Juice Monkey
Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub & Guesthouse

I was really looking forward to drinking this IPA. The label on the can is brilliant, a crazed ape crushing tropical fruit in his fist. I was expecting an explosion of flavour. It poured a cloudy unfiltered orange, with a slim head. I was disappointed, at first. It lacked bitterness of a true hoppy IPA. This is a fruit juice with alcohol. After my initial feeling, I began to appreciate the flavour as the beer warmed. The citrus flavours came out and the beer began to round out as a pleasant drinking beer. Maybe better on a warm summer day, than amiserable wet January.

 

British Columbia review dump.

A- Tallboy into a small becher with a copper-amber body. The cap rises to an inch high with a thick and foamy consistency. Good retention before a belt at the edges leaves massive webs of lacing.

S- Stone fruit and citrus hops amidst a toasty and caramelized malt profile that is rather bold and not very complimentary to the hops. Apricot, pine and grapefruit hints.

T- The malts actually seem to gain some strength here compared to the smell with toasty, caramel and freshly mashed barley notes. The hops try to poke through but are held back by this very bold malt profile. Grapefruit is really the only specific hop note as citrus peel, floral, earthy, woodsy and pine also come to mind.

MF- Slick and oily heavy body. Texture is puffy and a bit creamy but in the end it feels a bit thin. High end zesty carbonation and a bitter ending.

The hops here are trying to come to light but in the end they are drowned out almost entirely by caramelized and toasty malt flavors. Grapefruit with a bunch of muffled malts.

 

Spinnakers Brewpub 'Juice Monkey IPA' @ 6.0% , served from a 650 ml bottle purchased for $6.85
A-pour is a light gold from the bottle to a yellow gold in the glass with a medium white head leaving a spotty lace along the pint
S-kinda has a slight wow factor , tons of citrus hops
T-clean & crisp tasting , very juicy , with a mellow bitterness on the swallow
MF-ok carbonation , medium body
Ov-ok/good beer
prost LampertLand

 

One of the most disappointing IPAs--indeed, beers in general--that I've had for a long, looong time. Was it drinkable? Yes--but that's about all I can say in favour this watered down can of Minute Maid® apple juice. As for it's claims to being hoppy, I would say that this beer maybe, just maybe (and I'm only speculating here) briefly came into contact with perhaps a bud (two at best) of hops for but the briefest moment of time; just long enough for the two to exchange vaguely awkward glances at one another from across the bar, or perhaps (at best) they may bumped in to one another by mistake on their way to the restroom, after having consumed too much water.