Clown Shoes American Monastic Review

Name: Clown Shoes American Monastic
Style: Belgian IPA/Imperial IPA
ABV: 8.5%
IBUs: N/A

Well, here's a fairly new offering from Clown Shoes called American Monastic. It's a beer I heard about late last year and never got around to trying it until just very recently. It's classified as a Belgian IPA but at 8.5% ABV, wouldn't this be considered an Imperial IPA...or a Imperial Belgian IPA? Just saying....

Appearance - Hazy dark yellow color with no visible carbonation. The head is quite foamy and there's a good amount of lacing along the sides of the glass.

Aroma - Belgian yeasts and floral hops with some light citrus sweetness, bubblegum, cloves and some moderate toffee malts

Taste - Strong Floral and bitter hops in the front and middle with an equally strong Belgian yeasts and bubblegum/clove notes in the middle while the back opens up to a nice toffee malt backbone along with some more floral hoppiness with some light orange rind notes. The aftertaste is pretty much more Belgian yeasts with a slight hint of hop bitterness.

It's a bit too heavy on the yeast aspect for my liking but the rest of the beer helps balance that out, though if the yeast was toned down, this would be much easier to recommend. As it stands right now, it's a good Belgian IPA and that it's drinkable.

Clown Shoes American Monastic - 8/10