Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion Almost Pale Ale

Brewed by Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery
Style: Amber Ale
Barrie, Canada

Serve in English pint, Shaker

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

UPDATED: OCT 4, 2009 2009-10-01. Hazy brown, near headless. (3+) Aroma of leafy vegetation, hops, smells like fresh hop pellets. 7+ Flavour is likewise quite leafy and green. It tastes like sucking on hop pellets. Surprisingly not bitter actually considering the obvious hop presence, mild malt character is pretty much overwhelmed. Average palate is lightly carbonated. Lacks a cohesive vision, or rather the vision is dominated by green leaf hops, and your enjoyment of this will be entirely based on how much you like that profile. 7/3/6/3/13 - 3.2Hoppoatamonkey, On tap at C’est What

2009-07-30. No notes but this seemed a LOT more hoppy than my last sample. Interesting! On tap at Hart House

2009-07-22. Crisp orange amber body with a creamy beige head. (3+) Pleasant modest aroma, hoppy with sweet orangey citrus notes. (7+) Flavour has pleasant hop profile, sweet citrus, oranges, tangerines and a just a kiss of lemon. Mild malt base. (7+) Average palate is a touch light, but pleasantly smooth. Rather nice. Bit less assertive than expected but I enjoyed it. On tap at Cest What

Average looks with a heavily carbonated body and a small darker-than-usual white head on top. Aroma is a lot of hops, softer than an IPA or something similar and very sweet hops at that. Flavour is sweet hoppiness with just a hint of malty goodness underneath. Good for sessioning, good thing I bought a six pack.

Nice pour from bottle into jar-like glass. Beer is dark bronze--almost light brown. Definitely darker than a normal pale ale (hence the name?). Huge head that sticks for a while. Aroma is deep, rich balance of piney hops and malt. Pretty bitter. Nice beer. You’d expect it to be a lot higher in ABV--impressed that they packed this much flavor into it.

Nice amber to copper colour. Hazy, good head and lacing. Cloudy appearance but doesn’t detract from the flavour. Quite the opposite. It has a palate pleasing character that I love that most crystal clear heavily filtered beers in its category don’t possess. Kudos to Flying Monkeys for not over-filtering it. Easy drinking for a dry hopped beer, a nice session beer for sure. Well done.

Dark orange-amber w/ auburn hue. Pillowy, off-white finger of foam. Fresh, breezy, citrusy aroma w/ an underlying sweetness. Creamy feel, but the alcohol numbs in the finish. Flavour profile has potential--it is sufficiently earthy & bitter--but alcohol dominates the finish, giving the beer slightly unpleasant, medicinal quality. A relatively decent brew.

Bottle from LCBO. Pours a beautiful clear dark amber with a long-lasting half-inch white head. Nice mild aroma of tropical fruit. Taste has a little malt, and a lot of hops - orange and slight spice - without the normal IBUs following (as is intended). Pretty tasty stuff, and does a great job delivering exactly what it promises.

Bordering between red and amber in colour with a thick foamy cap. Smells of citrus, pine and carmalized sugar. Some roasty malt and piney hop flavour with a good punch of bitterness at the end.

Nice. You want to know what Amarillo tastes like? This is the prototypical Canadian ale to find out. Since Flying Monkeys are known for their hops, it was great to try this out and see that they know what they’re doing on the other side, the malt (yeast is on another plane). If I hadn’t tried this, I couldn’t be certain that they’re one of the best brewers in English Canada. This is proof, to me.

(on tap at Grad Club, Kingston ON) Poured cold, a dark hazy amber with a briefly-lived rocky off-white head. Aroma mostly sweet honey and caramel malts, a little hint of the flowery, fruity Amarillo hops peeks through but not much. Flavour of sweetish crystal and roasted malts with a tinny bitterness, not particularly flavourful or hoppy. Mouthfeel relatively moderate, flavours not too concentrated. Disappointing pale ale, seems to be stranded between styles and not great at any.

(Bottle, Bishop’s Arms Folkungagatan, Stockholm, 12 March 2012) Dark amber colour with brief, beige head. Malty nose with caramel, red fruit, orange and citric hops. Malty, fruity taste with notes of caramel, chocolate, dried fruit and a mild citric bitterness. Medium body, with some sweetness. Tasty and well balanced but nothing extraordinary. Quite nice.

355mL thanks to solidfunk. Pours a deep amber with a massive, creamy, rocky, off-white head. Excellent ice cream scoop retention and lace. Nose is sticky malt and honey. Taste is coppery metallic, bland, watery, lightly tannic. Iron, rust finish.