Brooklyn Brewery's Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse

A collaboration between two different breweries brings us the Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse. Brooklyn Brewery and Schneider Brewery's brewmasters collaborated on this weizenbock that is similar to Schneider's weisse with a Brooklyn's EIPA hop kick. This is a one time collaboration, so Mike didn't mind dropping $12 on a single bottle. By New York standards , this beer is reletively cheap.

With a surprisingly light color, hazy to the eye, the brew pours from the 25.4 oz. with a frothy head and a floral, yet hoppy smell. Given the higher alcohol percentage (8.5%) it is surprisingly light bodied. Tastes of citrus and fruit, it slivers down the throat to welcoming stomach. This brew has the best of both worlds, the light bodied drinkability of a weisse bier with the hop flavor of an IPA the tongue desires.

Brooklyn Brewery has had a couple beers that tickled our fancy (Black Chocolate Stout & Winter Ale) and a couple that were average (Lager & Octoberfest) but this once scores on the former. We could rip on New York apart all day, but after sipping on this brew, we don't want to even make a smart ass remark on their accents or annoying attitude or some other John Travolta Saturday Night Fever joke. That Nanny TV show sucked as well. Anyway...

Oz Scale: 8.2

Mike Scale: 8.6

Great Lakes Brewing Co. Glockenspiel

Since the discontinuation of Moondog ESB and Holy Moses White Ale, Great Lakes Brewing Co. (GLBC) has introduced two new brews to the masses, Grassroots Ale (a siason) and Glockenspiel (a weizenbock.) Grassroots did not catch our hearts like Holy Moses or Moondog so we had high hopes that Glockenspiel, 12 oz bottles sold in a four-pack, would deliver us for mediocracy. With us today is our good friends as well as our part-time beer blog collaborators, Nick and Jason (aka J-Glock,) to give their spiels as well.

Glockenspiel chimes in at 8% ABV and pours a copper color with Jello brand banana pudding smell. With its full body mouth feel, this GLBC beverage hits the oral orifice with citrus-y hops and spices dancing on the tip of the tongue. The brew starts out bitter then becomes sour. As it swims down your throat, you are left with a sweet banana aftertaste with hints of clove and fig.

This is not an everyday brew, as it would best pair with bratwurst and other sausages than by itself. Compared to the other big brew four packs by GLBC, we would not drink this until we blacked out, nor would be stock it in a vampire's cellar. It does however, mow the grass of the fore mentioned farmhouse ale. It promises hell's bells, but all we are left with is some Australian band that only knows four chords and one drum beat.

Oz Scale: 6.8
Mike Scale: 7.0
Jason Scale: 6.8
Nick Scale: 7.2