Grumpy Monk - Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

Reaper16

Alabama

3.1/5  rDev -14.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

served on-tap @ The Alcove, Tuscaloosa, AL, into a tasting glass

Pours the color of wild honey: golden and light. Not much head on this pour, but there's an adequate amount of buttermilk colored lacing.

Belgian IPAs can be wildy different in approach from one another. Some are IPAs with a Belgian yeast flair. Others are Belgian Blonde Ales with extra American hops. But for all the variance in the style that I've seen, I've never smelled one that smells as completely SMOKY as Grumpy Monk on-tap. It's phenols doing this. It's a yeast strain run amok. This beer smells like a campfire. Incredibly odd. I'm reminded of a peaty scotch more than anything. Underneath the smoke is some indistinguishable fruit. Just a mess of an aroma.

That smokiness carries over to the flavor of the beer, but (thankfully) you can taste all of the other complexities going on with Grumpy Monk. Past the smoke, I first pick up on a vegetal note; parsley, maybe. Or microgreens. Band-aid phenolic flavors are there, of course. There's fruitiness too: the hops lend a lemon note and even some banana.

The beer is reasonably smooth in terms of mouthfeel. I mostly didn't notice or think about the mouthfeel, which is nearly always a positive trait in a beer.

Overall, this seems like a beer whose yeast strain isn't in control. There's something valuable in this beer, but it's masked by that bewildering smokiness.

Serving type: on-tap

05-16-2012 04:57:29 | More by Reaper16

cfitterer

Arizona

2.25/5  rDev -38.2%

05-21-2013 02:40:22 | More by cfitterer

Lucoli

New York

3.75/5  rDev +3%

05-21-2013 01:09:07 | More by Lucoli

InspectorBob

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

05-19-2013 12:48:56 | More by InspectorBob

bzach

Indiana

3.75/5  rDev +3%

05-18-2013 22:27:13 | More by bzach

tankg

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev -24.5%

05-18-2013 19:57:32 | More by tankg

jbarletto

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

05-18-2013 14:36:29 | More by jbarletto

Beefytits4

Illinois

3/5  rDev -17.6%

05-18-2013 06:56:26 | More by Beefytits4

JG-90

New Jersey

2.26/5  rDev -37.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.25

Beer is a golden orange in color, and pours a moderate sized head. Moderate lacing. Smells like booze, honey/ sweet malts, bread, banana, and slight indescript hops.

Tastes of oversweet banana, booze, sweet bread, and a small amount of orange/lemon hops. So much of a banana/bread tendency that it did not meet my expectations of a Belgium IPA. Moutfeel is light-moderate with moderate carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2013 23:18:56 | More by JG-90

mrwelk

North Dakota

3.75/5  rDev +3%

05-15-2013 01:53:15 | More by mrwelk

vrbulldog22

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

05-13-2013 18:44:48 | More by vrbulldog22

Greggggggg

New Jersey

3.25/5  rDev -10.7%

05-13-2013 16:20:07 | More by Greggggggg

UCLABrewN84

California

2.73/5  rDev -25%
look: 4 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

On tap at Haven Gastropub in Pasadena, CA.

Pours a clear orange with a foamy bone head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Foamy swaths of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, grain, Belgian yeast, and nail polish remover aromas. Taste is much the same with mainly nail polish remover flavors on the finish. There is a medium amount of hop and yeast bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty poor beer that is pretty undrinkable with the nail polish remover aspects going on here.

Serving type: on-tap

05-13-2013 04:16:58 | More by UCLABrewN84

PatGreer

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +9.9%

05-13-2013 03:10:53 | More by PatGreer

ystazi

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev +3%

05-11-2013 17:40:17 | More by ystazi

eulerthegrape

California

2.5/5  rDev -31.3%

05-10-2013 15:46:28 | More by eulerthegrape

twenty5

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -17.6%

05-10-2013 15:23:58 | More by twenty5

Ernest78

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

05-10-2013 01:21:30 | More by Ernest78

rph97

Texas

3.75/5  rDev +3%

05-09-2013 23:10:14 | More by rph97

ccrida

Oregon

3.44/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

12 oz. bottle poured into my large Gulden Draak tulip, color is a clear brass with a small, cream y white head that leaves foamy lace.

Smell is earthy, herbal, light honeyed sweetness.

Taste is estery, fruity, like a wit, some banana, with a nice punch of earthy, herbal hops. A little phenolic, lingering hoppy finish.

Mouthfeel is dry, oily, medium light bodied.

Drinkability is OK, the banana esters are a bit too one-dimensional for my taste in Belgians. The continental hops are reasonably robust to meet the metrics for a BIPA, but all together, it doesn't really click for me.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2013 04:13:47 | More by ccrida

rolltide8425

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev +3%

05-09-2013 01:30:24 | More by rolltide8425

dalepryor

Kentucky

3.25/5  rDev -10.7%

05-07-2013 20:40:52 | More by dalepryor

hockeyfighter19

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +16.8%

05-03-2013 01:00:22 | More by hockeyfighter19

EatonHops

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev +3%

05-02-2013 00:12:06 | More by EatonHops

ALLMUCH

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +16.8%

05-01-2013 04:25:24 | More by ALLMUCH