Malibu Beer
Malibu Drinks (Pernod Ricard)

Good, but not great.
While I'd like some foam to last past the first sip, Malibu is still a decent Looker with its crystal clear gold. Smells are different, that coconut; but it is subtle enough as not to over-power. Tastes are the same; balancing malt and coconut oils probably is not easy or others would try it. Feel is refreshing... and not coconut-cloying, a pleasant surprise.

OA: I saved this for a couple of months and, finally, had Malibu the night before going to Florida to break-up the winter. So, that was upbeat. But this is my first from Malibu (and Trinidad) and I suspect will be my last, so I offer a quick brewer review. First of all, Malibu does not appear to be a brewer, but rather a distiller selling run drinks in T&T. So they produce a beer to diversify and get a US. importer and I end up buying a copy near Grand Rapids Michigan. (At least Malibu has reach.) Because I have no basis to compare their story to a brewer's, I'll give them some average OA Hugs because I'm a nice guy who is looking forward to warm weather.

 

 

Poured from 11.2 oz into pilsner glass. A thin white heads drops quickly with mild lacing scattered around the glass. Color is clear pale straw with a few bubbles streaming. Aroma has a definite coconut presence combined with standard lager notes. Mouthfeel is light and crisp with a easy, dry finish. Flavors of coconut, grain, and white bread with a hint of hops. Overall it is not bad, just too sweet.

330 ml bottle into lager glass, no bottle dating. Pours crystal clear pale golden yellow color with a 1 finger dense and rocky white head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of coconut, cracker, white bread, light honey, and mild herbal/grassy earthiness. A touch of skunky aromas, but hardly detectable. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance of coconut, pale malt, and mild earthy hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of coconut, cracker, white bread, light honey, and mild herbal/grassy earthiness. Very mild herbal/grassy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of coconut, cracker, white bread, light honey, and mild herbal/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Nice robustness and balance of coconut, pale malt, and mild earthy hop flavors; with a solid malt/bitterness balance, and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Moderately crisp/clean finishing. Perfectly clean on lager flavors, with zero fruity notes present. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium-high carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy, and slightly sticky mouthfeel that us nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5%. Overall this is a nice fruited pale lager. All around nice robustness and balance of coconut, pale malt, and mild earthy hop flavors; very smooth, crisp, clean, and refreshing to drink. Very flavorful and never watery for the ABV. I was expecting suntan lotion, but didn't get any of that. Not overdone on coconut. Nice authentic coconut flavors; with great balance of pils malts and mild balancing hops. Base pale lager is spot on, no adjuncts. A nicely enjoyable offering, and well made style example.

 

A: Pours a pale to medium yellow in color with moderate to heavy amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising quickly from the bottom of the glass and faint pale golden yellow colored highlights. The beer has a finger tall fizzy sudsy foamy bright white head that quickly reduces to a medium sized patch of very thin film covering about 45% of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Light amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Slightly stronger than moderate aromas of sweet artificial coconut (somewhat like suntan lotion) over the top of light to moderate aromas of grainy malts with corn adjuncts.

T: Upfront there are light to moderate flavors of grainy malts with light to moderate amounts of corn adjuncts and a light to moderate amount of simple syrup-like sweetness. That is followed by slightly stronger than moderate flavors of slightly sweet artificial coconut (not as sweet as I was expecting based on the aroma). No discernible hop presence. Minimal amount of bitterness towards the finish but the lingering flavor is that of a light artificial coconut.

M: Light bodied with moderate to heavy amounts of carbonation. Initially crisp with a hint of slickness mid-body and a relatively clean finish.

O: When I first opened the bottle there was a faint skunky sun tan lotion smell that quickly dissipated when I poured the beer and was not present once the beer was poured - not the most enticing of introductions but this beer was made to enjoy while sitting by the pool on a hot holiday weekend. Not great and nothing I would seek out again but drinks pretty easily and definitely reminds me of Malibu rum from my college years (the artificial coconut flavor and aroma are very much on point). Alcohol is well hidden.

11.2 fl oz clear glass bottle with a pry-off crown cap acquired at a Total Wine & More in Austin, TX. Best before: Feb/19.

"Lager with natural coconut flavor added." 5.0% ABV. "Product of Trinidad & Tobago." "Imported by United States Beverage, Stamford, CT."

APPEARANCE: Pours a clear yellow body - obviously filtered. Head is thin, weak, and off-white in colour but does last a good ~8 minutes starting at ~6cm in height.

Appears well-carbonated. Looks like any macro lager.

AROMA: Reeks of artificial coconut flavouring...boy that's rank. The coconut syrup/extract just drowns out anything else that might otherwise be present...I'm not even getting any 2-row, let alone other malts or any hop aromatics.

Suggests an off-puttingly syrupy brew with cloying sweetness and dreadfully artificial flavour. Aromatic intensity is quite high for a lager.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Giving credit where it's due, it's not as syrupy as I feared, but it's still thick and unrefreshing. Plagued by artificial coconut syrup/extract, as though a homebrewer dumped imitation coconut extract from the dollar store into a batch of European pale lager. I'd bet on 6-row as the base malt.

No hop flavours whatsoever. No yeast flavours.

Smooth, wet, artificial, slimy, medium-bodied, overcarbonated, and coating. I think I'm getting a stomach ache just drinking this.

OVERALL: Coconut is a tough flavour to nail down seeing as coconut itself doesn't really have much depth of flavour. Malibu Beer doesn't even try for authentic coconut, instead opting to assault the drinker with low grade coconut syrup and cheap 6-row malt. I'd sooner take any insipid Budweiser, Miller, Coors, Heineken, or Carlsberg brew...this is downright bad.

Low D- (1.78) / NOT RECOMMENDED