Brooklyn Local

Today its the turn of a few bottles bought a year ago and secreted in my old landlord's larder - that's one way to prevent premature drinking!

Brooklyn Brewery's "big bottles" are bottle conditioned 750ml and as such are designed to pair well with food. Today its the two Brooklyn Local beers up for review. Both are "big" in more ways than one, weighing in at 9%ABV each.

Local 1 is a strong golden Belgian ale (think Tripel) Golden coloured, with plenty of carbonation and cork popped. Fruity yeast esters on nose, banana, lively carbonation, sweet, strong malt and boozy finish with a touch of pepper. It works particularly well with St Vernier cheese from Waitrose, but any soft rinded cheese will do just as well.

Local 2 is a dark dubbel-style ale, again made with the Brooklyn Belgian yeast and refermented with champagne yeast. It makes use of wild-flower honey to give a richer texture and flavour. Another lively bottle, the cork shot across the room! The beer stayed put though. Opaque ruby with plum on the nose. Rich fruit, milk chocolate and robust malt body in this one.Works rather well with Keen's mature cheddar, but not quite so well with taleggio despite washed rind cheese being recommended as a match.

As with the Goose Island vintage range, these are decent beers, but you can get the Belgian classics for much cheaper in the UK. I'd not buy either again but happily drink them if offered.

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CABPOM March: Brooklyn Brown Ale and Ossau Iraty

From www.artisinalcheese.com

Cheese pairings don't have to be anything fancy. Last week I picked up a bottle of Brooklyn Brown Ale from the Vineyard in Belfast and some cheeses from Sawyers Deli. On tasting the beer I knew that it would work well with Ossau Iraty, a cheese I've had many times before (you can get it in Waitrose).

Non-boring brown beer

The beer pours a russet-brown with brief beige head and smells like cadburys whole nut chocolate, with hazelnuts and cocoa powder on the nose and plenty of toffee. The body is quite thin and well carbonated with a nuttiness from brown and chocolate malts and a sweet finish. As the beer warms up a resinous pine note is evinced.

Those nutty, earthey flavours are what work so well with the aged sheeps milk in ossau iraty. The savoury cheese helps to tone down that malt sweetness and the carbonation from the beer helps to pull some redfruit notes from the cheese.