Flying Monkey

dutchcanuck · Post by **dutchcanuck** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 2:21 pm

Any chance that we will see this in the Niagara region?

TJ · Post by TJ » Sun Aug 02, 2009 3:19 pm

velovampire wrote:Picked up 6 at the Liberty Village LCBO today.

Same here. I popped them in the fridge and, on a hot day like today, I can't wait to slug a few back a little later. If nothing else the packaging's entertainment value along make it worth picking up.

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 5:41 pm

I'm liking this a lot better from the bottle than when I had it on tap (still nice). Seems the Amarillo aroma is much more pronounced and the bitterness in the flavour comes through a lot clearer, but there's still that nice caramelly malt backbone. Nice one! I'll definitely be picking up more.

TJ · Post by TJ » Sun Aug 02, 2009 6:23 pm

velovampire wrote:I'm liking this a lot better from the bottle than when I had it on tap (still nice). Seems the Amarillo aroma is much more pronounced and the bitterness in the flavour comes through a lot clearer, but there's still that nice caramelly malt backbone. Nice one! I'll definitely be picking up more.

I agree. I was a little underwhelmed when I had this at the C'est What Spring Festival, but it's really impressive in the bottle. The flavour of the amarillio is interesting, adding some orange, herbs, and pine to it, and I like the combination of toasted and caramel malt. Did you notice the little messages under the cap?

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 8:44 pm

TJ wrote:
velovampire wrote:I'm liking this a lot better from the bottle than when I had it on tap (still nice). Seems the Amarillo aroma is much more pronounced and the bitterness in the flavour comes through a lot clearer, but there's still that nice caramelly malt backbone. Nice one! I'll definitely be picking up more.
Did you notice the little messages under the cap?

No! I'm gonna have to go track down the few that I tossed and see what they say....hehehe

notdan · Post by **notdan** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 8:25 pm

I am very excited to finally be able to buy this. I tried it on tap at a local bar about a month ago and loved it. Then again at the Kitchener Rib and Beer Fest, this time it was a bit fruitier and possibly even more delicious. Can't wait to pick it up!

The Great Gatsby · Post by **The Great Gatsby** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 5:49 pm

I just tried this out a bottle for the first time. Ultra refreshing with some great flavours. I would love to see an amped-up version of this one; maybe with some dry hopping?

kwjd · Post by **kwjd** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 6:31 pm

I had a pint of this a couple days ago at C'est What. It was ok, but it was like a pale ale that was lacking in hop taste. I agree with The Great Gatsby that it could possibly use some dry hopping. I'd take this over many beers, but I probably won't buy again unless the recipe changes (or if I'm in a bar with the choices being Hoptical Illusion and a bunch of macro lagers).

lagerale · Post by **lagerale** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 6:05 pm

Had this last night and was thoroughly impressed! Reminded me of SNPA (maybe it was also the green colour around the label to). A solid pale ale and look forward to any tweaks the brewer has in mind....

peterchiodo · Post by **peterchiodo** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 4:32 pm

Yeah....I think it needs WAY more hop character. I have been dry hopping it but the hop aroma and flavour are just not there for me. I dry hopped another 4kg yesterday. That makes 8kg of dry hopping plus my boil hops. I still think I'm short. I'm going to have to devise another way to infuse more hops into the beer. Some sort of hopback thingie. This is bugging me! Thanks for the comments though.

Peter

(posted later)
This afternoon a few of us brain stormed a new device that we have prototyped called the “hoppapotamonkey.” Probably similar to Dogfish's Randall --In a nutshell, it will allow beer in the fermenter to travel through a whole leaf/pellatized hop filter and then circulate back into the fermenter. I’m hoping to get better utilization and dry hop flavour.

Rob Creighton · Post by **Rob Creighton** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 8:06 pm

Well, I have to disagree with Peter. "Way more hop character" doesn't always come across the way you want it to but I love the idea of hop contraptions that do weird things to ales. I was at Flying Monkeys a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed a number of beers (Thanks Peter and Courtney). At Grand River, we are a sinkhole for hop aroma yet we can express some pretty intense bitterness. I don't think that hop sublety will ever be our claim to fame. Hard well water is our contributing factor that defines our beers. I wonder what Barrie's water offers to the product? For those that know me, sublety has never been a strong suit so I can live with what the water offers.

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 7:20 pm

This seems to be pretty widely available now in Toronto; I picked up a sixer today. I like it quite a bit. As others have said, some interesting caramel malt flavours with a firm but not overwhelming hop presence, which I take it is amarillo -- some interesting flavours and different from the citrusy Cascade, etc. I found it was much better at cellar temperature than cold (this is often the case I suppose but is quite pronounced with this beer IMO). A very nice pale ale!

peterchiodo · Post by **peterchiodo** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 3:09 pm

Hey Rob,

Thanks for the comments. However, I am on a quest to find the perfect balance of hops in Hoptical. As the 8kg of hops in the FV ages it seems to be imparting a nice flavour--I am happier today about my beer.

I was thinking of installing a hopback between my whirlpool and strainer basket prior to my heat exchanger (of course). Any ideas/comments?

Thanks Miidlife for your comments. I am really hard on this beer because I brew it for me (no offense) so I am really trying to get it right.

Cheers,

Peter

Matty D · Post by **Matty D** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 2:04 pm

I stopped into the South end Barrie Beer store and was excited when I saw fresh 24's of Hoptical sitting on a cart to be put on the shelf. I ran over and grabbed a whole case

I have to say I thought the flavour was going to be mild from the whole "illusion" of hops that's eluded to. Thankfully it has a great taste to it! The malt character is strong with a nice hop balance. I would welcome more hops but honestly would be happy if it stayed the same, it's that nice. A really great session beer IMO. The only area I found a bit lacking was the aroma, it was rather muted (but I had been cooking with lots of garlic and rosemarry right before pouring my first glass so that could have messed up my nose?).

Congrats to Peter and crew. I really really hope this starts showing up on tap at the places that carry Robert Simpson

The thought of a hop'y beer at a resteraunt

hopaddict · Post by **hopaddict** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 2:48 pm

I picked up a six on the weekend and was impressed by how good this brew is. I can't wait to see how this one evolves as peter tweeks the recipe. A boost in the aroma department would be awesome. Bring on the hops!