Maui Brewing Co. - Coconut Porter

Is this the first beer out of a can I've ever had? No. Is it the first beer out of a can that's cost me more than a fiver? It sure is buddy! Now why would I do that? Why would I go the extra mile for Maui Brewing Co.? Well it just seems to me that they're pushing the boat out a little bit more than some, they're coming up with interesting concepts and they're not scared of people not liking what they do. I get the impression that these guys are uncompromising and, if the opportunity arose, could probably take you down in a fight... Take you down to Hawaiian China Town!

Coconut porter pours as smoothly and as coal black as a Porter should be with a pencil thin head and low-medium carbonation. The aroma is heavy on the coffee but there's a little hint of that much ballyhooed coconut coming through the background, not fresh coconut but the dessicated stuff you find in cakes or in chocolates, which is probably smart because I'm not sure fresh coconut would've survived the brewing process.

There's a big smack of coffee up front, that's the opening gambit, but then it opens up and flowers into filigree of coconut, something that I have never EVER tasted in a beer before. What a lovely surprise! Maybe it's not a surprise that this tastes like coconut, because that's what it said it would do, more a surprise that it said it was going to taste like coconut and then it actually delivered. I like Maui now, they are brewers of their word.

The slick and smooth body helps you along with that chewy coconut after taste, occasionally giving you a little fizz half way through, which is a pleasant reminder that you are, in fact, still drinking beer.

What an innovative and extremely enjoyable creation. What a great introduction to Maui Brewing Co.!

Food Suggestion: If there's one thing I know that coffee and coconut both go with, it's got to be chocolate. Whatever delivery system you prefer, milk or dark (white isn't real chocolate.) Bars or melted and dipped at with marshmallows, it's your choice.

Drink this if you like: Porters I guess but this is unique amongst the breed. You'll get some who will add flavours but coconut is really thinking outside the box. I guess you could compare this to drinking Fullers London Porter whilst eating a Bounty bar.