12x12 Brooklyn Summer Ale

Beers Included: Brooklyn Summer Ale

Purchase Date: 3 August 2025

Purchase Price: $16.49

Initial Impressions

In the words of Dave Portnoy, "Don't give up on summer!". The beginning of August always brings about the arrival of fall beers. With our hot summer still ongoing and inspired by a text from a friend stocking up on summer beers, I decided to do the same. 

Brooklyn Summer is one of my uncle Dave's favorite beers. He always stashes some of this and Sam Summer away to save for his annual Open House on Christmas Eve. This is a beer I knew I had several times, but didn't have a great recollection of. I vaguely remembered it as a balanced and easy drinking pale ale. 

Beer review

Best By Date: 31 October 2025

Aroma: Medium low floral hop aroma at first. More sticky malt as it warms which is accentuated by low hop bitterness. 

Appearance: Gold with brilliant clarity. Moderate foamy white head with good retention and lacing. 

Flavor: Very similar to aroma: very nice floral hop flavor at first then a grainy malt flavor which becomes oddly sweet and metallic. Fermentation slightly floral as well. 

Mouthfeel: Medium body and carbonation. Finish clean to slightly sweet. 

Overall: Sometimes I have a hard time differentiating caramel and toffee notes with oxidation. Many brewers swear off caramel and crystal malts specifically because they don’t want to impart oxidative flavors. 

With that caveat out of the way, this beer is oxidized. This has a similar flabby, stale, dull flavor that my recent Australian Sparkling Ale picked up as it aged. A yellow to gold colored beer with low hop bitterness doesn’t leave room to hide flaws. 

The beer is still ok overall. I brought some to a cookout and it was fine. Then I had a can at home and drain-poured it halfway through. Going from that can to a can of Ipswich Summer Ale highlighted how much the Brooklyn Summer Ale had fallen off. Considering I purchased this almost two months before the brewer’s best by date I expect more than this. This beer must have been stored in a hot warehouse or something.