Krispee Dreamz
Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Sep 5 2024 and served slightly chilled. Another victim of my lack of bar fridge inventory management - this can is old, but at least I can say that it has been refrigerated for most of that time.

Pours a hazy orange-amber colour, producing more than two fingers of pillowy, foamy white head that lasts for more than five minutes. A beautiful coat of sticky lace is painted across the glass, with a frothy cap and collar lingering on the surface; looks great so far. I do get peach on the nose, but it comes off as highly artificial; there's also notes of icing sugar, grapefruit, pine resin, lemon curd and herbal, tea-leafy hops, as well as some doughy, wheaty malts.

This is a weird one: it's palatable enough, but the flavours are exceedingly fake, to the point where it gets less and less tolerable over the course of the glass. Peach flavouring and Krispy Kreme glazed donut figure in strongly, accented by bready, biscuity malts, lemon curd, sugar-sprinkled grapefruit and orange peel. Resiny hops and over-steeped black tea bitterness crop up on the back end, squabbling with the sugary-sweet aspects of the profile. Icing sugar, peach flavouring, vanilla and pine resin dissipate into a saccharine, mildly warming aftertaste. Nearing full-bodied, with low carbonation that meekly brushes across the tongue; feels velvety-smooth and soft on the tongue. The alcohol is well-masked, but its drinkability is poor.

Final Grade: 3.62, a B grade. Flying Monkeys took a risk with Krispee Dreamz, but I don't think it panned out as intended. Given this can's age, I am inclined to cut it a break, at least to some extent - but I just don't find the combination of flavours to be all that appealing, and I don't think I'd have felt much differently if I'd cracked this open last autumn. The peach comes off as fake, while the bitter hops and sugary donut sweetness interact harshly with one another. I'd give it another shot if I come across a fresh batch, but other than that, I have no real desire to drink this again.

473 mL can
Served in a stemless wine glass

This beer pours a golden hue with a slight has to it. It is topped with half a glass of thick, tan head that leaves decent lacing.

Big peach aroma along with a sweet pastry smell.

Peach flavor with an underlying bitterness that clashes with the sweetness of the peach. I get some malt in the finish oddly enough.

Medium to fuller bodied with a smooth enough mouthfeel

A clash of sweetness and bitterness is what ultimately dooms this beer. It's ok but not worth a second look.

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, from my favourite LCBO at The Roundhouse Centre in nearby Windsor. My ninth beer from the extraordinary Barrie, Ontario brewery.

 

May 9 2025

 

473 ml can served cold into a chalice. LCBO purchase for just under $5 CDN. Canned September 19, 2024 , two days ago. Listed as a Peach donut DIPA.

Appearance - Amber colored with some fleshy peach highlights. Two fingers of soft and fluffy foam, lots of lacing and plenty of haze within the beer.

Smell - Peach for sure, fruity esters, a light doughy bread malt background.

Taste - Peach is there in spades with some bready aspects, mild bitterness that is sufficiently assertive to qualify this as an IPA. Some booziness up front too. The donut and the peach isn't cohesive, but still the flavors work well. Some sweetness at the end.

Mouthfeel - Soft carbonation and medium-full body that drinks easy and finishes dry. A beer that could get you in trouble with how drinkable it is.

Overall - The concept is interesting the execution is reasonable, the peach shines through and while I don't distinctly get donut, there is plenty of malt to give the illusion of a fruit pastry. Booze quotient is high and detectable but blends well enough that this is still dangerously drinkable. Well enjoyed and will pick up another couple while they are around.