Ölbeat 002: Flying Monkeys Smashbomb Atomic IPA

Brewery: Flying Monkeys
Country: Canada
Style: India Pale Ale
Abv: 6 %
@RateBeer

Peaceful A-bomb from Ontario, Canada

Flying Monkeys, an Ontario-based brewery, was in unknown territory for me. There isn't much availibility for its brews in Finland. However, after a scouting session of North-American beers for online shopping, Smashbomb got selected to the cart because of the reviews, tasting descriptions, style and maybe the funky name. There were basically no expectations for the experience: if it would work, make a post, if not, on to the next one.

What about the beer?
Colour is orange with a tiny white head. Aroma is hop-filled with a scent of citrus in the background. Taste explodes in the mouth with powerful dry bitterness. Slowly and smoothly the sweet fruits - mostly mango, some pineapple and orange - linger to the palate. Aftertaste is a balanced mix of bitterness, citrus and mango. And then you have to sip again to get another round in the rollercoaster.

Crazy heavy stuff. There's a party of taste in my mouth. Funky IPA indeed, leaves me thirsty for more "bombs" from the brewery.

Ölbeat

Sorry, guys, I just couldn't match a heavy beer with any kind of Eurodance. The song had to be a everything-going-on pure rock song. So I went with this happy classic:

Black Sabbath: The Wizard (YouTube)

From the 1970 album Black Sabbath, the song brings out every heavy metal band's forefathers' background in blues. Because it's performed by the original Sabbath line-up, Tony Iommi's guitar-riff-mastering, Geezer Butler's solid bass and Bill Ward's maniac drumming found a firm basis, where as Ozzy's vocal's and harmonica bend well to atypical ungloomy lyrics and mood. It's organised mess of happy noise. Song is said to be inspired by the great Gandalf from the Rings but the song's wizard is not associated to a fun-oriented sorcerer. He was probably bringing joy to potters but not Harry. Nevertheless, in the 2010's Smashbomb is a drug that "has passed by/ giving his sign/ left all the people/ feeling so fine". A perfect wizard, then.