Conscience Be Free
Monkish Brewing Co.

 

 

On tap at Saraveza today. Unless I'm completely mistaken, I think is my first beer from this highly regarded SOCAL brewery. In any event...

The beer pours an opaque orange color with pretty good head retention and considerable frothy lacing all around. To be perfectly honest, this looks more like a glass of fresh squeezed OJ than beer. Still, it's an attractive looking beer. On the nose, this smells like a lot of other hazy IPAs I've come across. There's tropical fruit and orange citrus, but with considerable pine as well. The flavor profile replicates the nose pretty closely, but there's some noticable alcohol burn on the finish that is a bit off putting. The abv is 8.5%, so I'm expecting to detect some alcohol in the flavor profile, but even taking that into account, it's off putting. Otherwise, the flavor profile showcases a fair amount of tropical fruit, with a soft, fairly dry, hot finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied to full, with a long, moderately hot finish. Maybe there's a hint of bitterness on the finish, but no more than that.

IMHO, this is a pretty run of the mill hazy IPA. It's OK, but isn't something I would order again.

On tap at The Village Tavern in Geneseo, NY.

This one pours a very hazy golden yellow color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like pineapple, passionfruit, lychee, mango, and marijuana.

This is juicy, sticky, and just slightly bitter, and balanced well, with a wonderfully juicy and creamy hop character. I haven’t had much Monkish, but this does appear to confirm that they know what they’re doing in this arena.

This is very creamy, and very drinkable, with a wonderful soft but sticky mouthfeel.

This is quite nice, clearly done well by folks who know what they’re doing.

16oz. can into a Founders snifter.

Hazy pale lemon color with an everlasting foamy white head. Thick, chunky lace. Nose is pear, sweet cream, vanilla, melon, and pineapple. Very aromatic and fresh. Beer opens citrus, unripened pear, ripe pineapple, and grapefruit. Lively, fresh, and effervescent. More citrus fruit and a touch of pine in the middle. Cane sugar, a nice fruity acidity, and some lychee in the back. Really nice flavor combination here. Body is light with ample carbonation. Prickly, lively and aggressive on the palate and goes down bone dry with a lingering, sticky aftertaste.

This one's really good. Well worth trying.

 

Sweet tropical hoppy, slightly malty, earthy-galaxy citrus, and faint hint of boozy nose on this one! Taste follows...well...exactly! I like that the Galaxy use here is a bit restrained and balanced with the Simcoe and Nelson...I always prefer more Nelson in any beer, but at least the Galaxy didn't dominate with this batch. This feels really nice and soft on the palate...good stuff!

 

Perfect yellow with some foam.

Nelson hops are there but not really hitting me.

Pine from Simcoe doesn't work for me, rarely get that with hazies. Strong note of melon from Galaxy, but has a kind of lucky charms marshmallow to it that doesn't sit right.

Very low carb.

Another hazy banger from Monkish.

 

 

 

 

Conscience Be Free canned 05/24/21 stamped FREE YOUR MIND (and your ass will follow) pours a pineapple, orange juicy color with a fast fading head. Smells delicious fruit juicy of orange, pineapple, mango and sweet. Taste follows the nose and you get some hop bitterness on the back end. The mouthfeel is very nice, rich and smooth. The bitterness lays on the tongue and tells you this is a beer and not juice. Overall another fine example of a NEIPA from SoCal. More sharing from @RaulMondesi. Thanks BA!!

 

Canned on 5/24/21; consumed on 6/23/21

Pours a turbid, milky lemon-gold body capped with just over a finger of bubbly, soapy, white foam; solid head retention leaves a thin, rocky layer of cap along with a moderate, soapy collar, and rings of webby, chunky lacing strewn around the walls of the glass.

Aroma opens with a hint of strawberry with quiet lime zest and white grape flesh accents before developing into peppery resin and earthier guava flesh; orange zest and tangerine rind bring citrus over the middle, while a densely grassy hop tinge leans into a resinous resurgence doused in creamy peach on the close.

Taste features underripe guava upfront easing almost immediately toward waxy white grape, mossy hops, and a subtle mango sorbet sweetness over the mid-palate; gritty, grassy hops create a contrast to scrape the back end as soft, fluffy malts, dank lemon, and pineapple rind comprise the finishing touches.

Mouthfeel offers a level, medium body paired perfectly with a fluffy, moderate carbonation; a stalwart, creamy texture with an underlying grit develops casually and cedes attention to a burgeoning hoppy twang over the mid-palate, followed by a slowly building grit phasing toward a low-lying bitterness accentuating the earthy, resinous aspects of the otherwise 'juicy' finish.

An unequivocally plush body aligns oily resins with semi-sweet fruit rinds for an expression tastefully restrained yet toying with a fuller realization of flavor; inherent fruitiness is finite in this NEIPA, and the earthy hops at the core never shy away despite this beer's predominantly easy-drinking qualities.

 

 

Hazed out, milky appearance with quickly dissipating head and little to no lace on the glass. In terms of the NEIPA look, it delivers that full on opaque visual that so many crave. The nose features a mix of tropical suggestions, including citrus, some lemon, and a bit of earthy aroma. There's also this chalky thing going on, which gives off sort of a Flintstone vitamin quality, if you can dig the reference. Taste follows with some grapefruit bitterness on the back end. The mouthfeel is appealingly soft, and has an overall texture that's good, albeit not great. Shout out to EPMD, which is the hip-hop group the beer pays homage to. Cheers.