In addition to all of its bottled beers, New York’s Brooklyn Brewery also releases a number of draft only seasonal specials. One of these is Brooklyn Dry Irish Stout. If you guessed that the season for this beer’s release is late winter/early spring, you guessed correctly. Brooklyn cites the availability of this beer as “very limited, February & March”.

That makes sense, of course, since this beer is supposed to emulate classic Irish dry stouts the likes of Guinness, Murphy’s, and Beamish. What better time to drink such beers than just past the ides of March, on St. Patrick’s Day? At least that seems to be Brooklyn’s logic.

Brooklyn says this about the beer:

Brooklyn Irish Stout is brewed the old-fashioned way, without the nitrogen addition. A large portion of the grain is roasted like coffee beans, developing the typical color and flavor of this beer. Aside from British pale malts, the beer includes caramel malts, black patent malt, unmalted black barley and a proportion of flaked raw barley, which helps the beer develop a beautiful, thick natural head. The famous East Kent Golding hop lends to the earthy aroma. The beer is neither filtered, nor fined and has a light, brisk carbonation.

The website is a bit confusing about the alcohol content. In one place they claim it’s 4.7% by volume, and 4.2% in another. I ordered up a mug of this beer at Taco Mac, where the alcohol content was stated as 4.2%. I’m sticking with that. It was also a fair price at $5.50 for a pint (or 20 ounce mug in my case).

Brooklyn Dry Irish Stout pours to a jet black color with a big creamy tan head formation and a savory roasted coffee nose. The beer has a moderately  roasty palate with just a touch of licorice and a hint of chocolate. The long dry roasty finish hints at minty, grassy hops and deposits a lingering bitterness.

My only complaint here, I think, is that the beer is a bit thin in body in the finish, but this is a lighter gravity beer after all. Well worth trying if you can find it.

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