Here’s the first review of 2020 and let’s keep that going this year. I’ve made it a New Year’s Challenge that I will review any new-to-me beer on this blog and write about it. Let’s go with Freakshow Crush, a new hazy IPA from Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery out of Barrie, Ontario, Canada.
Last year, Sparklepuff made its debut to the Ontario Craft Beer scene. It felt like a wrestling angle in the beginning, then it all fell apart with Chunksgate and now it’s quietly in the background, waiting to be consumed by the consumer who’s willing to pay the steep $5 for a lotto beer. However, it seems that Freakshow Crush may or may not be that saviour that helps Flying Monkeys with its reputation when it comes to beer.
You can easily spot Flying Monkeys when you hit up a LCBO or The Beer Store or even a pub where they have these crazy design of a tap handle. I remember the first time that I saw a Flying Monkeys beer, it was their Smashbomb, big, bold and absolutely bitter. Man, that was a good ol’ beer.
Freakshow Crush is a 6.3% with 37IBUs, it’s a NEIPA that requires some rolling before you open the can to get the full hazy effect for your Instagram. It’s available at the brewery and the LCBO.
The tallboy is yet another Flying Monkeys creation, clad in black and white with writings with a big red devil-ish face with Freakshow as the teeth. It’s a interesting design and easily spotted on the shelves at the LCBO. So I did the whole rolling the can and letting it sit for a couple minutes before cracking it open.
Out of the tallboy pours a hazy orange juice looking colour with a white dense head that laces the glassware with every sip that I took. At one point, it looked like a meringue pie on top. The aroma is tropical with notes of pineapples, oranges, mangoes. The mouthfeel is smooth with a dry finish. However, the palate is tropical just as the aroma, notes of pineapples, oranges, mangoes, some bitterness, slight pine.
Overall, Freakshow Crush is a juicy NEIPA that’s worth picking up, even just to try. Good price point as well. Well, look at this way, it’s not another Sparklepuff and that’s a good thing for Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery because they just don’t need another scandal like that.
THE BREW HEAD 