Brooklyn BAMboozle Ale

By Robert Wood


First, a preemptive statement: we don't advocate seeing Krapp’s Last Tape, Brooklyn Babylon, Richard III, or any other upcoming BAM production buzzed. You'll  forget to turn off your cell phone, which will incite dirty looks, and you might have to have a sherpa come and get you half way up the Harvey Theater stairs. But afterwards, feel free to toast BAM with the perfect beverage, from our friends at Brooklyn Brewery—Brooklyn BAMboozle ale, a newly released beer celebrating BAM’s 150th anniversary.

It’s a real doozy—a glorious 8.67% ABV Belgian-style ale, made with a blend of local wildflower honey, German and Austrian hops, and Pilsner malt, all finished with a Champagne yeast. That’s its public face, anyway. Between you and me, that's probably just beer talk for a secret extract made from Alan Rickman’s tears, Merce Cunningham’s sweat, and purified water used in the Pina Bausch production Nefes.

Regardless, here’s the brewmaster’s description: “BAMboozle features a large addition of wildflower honey from the New York family apiary Tremblay Farms – we pick up the honey from Alan Tremblay at the Greenmarket. Blended with golden malts, it is fermented to a dry complexity by our Belgian yeast strain, and then re-fermented in the bottle like Champagne. When the cork pops, the beer shows a shimmering effervescence, a beautifully floral, honeyed nose, and a fresh light zing on the palate that belies its underlying strength.”

Just to clarify, nothing in the beer is 150 years old. That would be gross. But the brewers inform us that, like BAM, it should age nicely. For those who can’t wait to sample some of its “shimmering effervescence,” your first shot will be Wednesday night, November 9, at the post-show party for Brooklyn Babylon. It’s a members-only event, so join now if you’d like to go. Otherwise, BAMboozle will be available at select places throughout the borough—including our own BAMcafé.

Here’s a link to the beer at Brooklyn Brewery. And here’s a link to Tremblay Farms, which you can visit every weekend at Grand Army Plaza. Raise a glass to BAM 150!

Details for beer connoisseurs:
Malt: Weyermann Pilsner Malt, Bamberg, Germany
Honey: Raw Wildflower, Tremblay Farms, Chemung County, NY
Hops: Perle (Germany) and Aurora (Austria)
Yeast: Our special Belgian strain, finished in the bottle with “Pris de Mousse” Champagne yeast
Original Gravity: 17.2 P
ABV: 8.67 %