Imperial Coconut Porter - Coco Bean
Maui Brewing Co.

 

Very dark brown appearance with off white head that dissipates quickly. Aroma is a nice coco and malt. Taste is also malt with coco but a little harsh. The harshness is surprising.

Bottle:
Pour is beautiful with a dark stained wood that allows just a faint hint of the grain to show through. A lovely creamy tan head builds right up to the level of being too much, but doesn't cross it. The surface seems eternally covered by a thin tan sheet. Lacing is quite heavy, marking my progress with jagged lines.

The nose gives the impression of fudge brownies being baked near a smoldering fire. There's a bit of alcohol noted which becomes a little bit of burn in the feel and which brings in the aspect of a digestif aside a chocolate dessert with a few roasted coconut flakes on top.

The roasted malt comes through a little more in the taste, bringing a little bitter charred edge to the brownie. The feel is medium to maybe just above up front, but thins out a little in back. The noted alcohol works with the vanilla to promote an after dinner spiked coffee impression, morphing the concept that the nose hinted at. The coconut isn't too strong in the taste, but seems to distinguish itself at times from a somewhat generic woody flavor near the end of the taste.

Now I mentioned dessert in this review, and that likely has certain connotation in today's beer world. This is not a pastry stout by any stretch of my definition. The chocolate is there, but it's more raw and lightly sweetened, and the beer comes as moderately dry to me. That said, this beer would definitely work as an after dinner beer for me. I think it'd work pretty well after dessert, even.

From a 750 ml. Bottle into a PAA Dino glass, this beer pours out very dark brown. Would look black if not held to the light to reveal highlights. It forms over a finger of generous, frothy, tan colored crown that settles into a thin cap slowly, leaving a heavy wall of lacing as it does. Heavy lacing throughout.

The nose brings a warm, melting chocolate; like making a s’mores. It shows hints of toasted coconut on top of fudge brownies with marshmallow chunks.

The taste carries that chocolate presence. Slightly roasty like it’s being warmed over a campfire with melted marshmallows as well. Just a faint accent of coconut.

One of my docks for this is it is thinner on the mouthfeel. But then again, I can’t dock it too much for that being a porter. So by style, it fits pretty well. I like the roasty presence it has to it. It might just be the way the chocolate and coconut are tangling with the malts, but I’m for it.