What’s that coming over the hill? Monster Pale by Beavertown

In September, Beavertown launched their first annual beer festival at the Printworks in London’s Surrey Quays.

To celebrate this beer-soaked behemoth of an event, the brewery unveiled a limited edition New England-style pale ale brewed specially for the inaugural Beavertown Extravaganza.

As always, Tottenham’s finest did not disappoint, coming out with a light and juicy pale.

2017 has been the year of the New England-style beer, for this writer at least. So, when the friendly staff at We Brought Beer in Clapham pulled this hazy little beast out from the fridge, I jumped at the opportunity to try it.

Siren song

Having the Monster Pale as ambassador of its 2017 Extravaganza is slightly naughty of Beavertown, given that this style represents only a small slice of the types of beer they had on offer.

Judging by the Monster Pale, you’d think the range on offer at the Extravaganza was along the lines of a traditional beer festival – mostly 4-5% ABV samples that were incredibly quaffable.

Needless to say, this really wasn’t the case, but this beer did its job well, luring unsuspecting drinkers into the Extravaganza like a siren drawing sailors towards the rocks.  

In practice, this light and fruity number was a precursor to the inevitable bludgeoning over the head you’d receive from Beavertown’s Tempus Project 14.5% imperial stout! 

At Boards and Booze we love taking on all types of monster – from the gore-toothed lions of Kingdom Death: Monster (KD:M) to the horrific Merriods found in the murky depths of Descent. 

So what type of monster are we talking about here?

The Monster Pale is more along the lines of those you’ll see in Monsters Inc:  a cheeky, friendly little chap that lives in your cupboard, would help make you tea, play with the kids and charm your mother with a multitude of stories about mildly embarrassing encounters with members of the opposite sex.

It’s not a tentacled colossus that you’d find in KD:M, which would most likely swear at your kids, eat your mother, and leave something unpleasant in your bed as parting gift.

Light, fruity – and delicious

So what’s the beer actually like?

At 4.7% it’s a kind, gentle brew with a sunset orange colour that reminds me of the dreamlike haze of A Clockwork Orange. As you’d expect with the NE style, you’ll find plenty of fruit flavours – in this case clementine and lemon were particularly prevalent – but the low(ish) ABV makes it extremely easy to drink.

The freshness of the taste reflects the mix of five different hops in the brew – Columbus, Citra, Azacca, Simcoe and Eureka (and the Citra really stands out, by the way).

Now I’m not one to advocate drinking in the morning, but this really feels like a breakfast beer, and would be a perfect orange juice replacement to go with your poached eggs and toast during a late brunch.

In fact, my main problem with it is the fact that I only bought the one can.

It’s light, it’s fruity, it’s delicious. And I want more.

Like this? Try: Sonrisa by Buxton Brewery; Juice Box by Fourpure.

Reviewed by Chris