Style: Brown Ale
ABV: 7.5%
IBU: unknown
Availability: limited release, draft only
Pairing: caramelized pork chops, wash-rind cheese, vanilla ice cream, cheeescake

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Last night, New York received another great opportunity to visit the Brooklyn Brewery for the invite-only release of Dark Matter, their latest in the Brewmaster’s Reserve series. Brewmaster Garrett Oliver was on hand along along with a laundry list of the city’s finest pub owners, food editors and beer bloggers. Once again, the tap room flowed with some of brewery’s best drafts: Cookie Jar Porter, Monster ‘09, Blast, Black Chocolate Stout ‘09, Pilsner and more. The Bedford Cheese Shop and The Meat Hook were on hand to supply a nice meat and cheese compliment Dark Matter’s vanilla-oaked, sweet palate of flavors.

Appearance: The Dark Matter pours a deep, dusty brown with reddish undertones and a very fine ecru head. On draft, the beer shows only a slight carbonation but a nice lacing develops with a minor swirl signifying a well crafted brew.

Smell: A massive vanilla-oak barrel aroma hits the nose upfront with lingering hints of dark stone fruits. Raisins, prunes, and black currant are all here along with notes of sweet bourbon.

Taste: There’s an explosion of contrast in the Dark Matter’s flavor palate. Upfront, this beer is delicate with slightly bitter, wooden hints and vanilla notes. Quickly, however, a massive rush of barrel-aged flavors envelope the palate. All of the character of the nose is here — especially the bourbon and raisin ones — mingling with lots of sweet burnt caramel and chocolate malt.

Mouthfeel: A very delicate carbonation hits the tongue at first but finishes with a strong, syrupy coating of the mouth.

Drinkability: This is surprisingly drinkable for such a sweet beer with such rich flavors. Paired with a hearty meal, a few Dark Matters will go down without a second thought. But this beer can also be approached on its own during the last few cold nights of late winter.

Overall: Dark Matter is a strong edition to the Brooklyn Brewery’s Brewmasters Series. While their flagship barrel-aged offering, the Black Ops, is often sought out by Imperial Stout lovers worldwide, it is also one that is best served after a year in the bottle. Dark Matter, however, carries all the richness and complexity of Black Ops in a much more accessible, ready-to-drink brew with a lower ABV. This beer is also a great introduction to barrel-aging for those unfamiliar with the technique. Poorly crafted oak-aged beers can be abrasive and overpowering but the flavors here are balanced and very approachable for even an uninitiated palate. As a solid standby, it will pair nicely with meat-centric dinners and tangy/creamy desserts alike. Overall, Dark Matter is another fine offering from the Brooklyn Brewery.

Brewing Note:
Malt: British Pale Ale, Crystal, Chocolate, Wheat, Belgian Aromatic, Roasted Barley
Hops: Willamette, Cascade, U.S. Fuggle
Yeast: Brooklyn House Ale
Barreling: Four months in a blend of bourbon and rye barrels of differing ages
OG: 18 deg. Plato
ABV: 7.5%

Official Release:

Cosmologists tell us that the universe was made by a massive explosion called the Big Bang. And in this Big Bang was created a material called “dark matter”, which accounts for 95% of the mass of the universe and actually binds the universe together. Well, that sounds pretty heavy. But it’s theoretical. Here in Brooklyn, our cosmology is a bit different.

In the beginning, there was Black Ops. Or perhaps not. Beer does have its mysteries. Anyhow, they say that back in 2007, a small amount of Dark Matter was created alongside Black Ops, but very few people had an opportunity to taste it. The Brooklyn Brewing Team decided that this shortage was unfortunate – plenty of Dark Matter for themselves, but not enough to share with all their friends. So last autumn they decided to recreate Dark Matter and open up the Brooklyn Barrel Room to a wider world. Brooklyn Dark Matter is a robust brown ale aged for four months in bourbon and rye whiskey barrels. Some barrels previously held Black Ops, some hosted The Manhattan Project, others came straight from the distilleries as soon as the whiskey was decanted. We’ve blended these barrels to create a beer full of caramel and chocolate flavors heightened by vanilla-like oak notes and hints of the barrels’ previous tenants. The result is a smooth, rich beer that really loves food, from fried or roasted chicken to char-grilled steak, barbecue, pork chops and even monkfish. And on some chilly evening in late winter, or perhaps the first warm night of spring, we hope that you may be tempted to believe that Dark Matter really does bind the universe together.

– Garrett Oliver

Tags: Brewmaster's Reserve, Brooklyn Brewery, New York beers, porter.

Style: English Porter
ABV: 7.8%
IBU: unknown
Availability: limited release, draft only
Pairing: oatmeal cookies, braised pork, bbq, funky cheese, Brooklyn Brewery Carbonade

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Last night I had a chance to swing by the Brooklyn Brewery for the premier tasting of their latest in the Brewmaster’s Reserve series, Cookie Jar Porter. Brewmaster Garrett Oliver was on hand to discuss the beer and the tasting room flowed freely with some of brewery’s best drafts: Cookie Jar Porter, Monster ‘07, Manhattan Project (a personal favorite), Blast, Brooklyner Weiss and more. The Cookie Jar Porter was paired with the brew’s inspiration, Oatmeal cookies from Feed Your Soul Bakery, as well as select cheese from the Bedford Cheese Shop.  Overall it was a great event and good to see the whole Brooklyn Brewery team and NYC craft beer family out enjoying themselves.

Appearance: Draft pours a deep brown color with a dark tan head. Due to the draft pour, there was little to no lacing initially but a slight swirl developed a subtle head and some nice residual lacing.

Smell: Chocolate and roasted malts on the nose. The Marris-Otter malt – a favorite of European beers – comes through as well. Hints of raisin and some pine hop notes

Taste: There’s a surprisingly light body to the Cookie Jar Porter and a more tart flavor than I was expecting. Lots and lots of raisin notes come forward (the source of the tart/sour flavors) as well as chocolate and caramel flavors and some herbal, woody hints from the Willamette hops. As the beer warms, som vanilla and honey flavors develop but they primarily the supporting cast for the chocolate malt.

Mouthfeel: A fine light carbonation and bitterness hit the tongue. Slightly dry finish.

Drinkability: Cookie Jar Porter has a surprisingly light bodied for having such a heavy sounding name. If you like malty beers with tart and bitter notes then this will go down easy. Initially, I thought one was enough but ended up drinking three to hunt down all the flavors. Its not a growler fill, per say, but a pint or two will go down without question.

Overall: The name Cookie Jar Porter threw me for a loop on this one. I was expecting something candy sweet, almost like a Breury 2 Turtle Doves. Instead, this is much more like a traditional English porter (with American Willamette hops rather than the British Fuggles). Once I realigned my palate out of “desert beer mode” I really appreciated all of the subtle tart and bitter notes to be found here. This reminds me a bit of a Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre but with more British Ale elements.

Brewing Note:
Malts: Floor Malted Maris Otter, British crystal, chocolate and caramel malts.
Other Grains: Whole Golden Oats
Other Sugars: Brown sugar, pureed raisins, wildflower honey
Hops: Willamette
OG: 19% Plato
ABV: 7.8% ABV

Tags: Brewmaster's Reserve, Brooklyn Brewery, Cookie Jar Porter, New York beers, porter.