Han Brolo

The details: Monday Night Brewing Han Brolo Pale Ale, 4.7% ABV, 25 IBU, served in a 12oz. can

It wasn't until I had the internet that I was able to verify my age in relation to Star Wars. We're both children of 1977, so I always said that I was as old as the movie, or that maybe my June birthday made me older. I had no clue and no truly easy way to check. Then I discovered that the movie is older than me by about a month. 

It goes without saying that I know exactly which character I'd want for an older brother. Luke was always too whiny, then too brooding and aloof. Chewie is a seven-foot-tall walking shag carpet that doesn't speak english. R2-D2 is pretty bad ass, but can a droid really be a big brother? It's obvious that I'd want Han to be my older brother.

After demolishing some Nashville hot chicken for lunch (honestly, it could have been spicier and thankfully a spot in Brooklyn is), I stopped in to Hop City to find some interesting single cans for the next few days of ATL living. Monday Night Brewing is one of the places that I wanted to go to last Christmas on my brewery crawl, so I'm always checking out their offerings when in town. The name of this beer, Han Brolo, sold me.

Sure, the name is a little cheese ball. The label isn't helping it out any either, but I'm sure that what's going on is the avoidance of a lawsuit from the Disney Corporation. But what truly piqued my interest after picking up this can was the three word description of the beer: Hazy - Crushable - Chewy. 

The hazy part and the crushable part this beer obviously has. It's only 4.7%, and as a traditional pale ale it's very easy drinking. It's pretty quick off the tongue and while bitter, isn't so bad that i'm complaining about it. Yet that third descriptor got me - how in the hell is a beer thought of as chewy? I don't think of even the dankest DDH triple IPA's or the most barrel aged imperial stout as things I would consider chewy, yet this bro-tastic pale ale is? So of course I go where all good internet questions are answered: reddit.

A chewy beer is one that has a very full body, one that coats the mouth. While this doesn't hang around on your tongue all that long, it's definitely a coater. Monday Night says that they brewed this beer with lactose sugar and it has a chewy malt backbone. It does have a nice malt sweetness, but I don't personally think of this beer as being overly full bodied - it's no dopplebock. I think of this up there with a more viscous IIPA or something.

Or maybe the whole thing is an elaborate pun thought up while the brewers at Monday Night were looking to capitalize on a recent movie release...?

Overall this isn't so bad. As pale ales go I find it more interesting than Sierra Nevada (I consider that a baseline that most people know) but maybe not as interesting as Half Acre's Daisy Cutter or Hill Farmstead's Mosaic.

The Verdict: 3.75 out of 5 (on Untapp'd - follow me there @slownumbers to see what I'm drinking!)