Nimbus Brewing Company Old Monkeyshine English Strong Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Nimbus Brewing Company Old Monkeyshine English Strong Ale. I picked up this bottle when in Phoenix and when I told my buddy who had lived in AZ for a while he said “that beer is SO good”.  I was happy to hear it since my buying spree in AZ consisted of making sure I had at least one of each of the “local” beers, a handful of the Four Peaks Brewing Company beers and anything else I knew I couldn’t source in CA.

From the Nimbus Brewing Company website: “Our Old Monkeyshine Ale is an exceptional example of a true, traditional-style English Pub beer. Nimbus Old Monkeyshine Ale is medium bodied and possesses a distinct, dark roasted flavor. Its sweet malty taste is derived from liberal use of seven varieties of specialty malts and a touch of brown sugar. Our Old Monkeyshine Ale is dark in color, beginning with a slight caramel malt overtone and rounded with a relatively dry finish from its English Kent Goldings hops. The hops aroma is mildly subdued and the bitterness is just enough to balance the profile of this beer.

Nimbus Old Monkeyshine Ale is a true premium ale and is priced accordingly. We're so proud of this beer for its body, taste, alcohol content and drinking enjoyment, it may just become our signature beer. Be warned: its wonderful malty sweetness camouflages the 8.2% alcohol by volume content. It's a winner!”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a reddish brown with a thin tan head and excellent lacing.

Aroma: Toasted and caramel malts, dark fruits, toffee, chocolate and roasted coffee.

Taste: WOW! Perfectly balanced mix of roasted and caramel malts, brown sugar, pine hops, chocolate, toffee and dark fruits.

Overall: I wish I could get more Nimbus Brewing Company Old Monkeyshine English Strong Ale in my beer fridge.  This 8.2% ABV offering doesn’t drink like an 8% beer (which would make it dangerous if I had more to consume).  Smooth, flavorful and rich I would highly recommend trying this one.  Stellar! My buddy was right (as usual).

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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