The newest addition to the Brooklyn Brewery family of cans. East India Pale Ale cans are certainly going to stand out on shelves and in coolers, not many other cans are coming in such bright packaging. We've got to admit that we love the simplicity of their can designs and are excited to see them putting more of their beers in that form of packaging. Cheers!

From the Brooklyn site:

"Brooklyn East India Pale Ale is inspired by the original East India Pale Ales brewed in England in the early 1800’s for the troops in India. Everyday English ales were spoiling during shipment from London, around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, to Calcutta. Using extra malt and hops, British brewer George Hodgson developed an ale with the bitterness and strength to endure the long sea voyage, giving rise to a great beer style. Our East India Pale Ale is a deep golden beer brewed from British malt and a blend of hops featuring the choice East Kent Golding variety. It is traditionally dry-hopped for a bright aroma of hops, lemongrass, pine and citrus fruit, and has a robust bitterness, a warming malt palate and a clean hoppy finish. We think Hodgson would be rather pleased."

Here we go...

Pour – a paler shade of amber, perhaps more golden and straw colored in appearance with a great looking head that leaves a nice bit of lacing.

Aroma – cereal grains, fresh cut grass, orange and lemon peels, some earthy notes along with an aroma of sugar-dipped hops.

Taste – tart and tangy at first with a nice balance of malt sweetness and hop bitterness. This some nice citrus flavors and earthy hop flavors along with a smooth, clean finish that leaves a little zip on the tongue. 

Overall - it's important to know the roots of things and perhaps Brooklyn's East India Pale Ale is a good example of where all those big, brash American-style IPAs originally came from. It does a great job highlighting the East Kent Golding hop, a hop that has been a staple in English brewing for hundreds of years. Certainly worth your while...so, when will they put some of the Brooklyn Blast in cans?

Note - The major differences between English and American India Pale Ales are the hops used in the brewing process. While English IPAs tend to use English hops, American IPAs tend use American hops. It's fairly simple, although we Americans like to put LOTS of alpha-acid laden hops into our IPAs with a big focus on hop flavor and aroma. Many English-style IPAs are a little more subdued and balanced with a hop profile that is a little more earthy and less intense. To confuse matters there are a good amount of English-style IPAs being brewed in America and quite a few American-style IPAs being brewed in the UK.