[MaxxDaddy]

Yesterday I decided to meet up with two of my friends in Brooklyn to take a tour of the Brooklyn Brewery. My only previous brewery tour took place halfway around the world in Melbourne at the Carlton United Brewery, which is the largest in Australia. It was pretty clear that the Brooklyn Brewery wasn't all that huge a place and we learned that the tour only took place in one room. Before embarking on the tour, we purchased some beer tokens up front for $3 a pop or $20 for 7 (huge savings!). So one of my friends decided to buy 7 and right before I was about to buy 7 myself, my other friend thought it would be wise to ask how big the samples are. When we heard "12 ounces," we decided that maybe 7 each wouldn't be such a spectacular idea. So we bought 7 more total and split them among the three of us. They also sell plenty of merchandise there, including shirts, hats, glassware, and even thongs for the ladies (or adventurous men). We picked up our first beers and then went on the tour. It lasted about 25-30 minutes and consisted first of a history lesson about the brewery itself: who founded it, how it came to be, the history of the logo, etc. When the brewery first started, all of its brewing was done in Utica, which we never knew. They still brew a bunch of their beer in Utica, in fact 2/3 of it, and all of the bottling occurs there. Even more surprisingly, their most requested beer, the Brooklyn Lager, is solely produced up in Utica. The latter portion of the tour was about the brewing process and how all the magic happens.

After the tour we stayed to drink our beers. The beers were served in 12 oz. plastic cups. Set up inside are a large number of benches situated in front of a small bar where you get your beers. They had 8 beers on tap: Lager, Pennant Ale, Pilsner, Brown Ale, Oktoberfest, Weisse, IPA, and their new brewmaster's reserve, the Cuvee d'Achouffe. Here's the Ratebeer description of the Cuvee:

The second collaboration between Garrett Oliver and Brasserie d'Achouffe. Brewed with belgian dark candi sugar and a dash or organic Spanish thyme.

I gave this one a try and though I don't think I'll give it a rated review, I'll give you my thoughts on it. It smelled like your typical Belgian beer with spices and yeasty notes. Tasted about the same way. Couldn't detect the thyme at all. Pretty lively carbonation and had a smooth finish. Certainly a drinkable brew, but nothing exceptional.

Overall we had a great time at the brewery. Our tour guide was pretty funny and knowledgable. In the event he couldn't answer specific questions, he just pointed us to one of the brewers, who was serving drinks at the bar. If you're ever in the Brooklyn area and feel like having drinks on a Saturday afternoon (12-5), you can't go wrong with $3 Brooklyns at the brewery. Don't forget to tip your bartender!