Beer of the Week: Brooklyn Brewery Naranjito

Established in 1988, Brooklyn Brewery started life as journalist Steve Hindy’s home brewing project. Enlisting his neighbour, Tom Potter, as a partner, the pair’s brewery has always been dedicated to brewing and selling great beer: now recognised as an international beacon for good beer.

With an impressive brewing history, some of Brooklyn’s earliest residents from Germany, Belgium and other brew-centric countries brought their passion and knowledge to New York, ultimately making Brooklyn one of America’s most productive brewing centres during the 19^th Century. 48 breweries across the borough produced 10 per cent of the country’s beer, mostly brewed with hops and grains from New York State. Alas, by the time that Brooklyn Brewery launched their debut lager, New York’s beer scene had become dominated by light lagers from Budweiser, Miller and Coors. Unsurprisingly, Brooklyn Lager was a resounding success. In 1994, Garrett Oliver was enlisted as Brewmaster to helm the brewing programme as Brooklyn Brewery continued to work on establishing a new Williamsburg brew house.

Following the launch of their flagship Brooklyn Lager, Brooklyn Brewery’s portfolio has grown to include a wide-range of beers. Part of the brewery’s Perennial range, Brooklyn Naranjito is an American pale ale brewed with aromatic Simcoe hops and the addition of sweet orange peel. On pour, Naranjito has a golden-amber complexion – slightly hazy and capped with a foaming white head. On the nose, citrus notes dominate – particularly orange peel (unsurprisingly) and lemon sourness – with some light dank, malt and ale yeast notes, complete with a touch of salinity. When sipped, Naranjito is initially malty with some feint sweetness, quickly balanced with light-medium hop bitterness and pithy orange savours which develop and continue alongside some resinous pine on the slightly bitter finish.

Further information on Brooklyn Brewery can be found here.

Photography courtesy of Brooklyn Brewery.

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Jon Hatchman

Jonathan is Food Editor for The London Economic. Jonathan has run and contributed towards a number of blogs, and has written features for publications such as Eater London, The Guardian, i News, The Independent, GQ, Time Out London and more.