Left Hand Brewing Company 400 Pound Monkey

Brewery: Left Hand Brewing Company
Location: Longmont, CO
Style: IPA
Brewery Website
Rating: A

Today we get the monkey off our back and into our glass. A 400 pound monkey to be exact. Left Hand Brewing's English-style IPA pours up a deep gold color with a very short white head. The nose has a whiff of "Eurolager" along with some spice and fruity hops.

On the palate the grainy malt hits at the same time as the hops.  The hops here have a great spiciness to them along with a touch of pine and some herbal notes as well. In addition, there is a solid bitter bite from the hops. The malt has pretzel and pasta dough components to its side of the flavor profile. There are also some woody notes and a touch of alcohol. A hint of sweetness presents as a malt syrup/honeyed flavor. The 400 Pound Monkey is medium bodied with some mouth-coating astringency. The finish has lingering grains and some faint oakiness, but the dominant note is spice and piny hops.

Left Hand Brewery has a real winner on their hands with their 400 lb Monkey. This is a refreshing change from the typical west coast Cascade-fest IPA. There is a nice bit of malt here, but the hops really take the center stage. I really love the unique spice and pine hop character this beer. I can't recommend this enough to IPA fans who are looking for a bit of a break from the same old thing.