Grumpy Monk

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Grumpy Monk

• Brewery: Samuel Adams Brewing Company (Massachusetts)

• Style: Belgian IPA

• ABV:5.7%

• IBU:55

• Pour Color: Clear golden color to this one. Light travels through easy

      So the Face got one of the hopology samplers Sam Adams put out. As a hop loving freak you know I was excited. Drowning in piles of hops don't scare me! So the Belgian style was the first I pulled out. The head was fluffy and the color was a golden.  It had a very mellow flavor of the orange peel and clove that you would expect. Really mellow though. The hops also had a slight citrus and pine but also was extremely mellow. This one really didn't strike me as special. This would be a good introduction to Belgian IPA but that's really all.
      This one struck me as neither great Belgian or great IPA and even these two styles mixed this wasn't the best. I've had Belgian IPAs that have blown me away. With this one they didn't go hard enough Belgian so it seems kind of watered down. The hops weren't really that pronounced either. It's a good IPA to get people into it that don't like them.  It really seems IPA, in name only, cause the hops really are on the light side!

Rating: **1/2

Cali-Belgue IPA

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Cali-Belgue IPA

• Brewery: Stone Brewing Company (California)

• Style: Belgian IPA

• ABV: 6.9%

• IBU:77

• Pour Color: A nice clear golden color.

      This one poured with a finger high head. Not to tall at all. This would sit on the sides of the glass all the way down the beer. The color was a nice golden color that had a nice glow as light passed through. The scent off the top is a strange malty, yeasty, spicy scent. You can tell by the smell that the hops are there too. You also get a slight orange citrus to the bouquet too. The taste is a nice malty yeasty mix like the scent. A almost sweet cereal taste to the malts. That mixed with the yeast give you a nice Belgium wheat beet flavor. Then comes the kick. The IPA portion of this beer is really tasted most after the swallow. You then get a nice echo of that flavor long after a sip. I really like this brew. 
      Starting out, this is a great IPA as just a IPA.  Add in the fact that you get a Belgian kick, that most beer company's would be afraid to go to, makes it even better! Raging Bitch is the only Belgian IPA I've reviewed so far that's on this level. I find it real hard to choose between which I like better my friends!

Rating: ****1/2