Insomniac IPA
Troubled Monk Brewery

1L howler from the good ol' Sherbrooke Likka Sto'. Looks like Imma gonna be (hic) stayin' up late tonight - why, none o' yo fuckin' bidness! Oh, right - holiday Monday eve, represent!

This beer pours a clear, medium bronzed amber colour, with three fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly tan head, which leaves some broadly dispersed cloudy lace around the glass as it quickly blows off.

It smells of grainy, biscuity, and slightly crackery pale malt, underripe white grapefruit and navel orange citrus rind, a prominent hard water flintiness, and further leafy, weedy, and mildly dank piney green hop bitters. The taste is grainy and lightly doughy pale and crystal/caramel malt, muddled domestic citrus rind, edgy piney, leafy, and herbal forest floor acerbities, and perhaps a hint of hovering alcohol ingress.

The carbonation is quite pleasant in its mostly frothy and coddling manifestations, the body a solid middleweight, and generally smooth, an uncertain je ne sais quoi keeping things nice and kosher here. It finishes off-dry, the hefty local-bred malt almost sparing us the chip on its shoulder, while the mixed piney and citrusy hops remain more concerned with the near 7 points of alcohol that have yet to really show their hand.

Well, it appears that this brewery was so content with the reception of Pesky Pig's hoppy pale ale goodness, no, greatness, that they rushed off (literally) to make a bigger IPA brother to play with. Of course, they've succeeded, but in a more moderated sense, as the bar in this category is much higher, through no fault of the brewer. Whatevs, this is very drinkable and enjoyable all on its own, for all my hopped to the nuts IPA needs at the moment.

My first ever Crowler. This from Sherbrooke Liquor. A decent IPA from a very up and coming Alberta brewery. I'll soon make a trip to Red Deer to visit.

Grapefruit notes predominate... Though everything is rather subtle. Solid beer.

Another impressive offering from the unassuming folks at Troubled Monk.

Leans orange/reddish, almost caramel in colour; head mostly dissipated by the time the pint was served. This one's done in the spirit of "old school" American IPAs, leaning more to the herbal, piney, vegetal, leafy, dank side of the hop spectrum, though with a bit of citrus pith bringing up the rear. Also some crystal (?) malt backbone. Taste is nice bitterness--herbal, dank, pine, with solid maltiness--light caramel, some biscuit. Balanced carbonation, and nice drinkable body.

Doesn't hit it quite out of the park like Pesky Pig does (still the standard for pale ales in Alberta, as far as I'm concerned), but a really fabulous "classic" American IPA.

Oh boy. This is a super delicious, fresh, bold IPA - the first pure IPA from Red Deer's finest, and it's a winner! 1.89L growler that did not stand a chance on a Friday evening. There are many reasons to love this beer. First, it's brewed with biscuit malt from Red Shed Malting - Alberta's newest malt company. Second, it is the product of a no-sleep 27 hour brewing session (hence the name) that resulted in a truly inspirational brew. Finally, it's damn tasty. It pours a lovely copper colour with an inch of fluffy white head that hangs around. The smell and taste are quintessential American IPA - citrus & pine, balanced with a lovely biscuit malt. The 6.9 ABV is respectable without being ass-kicking. This is a wonderful brew and I hope it earns a spot in TM's regular rotation!