Maui Brewing Company - Coconut Porter review

Coconut Porter? What? Not once in my brewing adventures would I expect to see or hear about coconut being added to a beer. I saw this on the shelf at a local liquor store and decided to give it a try. I'm not typically a fan of fruit in beer so how would this compare? This beer comes from the islands of Hawaii from Maui Brewing Company. I think I've had their Bikini Blonde beer somewhere once but can't recall much about it. The beer comes in a 4-pack and it was priced at $10.99 which I thought a little steep for 4 craft brews. It wasn't any sort of imperial brew, alcohol looks to come in around 6%. I love porters and I don't mind coconut so I had to give it a try.

The other seemingly interesting thing about this beer is that not only does it come in a 4 pack but the 4 beers are actually cans and not bottles. I am a fan of this as it's easier to clean up sometimes and are a little lighter weight. A lot of craft breweries are turning away from bottles and going back to cans. I see more and more alternative in the beer stores every time I go in. The first I had was Dale's Pale Ale. Pale Ale in a can? Yup. Good? Yup.

The coconut porter pours with a darker head, almost brown in color. The color of the brew is very dark, and you can't see through it. There is no hop character to the nose which is expected but this beer has a really good aroma of roasted malts, and hints of chocolate. The porter is not overly carbonated, again that's right on with the style. The first taste is a bit harsh to get used to. You are hit with a few items right in the front of the palette. First, a dark malt maybe black or brown malt that has a slight strong souring flavor. It's not overpowering but it's there. Chocolate notes really come through along with that roast expected from a porter. The coconut flavor is subtle and not overpowering. It's more of an after taste than right up front. Hops don't play much of a factor here, cocoa and burnt malty flavoring. It has a little sweetness to the beer most likely from all of the malts used.

Overall the beer is a solid beer but I fear the coconut would stray a lot of folks away from this beer. If you removed the coconut I think the porter stands alone by itself as a really good beer. I think I would rate it 6/10 with the cocout and more like 8/10 without. I'm not a big coconut fan though so that may impair my judging a little. Give it a try yourself and see what you think.