Live Transmission

Live Transmission is Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery’s entrée into the hot and trendy world of milkshake IPAs. On top of lactose, this 6.3% ale from Barrie, Ontario is brewed with coconut white tea, orange peel, and grapefruit.

Golden-hued and slightly hazy, Live Transmission pours with a sudsy crown of white head. It has a wildly juicy aroma—primarily driven by big citrus notes, but also a not so subtle coconut element that gives it a very tropical scent. LT has a fairly smooth and creamy mouthfeel for an IPA, owing to the lactose. The flavour is substantial, with fruity notes to spare, but it is also, to my mind, way too sweet. The finish has some bitterness, but it was a bit too little too late.

Personally, I like a milkshake IPA alright, but I think their execution requires something really tart or really bitter to set off the creaminess. This one has beautiful flavours, but I didn’t find the sweetness as complementary as it could have been. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good beer made by a great brewery, but compared to Smashbomb or Juicy Ass, Live Transmission was just fair.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Fruit Helmet

I’m pretty late to the game, but Milkshake IPAs and pale ales are a big deal now. I’ve tried a couple, but Bellwoods Brewery and Evil Twin’s Fruit Helmet is my first review of the style. Milkshake Ales are a recent trend, brewed with fruit and lactose sugar. Evil Twin/Bellwoods’ Torontonian take, Fruit Helmet, features guava, passion fruit, and raspberry, and clocks in at 5.6% alcohol.

Sold in stylish 500mL bottles, Fruit Helmet is a rosy-hued, juicy, and milky ale. It’s opaque and pours with a thin layer of white head. The nose is dynamically fruity—sweet, with notes of grapefruit and tart raspberry. The flavour is equally fruity, though the notes are a bit different—primarily tropical, but with a rowdy berry tartness. The finish continues the fruity trend, but also packs a murky, bitter taste.

I understand that milkshake IPAs and APAs are an established style, but Fruit Helmet tastes to me like an innovative and inventive grog. It was juicy, thick, and altogether unfamiliar, but in a way that left me thirsty for more. A bit more booze could have helped the effort, but this stuff was already solid, with ample bitterness and big flavour. Bitter, yet tart, yet juicy, but still smooth—this is one of the finest Ontario ales I’ve tried in 2017.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10.