My Vue Weekly column this week (which you can read here) is a review of Brooklyn Brewery’s Local 2, a Belgian Dark Strong ale. I remember trying Local 1 a few years back and being quite impressed with it. Given its price point, I only bought it a couple of times, but felt it was a well-made Belgian strong.

Somehow the release of Local 2 slipped past me, and I only finally got around to trying it a few weeks ago. Where Local 1 was/is a Belgian Golden Strong, the new brethren goes darker and fruitier. I really appreciated the complex fruitiness and dark sugar sweetness in the beer. It also found a nice way to stay balanced and relatively clean (for an Abbey-style). Just like Local 1, the alcohol lurks in the weeds and sneaks up on you as you near the end of the glass.

In the column I played up the union angle, which is both obvious and fun (for me anyway). I do find it a bit ironic that a non-union brewery is playing with a distinctly labour-ish branding. However, at least Mr. Oliver and company are not shuttering breweries that kept hundreds of unionized workers feeding their families for generations (yes, I am talking to you Molson/Coors).

Also, to set the record straight, the factual error in the sub-title is due to the editor, not me. I am fully aware that Brooklyn is the 11th largest craft brewery in the U.S. In the body of the review I make reference to them being “one of the largest”, which is true. An unfortunate, but ultimately forgivable mistake.

I suspect I won’t be purchasing too many bottles of Local 2 either. Not because I didn’t enjoy it. Simply because it costs too much. But those of you who don’t have padlocks on your wallets should go out and give it a try.