Review: Big Rock Monkey's Fist Royal IPA

Review: Big Rock Monkey's Fist Royal IPA, a photo by Cody La Bière on Flickr.

Two years back, I tried out Big Rock's then newest product to hit the market, simply called "IPA India Pale Ale", when it came out, I was hoping it would be great, but it turned out to be like just about EVERY other Big Rock product that was ever created, has that "Big Rock" taste to it, kinda sweet, but had a smidge more of hops.

When I heard about Big Rock coming out with a bunch of new products to appeal to the craft beer market, I rolled my eyes and said "here we go again", but the Life of Chai tasting I had last month, I was surprised as the Life of Chai was a nice high tea-esque taste to it, it wasn't your douche bro Coors Light Iced T, it was a real ale. So I expect better quality out of Big Rock this time around.

Appearance: Pours a reddish amber, some microcarbonation, the beige head diminishes instantly, as if it's flat, but it sure doesn't look flat at all.

Aroma: This time, Big Rock didn't cheapen out on the hops, there's a nice medley of Columbus and Centennial in there. Quite light on the nose but certainly more aromatic than the Keith's Cascade Hop I had last night. A sweet caramel malt, not the standard "Big Rock malt" aroma that we've come to know for decades now. Lemon zest and overall, a great pub-style IPA.

Taste: Starts off with a sweet caramel malt zing backed by a floral hop bitterness immediately. A nice balance of sweet and bitterness, kind of sweet like your standard Big Rock Traditional ale, but with a really nice hoppy backing to give it its own distinct flavour. An alfalfa aftertaste bitterness lingers for a bit after finishing the drink. Solid IPA.

Original Thoughts: Love the name of the beer, Monkey's Fist Royal IPA - pays tribute to how the beer that started out as a beer to be shipped to India during British colonization. A very drinkable IPA, certainly better than Keith's "IPA" and even better than their Cascade Hopped Ale. This is coming out in 6-packs in the near future, so I will be buying it when it comes out!

www.bigrockbeer.com/beer/monkeys-fist-royal-ipa