Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion
Almost Pale Ale
Illusions twist the expected into the unusual. Hoptical Illusion unveils mesmerizing visions of Craft Beer glory with its beautiful dry-hopping with grapefruit-y Amarillo hops. In the art of craft brewing, Hops are to Brewing What Insanity is to Art. Have you ever met a craft brewer that wasn’t just a little mad?
Illusions twist the expected into the unusual. Hoptical Illusion unveils mesmerizing visions of Craft Beer glory with its beautiful dry-hopping with grapefruit-y Amarillo hops. In the art of craft brewing, Hops are to Brewing What Insanity is to Art. Have you ever met a craft brewer that wasn’t just a little mad?
3.4
374 reviews
Barrie, Canada
Community reviews
A well-laced off-white head n a clear mahogany body. The nose is all about caramel and floral and tropical hops. The taste is an IPA-like blend of bready malt, rye bread, caramel, and floral and tropical hops. A bid taste for a 5% ale.
Almost no crown, a very hoppy smell and a nice almost amber color. A hoppy taste that lingers on the tounge.
Dark amber colour, very little cap, very little flavour, very slight hop. Slightly off flavour of coffee and unpleasant after taste
Birra stile Pale Ale, canadese, 5 gradi. Molto fruttata ma abbastanza armoniosa. Abbastanza bevirina ma risulta un po' pesante! Comunque da provare
Couleur ambrée; mousse blanc crème; arômes et goût maltés et fruités; finale légèrement amère
Earlier Rating: 2/16/2018 Total Score: 4
Tuoksussa tulee mukavasti humalat esille. Maku jää hyvin viipymään suuhun ja katkeroa on juuri sopivasti.
Canette achetée à La Mise En Bière - De couleur brune rouge avec une mousse blanc cassée - Au nez un mélange herbacé, agrumes, orange, caramel, biscuit, céréale, c'est plutôt leger mais sympa - En bouche on reste sur une belle base maltée, pain, céréale, biscuit caramel et un joli houblonnage agrumes orange et herbacé sur la fin- Corp léger/moyen, amertume légère/moyenne, carbonation correcte, douce, final herbacé malté citroné moyen - Jolie interprétation du style anglais
Pours a clean deep amber color with medium beige head. Aroma is bready and citrusy, with sweet malts, slightly caramel and grass notes. Taste follows the nose, citrusy, floral, grassy, bready and malty, finishing with a moderate bitter aftertaste.
Nez frais de houblon floral. Bière rousse écumeuse. Au goût, céréales, caramel, malt. Malgré ces arômes, elle reste vive et fraîche.
very little aroma. darker with a brown head. acidic mouth feel. smooth easy swallow. slight hoppy flavour.
Servida en ampolla. Cervesa d'un intens color àmbar-ataronjat amb molt bona presència. Gust maltos amb final de llupuls citricoflorals. Cervesa descarada amb un kaos de gustos. Molt interessant de provar.
Bottiglia. Il gusto al naso si ferma su luppolo, mandarino, floreale e agrumato. L'intensità olfattiva è elevata e la continuità olfattiva è sufficiente. Il cappello di schiuma color beige ha una scarsa tenuta. La grandezza delle bollicine è medio-fine. La carbonazione è nella norma. La consistenza del liquido è limpida. Il perlage consiste di bollicine medio-fini. Qui la carbonazione è media e morbida. Il colore è ambrato. Il corpo è rotondo. L'amaro è medio. L'intensità gustativa è elevata e la costanza gustativa è sufficiente. Il gusto è piacevole. Le sensazioni boccali finali sono di pronta beva. Il finale è amarognolo, pulito e semplice. Il retrogusto è di media intensità. Sulla lingua si depositano impressioni di caramello, miele e crosta di pane.
Bottle, 5%. Clear dark amber with small off white head. Aroma is malt, caramel, fruit and hop. Flavour is malt, fruit, caramel, hops, medium sweet, little toasted and a little bitter.
Bottle served without a glass at Potbellys opposite the R.O.M. in Toronto. Couldn’t see the colour or judge the appearance, hence middle score. Toast and citrus aroma. Floral hops, some citrus flavour, a hintof nutty malt, but generally quite restrained. The blurb suggests they’ve aimed for the middle of the road, and got it bang on.
Bottle. Dark orange, brown. Thin white head. Medium body. Aroma and flavour is resin, pine, orange.
Aroma: Subtle citrus fruit and toasted notes.
Appearance: Dark ambar color with clear liquid and white head.
Taste: Medium bitterness with light sour notes.
Palate: Medium body with thin texture and soft carbonation. Toast and citrus fruits finish.
Overall: Strong freatures and easy to drink, it leaves a woody memory.
Bonne Red Ale, belle odeur, le goût reste en bouche assez longtemps. Malgré ses 5° elle parrait plus forte.
Bottle from saveur biere.com . Nothing unbelievable but a nice beer, low abv for the afternoon
Orangee sombre, petite carbo, collet fin
Aromes resineux, herbeux, caramel, orange.
Mince, seche, sur des saveurs maltes caramel.
Une bonne biere rafraichissante
Découverte dans la Saveur Box. Bière ambrée au nez malté et caramel. Bouche épicée et maltée. Bonne bière.
I’m having my first beer from Flying Monkeys outta Ontario, Canada. This is their Hoptical Illusion, a beer they describe as ’Almost Pale Ale’. It comes in at 5% ABV. It pours a very very deep golden colored body – it almost looks brown/red-ish. I do not recall ever to have had a pale ale this dark. Well, Hoptical illusion it is then. The aroma is fairly malty. I guess that’s expected given the color. There’s not much of a hoppyness coming through on the aroma. It’s just malts and a very slight roasted note. The taste is quite thin at first, a bland watery taste, but then comes the sweetness from the malts and some earthyness. There’s a very subtle pine bitterness coming through towards the end. It’s piney and at the same time it’s not. It’s weird. I would say that this is leaning towards being a hoppy brown ale. I would guess that’s why they’re calling it ’almost’ pale ale. It’s decent nontheless.
Slightly malt-forward aroma, mostly balanced. Nothing too strong. Small head with minimal lacing. Coloured a deep amber. Taste is very balanced, perhaps to a fault. Very drinkable, but not very distinguished in any regard. A bit malt heavy for a pale ale. Also slightly more viscous than a pale ale. I suppose the gimmick of this beer is a milder hoppiness than an a pale ale, but isn’t that what a pale ale is to an IPA? I’m not sure I understand the point of this lol. I could easily mistake this for a bitter, if not for the slightly pronounced hoppiness.
Poured from a bottle into a tumbler.
APA de perfil maltoso. Algo de fruta en nariz y más caramelo en boca. Buen cuerpo, algo de resina y regusto amargo. Canned 19/04/2017
Bottled 355ml (Beer Republic, bottled 02/2017)
Deep chestnut coor, small beige head. Maltyness, menthol hops in the nose. Light-bodied, a bit fizzy. Malty, nutty, even a bit bready and caramelly. Not this is not pale ale by flavour either. It’s has kind of ESB character.
Couleur ambrée claire, légère mousse beige. Nez malté céréales, fruité raisin. Gout malté céréales, houblonné citronné avec note pamplemoussse voir exotiques puis longue amertume sur le citronné résineux. Bon corps . Classique mais efficace
08-06-2017; bottle; at home (bought at Saveur Bière, as part of their June discovery box).
The looks of the beer are fine. The beer looks like any APA. The colour is a nice dark orange amber. The beer is crystal clear. On top of the brew a nice layer of rough, slightly offwhite foam is formed. The majority of the foam collapses rather quickly, leaving a very scarce drape. So, no bad looks, but quite regular.
The smell of the beer is nice. There is a nice rather sweet but also slightly spicy malt aroma at first. It reminds me a bit of pumpkin ale...but there’s no pumpkin in this. It is sweeter than most beers. There is also a touch of caramel and syrup. Not bad. On top of this there are lovely hop aromas. I smell some nice citrusy fruity aromas, but even more floral aromas. They also give a certain sweetness to the beer and a richness. There is a slightly resinous touch to it to.
The taste has the same features. That same sweet and slightly spicy malt aroma, with touches of toast and caramel and the same mainly floral and slightly citrus hops. There is again something that reminds me of pumpkin ale. I love pumpkin ale, so this association ain’t bad. The hops give nice bitters and slight sours, whilst the malts provide sweetness. All is in quite good balance. Not bad.
The palate of the beer is fine. Medium body, smooth and rather low carbonation. The finish of the beer is not that long and a bit thin, with some caramel and toasted malts and floral hops. All in all, surely a nice beer...but it misses a tiny bit of specialness. But, it is easy drinkable and tasty, so I wouldn’t mind having it again.
clear amber colour, large and stable beige-ish off-white head; aroma of moderate grapefruit, orange zest oils, toasted rye bread and floral honey; taste is practically the same with similarly moderate intensity; correct ale
Smells foul, and appearance is an eye sore. THis beer is tough to drink and has a bitter finish.
473ml can. Clear reddish copper with a foamy off-white head. Flavors are bread, dust, earth, toffee and nuts with woodsy and fruity notes. Light to medium body, moderate carbonation, smooth texture.