepper seeds. Thai 7 spice. Caramel. Lightly watery.
Body: Caramel. Watered down treacle. Liquorice. Mint leaves. Greenery. Peppery. Light orange skin.
Finish: Thai 7 spice. Moderate hop character. Light liquorice. Light earthy hops. Peppery. Black and white pepper.
Conclusion: Ok, this is spicier than I imagined it would be. Not super spicy, but it is definitely a solid part of the character. I did wonder if that was due to the hop usage, or if, due to the low abv, they had actually added spice to the beer to make up for that. Now, the ingredient list doesn’t mention any spice, so yeah, just the hops I guess – let me know if you know any better please.
At its base it feels kind of dark lager style, with watered down treacle and caramel notes. For an easy drinking beer, it has a reasonable mouthfeel considering the low abv, if not anything special. It wears a greenery, peppery and some Thai seven spice style into a light earthiness as its main strings to its bow, and it is them that do most of the legwork, if I may mix my metaphors.
It doesn’t feel like a traditional beer in most ways, but carries enough that this semi spice beer meets lager style feels like a decent stand in for one anyway. I feel it would be a good one to go with food where the spice and easy drinking could accentuate the heavier food flavours without needing to be the main event.
As a beer by itself it is ok, but not one to get super engaged with. It feels decent enough for what I will term a “Background beer”. It has enough beer character to fill the space while you are concentrating on something else, but not really one that keeps your attention if that is all that is before you.
So, what I am saying is it is ok and has a place in things.
Background: New low alcohol beer. Pretty much why I grabbed it. These things are vital in my old age. Honest. Anyway, yeah saw a low alcohol from Brooklyn, who tend to do well in their standard beers, so thought I would give it a go. Not much to add on top of that. Another one grabbed from Independent Spirit. For reasons that probably only amuse me, I went with Cradle Of Filth for music with this one. If you are wondering why look at the notes before this one. That is all.
