There have been a lot of highs and lows at work this week, and it’s only Wednesday. I bought this beer at the beginning of October, and planned on having it around Halloween but never got the chance. Then, Thanksgiving came and went. So tonight I decided to finally crack this one open and give it a try. The bottle looked interesting and I had never heard of Flying Monkeys brewery before. I’m a big pumpkin beer fan, and I always enjoy trying new ones, especially imperial styles.
Location: Poured into a TEKU pint glass at my home in Bloomington, IL.
Numbers: 10% ABV, ~380 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s brick-red/brown in color and slightly hazy. It has a decent sized, light tan, creamy head that after a few minutes fell to a thin layer covering the top. It has a solidly sweet roasted pumpkin and cinnamon aroma.
Taste & Feel: The body is solid and the mouthfeel is smooth and a bit creamy. The flavor up front is sweet pumpkin juiciness with an abundance of cinnamon. In the middle, the pumpkin spices came together with some caramelly, sweet roasted pumpkin flavors. In the finish, the spices are a little cloying with the cinnamon coming on strong along with the allspice. The spices last in the aftertaste for a minute or two.
Food Pairing: Obviously, this could easily be paired with pumpkin pie, whipped cream, or turkey. However, I had some candied pecans with this beer and they went together excellently, with different types of sweet flavors coming from each.
Overall Impression: This beer had a great pumpkin pie spice aroma and the pumpkin smelled like someone actually roasted it in the oven. Despite the fact that this was a big imperial ale, and it had a lot of sweetness, the spices really dominated the flavor throughout – becoming fairly cloying in the finish. Overall, it was a decent pumpkin beer, but the spices were a bit overpowering for me.
My Rating: 
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