Thanksgiving Day at the In-Laws. Since lagers usually rule at their house, I thought I would mix things up and bring over something interesting. It turns out that they too had an interesting beer lurking in their fridge. We had the makings of a mini beer tasting going on this Thanksgiving Day. Now that’s what I call something to be thankful for!

Our first beer of the afternoon would be Brooklyn Local 1. Per BeerAdvocate.com, this beer has the following characteristics:

“Belgian Strong Pale Ale. Brewed with German malts and hops, first-pressing Demerara cane sugar from Mauritius, and a Belgian yeast strain. 100% bottle re-fermentation. ABV = 9.0%. Classified as a “strong saison” by Garrett Oliver.”

• Appearance: Golden yellow. Fluffy head that dissipated slowly. Lots of rapidly rising, crystal clear bubbles.
• Aroma: Lemon zest. Green apple. Yeast.
• Taste: Very effervescent! Crisp, clean palate. Green apple tartness which reminds me of high quality hard cider. Dry finish.

My Father-In-Law and I really liked this beer and found it to be very refreshing. We polished it off pretty quickly while munching on some raw vegetables and ranch dip. It was a very pleasant way to start the afternoon festivities. We give this beer a very solid A.