The Bar Towel

Looked back quite a few pages but couldn't find any threads...

Any opinions on The Hoptical Illusion?? or can you post a link to a thread if you know of one...

Thanks

There was some discussion in the Spring fest thread:
http://www.bartowel.com/board/viewtopic ... c&start=30

My thoughts were...

The Hoptical Illusion is indeed a good drinker. It's not too crazy on the hops, but it's got some great flavour for a sessionable ale. Was this the newly formulated version with ~30IBU? It's seemed a little mellower than that....

I liked that underlying herbal bitterness, which I thought was somewhat akin to a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, though a little more 'herbal', and not quite as minty (Perle hops perhaps?).

In comparison to Tankhouse, I thought it was a little mellower but had a little more depth to the hop profile. I actually liked the drier, crisp finish, which could make it extremely drinkable. Personally, I don't think it needs more crystal, but if you add some more residual sweetness, I'd recommend some more bitterness as well.

My review from Ratebeer - The fresh tap at the brewery was better than the bottles I picked up, but not that far away from them. Peter mentioned they had LCBO Social Responsibility accepted labeling now, and should be showing up soon in stores.

4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/10 4/5 7/10 4/5 17/20


May 26, 2009
On Tap at the Brewery Amarillo Hopping makes its presence well known in this deep amber Pale Ale. Small head continually refreshed all the way to the bottom of the pint. Crystal malts gives a middle sweetish point, but this beer is really bracketed by the orangey citrusy hops that start and finish on the palate.

FYI

Man, I hope there isn't an LCBO strike. We are getting ready to ship Hoptical Illusion to the LCBO next week.

About two weeks ago I brewed the recipe that will be released in the bottles for Hoptical Illusion (by no means the last change). While I increased the Crystal and added some CaraMunich and German Munich, I also bumped up the amarilio by 25% to maintain the hop/malt ratio. The brewery smells like a friggin' grapefruit. My wife dry-hopped the last addition today (I'm afraid of heights) so we should be in good shape for next week. I hope it works out at the LCBO.

We are also receiving a new Bright Beer Tank next week so we are going to be stinkin' busy!

Yours in brewing,

Pete
Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery

Thanks for the update Peter. Looking forward to your goods making it down to London.

SteelbackGuy wrote:Thanks for the update Peter. Looking forward to your goods making it down to London.

Ditto (but sub. London with T.O.).

This is exciting news I'm really looking forward to this release. I hope this cathces on and is added on tap to the local resteraunts that currently carry the Robert Simpson Ale Should make eating in Barrie that much better.

I quite enjoyed the Hoptical Illusion I had tonight at the KW ribfest/craftbeer show. While I'd say it's still a bit rough around the edges, if I could but it at least semi-fresh at the LCBO I'd get it regularly and support the brewery. I won't post my whole rating on RB verbatim, but personally I feel like just a tad bit more of a malt body would make it awesome.

Extremely sessionable and IMO a huge step up from the Robert Simpson days (understand I was NOT a fan of the Confederation Ale). Seemed almost like a mild ale to me, granted I have extremely limited experience with that style. Kudos to you Peter and I hope stuff works out. The staff serving beer at the show were very friendly for what it's worth.

I also had a few samples at the KW Ribfest. I think it was my favourite out of all the beers I tried there, great job!

I appreciate your feedback on Hoptical. The batch at KW is #3. Batch #4 is in FV1 at the brewery. It has 25kg more UK Crystal specialty malt (5%). You should be able to sample it at the brewery in a few weeks (Jesse, you should see more pronounced malt notes). Artistically, I brew this beer/brand for me, so selfishly I'm really passionate about fine tuning it. Batch #3 of Hoptical was shipped to the LCBO last week. It should be in stores any day so you can sample it in more than a festival 5oz cup. Yours in brewing, Peter.

Pint at C'est What? began with some roughness in the aromas, which later settled down; this aside, the beer shows real promise with a bit of unique character & is in that regard a pleasant surprise.

peterchiodo wrote:I appreciate your feedback on Hoptical. The batch at KW is #3. Batch #4 is in FV1 at the brewery. It has 25kg more UK Crystal specialty malt (5%). You should be able to sample it at the brewery in a few weeks (Jesse, you should see more pronounced malt notes). Artistically, I brew this beer/brand for me, so selfishly I'm really passionate about fine tuning it. Batch #3 of Hoptical was shipped to the LCBO last week. It should be in stores any day so you can sample it in more than a festival 5oz cup. Yours in brewing, Peter.

Awesome. It was really the star of the show at the KW ribfest so again, kudos. Should be a very good one especially in larger samples .

Is there an LCBO product # for this yet by chance? I plan on hunting this down ASAP

EDIT: Just checked the LCBO website and found that they have the new name in there but I couldn't find hopticall illusion as of yet.

I'm real curious to how batch #4 turns out. Hopefully I'll get a taste of it.

bartle wrote:I'm real curious to how batch #4 turns out. Hopefully I'll get a taste of it.

Me too. Can't wait for it!