Muffin Top | Clown Shoes

3.66/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Triple with a not of spiciness to it, less flowery. Darker in color also,minimal head, but long lasting. Malt also more evident, savory finish. Belgian yeast throughout.

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3.95/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75

It pours a golden orange color, lovely off white head. Smells very pretty: bread, yeast, fruits,pine, floral hops & orange. Tasre: where's the bread? The rest is there with a little too much saltiness but that Belgium breadlines is missing. Finish is of a very tangy carbonation & orange. Very good

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3.99/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a taster glass. A clear golden straw color with a frothy white head. Nice lacing in the glass. Interesting mix of aromas with pine, citrus, floral notes, caramel, and white bread. The taste was that of a great Belgian IPA: fruity esters with American hoppy flavors as above. A nice candied orange taste on the finish. Dry and medium-bodied.

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4.25/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Muffin Top brewed by Clown Shoes, with an ABV of 10.00%. This brew pours out a a deep golden amber color with a nice off white head. The smell of this brew is rich with grains, malts and hops. There is also a nice sweetness to the smell of this brew. Now for the taste, it is bold but smooth with flavors. You pick up on hops, grains and malts in the taste of this brew. You can pick up on the 10.00% ABV in this brew. Nothing bad so far, it is a smooth for being an IPA. Muffin Top , has an ok balance to it, there is really nothing overpowering about this brew. The mouthfeel of Muffin Top, is bold, clean, smooth and refreshing . This is one of the more milder Belgian IPA's I have had. Not saying that is a bad thing. Overall I'm giving Muffin Top a 4,25 out of 5. I would buy this brew again. Clown Shoes, did a real nice job with this one.
This was an aged brew, trying it out would like to get my hands on a fresh one.

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4.69/5  rDev +22.1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Muffin Top | Clown Shoes. Bottled on 8/15/14. Poured from the bottle into a goblet, this beer's head is three fingers thick, with solid lacing, and a hazy body.

I smell a profound Belgian yeast complex, with sharper pepper and lemongrass notes being bashed over the skull by the hop oils aged for nearly two years.

Tastes like a mellower version of what I'd described with the scent. Actually has a pleasant sweetness almost reminiscent of butterscotch and candied dark fruits.

The mouthfeel here is medium with mild carbonation

Overall, I'll rate Muffin Top | Clown Shoes with a 4.75. A very complex, yet easier going than most Belgian IPA's.

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3.98/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Picked up an old bottle of this for 7 bucks hope it held up well!

A - Dense oily looking beer with a very hazy dark orange brown hue. Head is minimal just a 1/4 inch but it does pull back to great lacing.
S - Fruity topical esters meet with some traditional mango and papaya hops in a good mesh of fruity goodness.
T - Not as bitter as I expected so a good mash of hops and orange peels. Fruity esters are good with a bitter finish.
M - I could see this had better days the hops have taken a bit of a backseat leading to a bit of boozy body but each sip is enjoyable.

Overall worth the cost and would love to try it again fresh or on tap.

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3.94/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Golden yellow in color with an orange hue and heavy haze. Poured with a thick, dense, bright white foam with good rwtention. Aromas of medium malt and medium high ripe tropical citrus with light estery banana notes. No spiciness.
Medium bodied with a creamy feel and medium, soft carbonation. Pleasant boozy warmth from the middle to the end. Medium maltiness up front followed by by medium ripe tropical flavors and medium light esters. Medium high hop bitterness from the middle to the end with citrus hop flavors beneath. Bitterness nicely calms the boozy warmth at the finish. Esters are a bit low foe the style but smooth, flavorful and drinkable nonetheless.

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4.17/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bomber:
Appearance: golden hazy body that you cannot see through, the head is white dense in some areas and just fluffy in others, but thick over all, Mild lacing.
Smell: apricot, apples, mild citrus rind, grassy aromas, and a little spice.
Taste: Nice and balanced, the sweet spicy fruits and malts hit you first followed by the hops, there’s just a hint of grapefruit and orange zest thrown in which comes out in its aftertaste. The taste is just awesome, complex and leaves you wanting another sip.
Mouthfeel: medium to full bodied and filled with carbonation.
Overall: This is a great ale, goes down smooth and has some really complex flavors.

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4.12/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bomber. Hazy light golden color with finger white head, no lace to speak of. Fruity mango all up in the nose, impressive. Taste is more mango tropical fruit, tastes like a hopped up juice box. Nice little citrus bitterness at the end. This brew was better than I was expecting, would be perfect poolside on a hot day.

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5/5  rDev +30.2%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Just wow. .
Tastes like candy and beer. . Fruity delicious wheat. Probably the best wheat beer I've ever tasted.
Candy up front. Hoppy after taste. Leaves you wanting another sip after every sip.. well done.
So good i cannot believe it. Nice head that lasted on top. Hazy gold cloudy. Light Hoppy taste just keeps you wanting more. Just wow. Nicest Belgian style beer ever. .

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4.35/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

22oz. Bomber

Pours a very nice clean/clear dark golden orange color, very nice carbonation, with a nice one-finger creamy off-white head, which does leave some nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is sweet, malty, hoppy, with some citrus notes. The taste is pretty nice, malty, nice sweetness, hoppy, nice little touch of citrus, nice little touch of fruityness. Medium body, ABV hidden pretty well. Overall, this is a very nice brew, nice touch on the style.

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2.97/5  rDev -22.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.75

Poured into a snifter.

3.25 A: Murky copper color. Two fingers of off-white creamy/frothy head. Retention is good and a short ring of lacing is left.

3.0 S: Quite sugary. Cake frosting, peach, lemon. Lots of citrusy and grassy hoppiness. Yeasty breadiness, banana chips, and something quite distinct that my mind can't identify right now - something like a persimmon. Also a touch of vegetal aroma.

3.0 T: The taste has no real focus. It's moderately bitter and the predominant flavor is yeastiness. There's peach, lemon, and banana fruitiness, but there's also a lack of tripel spiciness. Less sugary than nose, but still there. Bready and biscuity.

3.0 M: Medium body. Good moderate carbonation. Chewy, but lacking spritziness or creaminess, which is what I like in the style.

2.75 D: Eh, it's okay, but it doesn't work well as either an IPA or a tripel.

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4.59/5  rDev +19.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

From a bomber to a Tulip... Good song title...
A: beautiful hazy gold with thick frothy white head. Lacing slides away quickly unlike the sturdy head retention that sticks around till the end.

S: tropical hops with fruity Belgian yeast with a hint of funk.

T: Epic balance of the above mentioned components with a slightly dank finish.

F:Thick and juicy. Almost chewy with a minor sticky finish and very smooth! Can barely taste the alchohol.

Overall one of the best examples of this style I've had yet from a brewery that hasn't disappointed me so far. Very smooth and well balanced. Almost too drinkable!

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3.81/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Bomber into a tulip glass. Pours a straw golden and settles into a rich, vibrant amber in the glass. An aggressive pour yielded a 2 finger head of white, sticky foam. Cloying boozy sweetness, tropical fruit, malt, and notes of orange peel on the nose. Medium weight, and quite creamy on the mouthfeel. Sweet, ripe fruit up front with a decent alcohol bite. There is some hoppy bitterness in there but it is somewhat overrun by a barage of sweet alcohol and toasty malt. More hops on the finish, but still incredibly sweet. Finishes mostly smooth with a light booziness.

Overall, this is a pretty good Belgian IPA (or Triple IPA, going by the bottle). Entirely too much sweetness for my liking, though.

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3.99/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Clown Shoes "Muffin Top"
22 oz. brown glass bottle, no apparent freshness dating.
$6.29 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes: Hazy deep gold-amber-copper. Massive head of frothy white. Excellent head retention. Very good lacing. Aroma of pine, chalky yeast, fruit (apple, apricot, tangerine, pineapple, peach, some red fruit, and some minor dark fruits), and sweetish straight-forward grainy malt as well as a subtle note of vanilla. Slight waft of alcohol. Medium body with a dextrinous edge. Flavor follows the aroma completely with a bit more depth but no real added components. Rich. Not overly malty, nor overly bitter. A very nice balance between American IPA and Belgian Tripel. One of the better ones I've tasted. Reminds me of La Chouffe.

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4.49/5  rDev +16.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: hazy gold to amber, 2” rocky off-white foam cap. Lacy. Smell: Traces of Hoegaarden over dark malts with and slight orange and banana and spice combined with grassy hops. Taste: Big flavors wrapped around a dark moist bran muffin – caramel, fruit, over ripe fruit, orange peel, big hop bitterness, toffee, candi sugar, cardamom, and dark dried fruit. Mouthfeel: Very creamy, fine soft natural carbonation, medium body.

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4.37/5  rDev +13.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a bomber bottle into a globe glass.

L - Color is light copper with lots of orange; slightly hazy. White head is initially 1" high, then fades to a thick sheet with some huge individual bubbles. Sticky, solid lacing.

S - Aroma is dominated by piney, grapefruity American hops. Behind that is grainy and bready malt, along with some spicy and fruity yeast character in the background.

T - Soft, bready malt at first, but it is quickly overwhelmed by hops--citrus, grapefruit, pines. There are some spice and bubblegum yeast notes in the background. Layered and complex.

F - Medium to thick body. Medium carbonation. High hops bitterness with moderate alcohol burn. Well balanced.

O - A very enjoyable beer. I was put off by the strong hops aroma because I was expecting a tripel, but the beer is complex and interesting. A good mix of US IPA and Belgian characteristics.

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4.6/5  rDev +19.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This poured a nice translucent copper colour with a thick white head which turn a creamy mousse like. The extensive bubbles created a almost fire like quality when held up to the light. An nice citrus happiness to the smell along with some light grassiness. There is a definite malty sweetness to really balance out the nose. Wow, the malt really comes forward in the mouth. That doesn't mean there is no hops like you'd expect in a tripel IPA, just not the punch in the face you might expect. And that grassiness sticks around in the mouth with almost a honey sweetness as well. That alcohol warmness you'd expect from a 10.5% ABV is there but not in mouth burning way. Awesome beverage. A very well balanced IPA.

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4.35/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

This ale surprised me. I didn't expect such goodness with their attempt at a style twisted hybrid. First off, it's a beautiful beer. The look is a rich, murky amber with a thick, tight froth from a moderate pour. Cracking the bomber emits very nice aromas. Rich pine trees, sweet citrus, background of dates and funk. Yup, a mix of IPA and Belgian. Flavors are still good, if not quite as appealing as the smells. Immediate hit is that of a quality IPA, followed by an almost clashing Belgian style (to me, more of a dubbel) and then drifting into a strong DIPA-like fade. Individually the flavors are all of apparently high quality. I'm just not convinced the flavors match so well side by side. Mouthfeel is excellent, with just the right carbonation to match the IPA backbone. Overall a very good beer. I'd buy it again. For those Clown Shoes brews that are mediocre, this one definitely stands quite a bit higher, IMO.

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3.75/5  rDev -2.3%

This one is unique in my experience. Advertised as an IPA/Trippel, resembles neither, but is interesting and worthwhile nonetheless.

A: Almost geometric lacing. Slightly cloudy and a rich, deep copper.

S: Closest thing about it to either an IPA or a Trippel: definitely gets that citrus Hop aroma IPA fans will recognize. Is definitely more sugary than a traditional IPA.

T: Previous commenter was dead on, unmistakable tangerine notes here. There is the yeast heavy profile of a good trippel, but it's off a bit, a little too saccharine. Very explosive flavour. Alcohol is not at all invasive considering the ABV.

M: Bready and dry; surprising bitter finish for such a sweet beer.

O: If you are expecting an IPA/Trippel merger you will be disappointed. It is far sweeter than any of those have a right to be. Despite that I really enjoyed it...would never drink more than one in a sitting (and even more than about 12 oz is an ask) but a truly unique flavour. Would wish for the hops to be more prominent and the yeast to be more authentically Belgian, if that makes sense. But would still drink again.

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3.9/5  rDev +1.6%

Not at all what I expected... Poured a gorgeous, extremely hazy orange-ish color with a nice rocky, off-white head. Tasted wonderfully citrus, tangerine-like, with a touch of clove. Very good flavor. I drank one that was a little over a year old, so not sure how much of the flavor can be attributed to that. Oops.

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2.75/5  rDev -28.4%

Bought this with hopes it'd be a great combo of my two favorite beer styles.....but it's not that great. Lacks the smell I hoped for and doesn't taste at all like a Belgian Tripel - mainly just boozy high alcohol content taste

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2.96/5  rDev -22.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 2.75

A- Body is a uniformly hazy orangish yellow hue that pours with a 1-2 finger or so foamy white head. Head quickly fades to a moderate sized collar and some lacing is left behind in the glass. When held up to the light one can see that the translucency is non-uniform with a lot of sediment around.

S- The main character of the nose is belgian triple with apple, pear, peppery spice, and a lot of alcohol. There is also an over abundance of belgian candi sugar. Then there is something that seems a little off. There is a huge overtone of citrus and grapefruit with just a hint of pine and floral hops.

T- Upfront is alcohol, pear, citrus,pepper, and very minor floral hop overtones with a heavy belgian candi sugar background. Finish is very boozy, sweet, and hoppy. A lot of alcohol astringency, a lot of belgian candi sugar, and a lot of pine hops. Left to linger is hop bitterness, alcohol astringency, and a weird sweetness.

M- Medium carbonation with small bubbles and a slightly bready yet slightly dry, very astrigent body.

O- Clown shoes is theoretically a very good brewing company- and when executed correctly the "Belgian IPA" is my favorite style- but it is important to note that this is a belgian tripel/IPA which I perceive as a hybrid between american IPA and tripel...which is much different than an intensely hopped BSPA, saison, or tripel. There is way too much sugary sweetness to this brew...and the hop/belgian blend is just executed poorly. I was really looking forward to this brew but I am very disappointed.

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3.84/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Bomber poured into a tulip glass. A hazy yellow-orange amber with some frothy off-white head that breaks down quickly to leave some creamy lacing rimming the sides of the glass. Intense medicinal/citrus/herbal aroma, a marriage of resinous hops and fiercely spicy/sour Belgian yeast with some big peppery notes. Like this brewery's Clementine white ale on performance enhancers. Tons of clove, licorice, and burlap sack phenols do battle with grapefruit, navel orange, lemon, and menthol cough drop to yield a pretty pummeling taste experience. Clown shoes has some pretty skanky Belgian yeast in their arsenal and they aren't afraid to use it. If in the mood this is great stuff, although I became satiated rather quickly and was pleased to share with some buddies, one of whom could not get past the initial sip while the other described some flavor notes like orange spice tea. Indeed, recalls an unsweetened orange-lemon creamsickle covered with coriander and cardamom seeds. Body on the thick side of moderate, a tad chewy and reasonably smooth. Carbonation quite bold and this enhances the "sour" citric effect. I think I prefer the less citric Tramp Stamp but this is well worth sampling if one is addicted to Belgian IPAs or the spicier tripels.

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4/5  rDev +4.2%

Tried this at the weekend. I was at the Brewdog bar in Shoreditch and brought a bottle of this to take home. Another fine example of those crazy American IPA's. Full bodied with incredible malty sweetness, then a tsunami of hop explosion across the palatte. The sweetness reminded me of the Belgian Tripel Karmeliet. Great beer, would definately drink it again.

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