Flying Monkey Road Trip Sinister Rabbit
Flying Monkey Brewing Company

32oz growler. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a small, tan head of foam. It smelled of roasted malt, coffee and piney notes. Roasted malt, coffee, chocolate and a piney bitter bite.

 

Pours black and completely opaque with a one inch mocha colored head sitting on top. Decent retention and the beginnings of some lacing.

The aroma is ok, but not terribly impressive. Some burned dark malts giving a bit of chocolate, and maybe a bit of coffee. It's almost got a black pepper feel as well.

Taste is ok but not terribly impressive. Definitely some dark, burned maltiness. Some chocolate and coffee with a bit of smoke. Slightly floral with a slight hop bitterness. I don't find the flavors to be clean, though it's alright.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, but pretty thin for this porter. Plenty of fine carbonation can also be found.

Drinkability is moderate. Definitely not my favorite for the style, but it was ok.

Opaque umber with few dark copper highlights. Sinister is a stretch. The caramel colored head is two fingers at most and has a firm, sponge-like foaminess. I like porters that look like stouts.

The hoppiness of the aroma is surprising. Then again, the beer is named after a rabbit. There's a moderate amount of roasted maltiness (probably enough for a porter) and a citric fruitiness that keeps things in relative balance. More power would help.

This is a pretty good porter that could stand to be fractionally more sturdy. With this much hoppiness (Magnum, Centennial and Goldings), there needs to be a bigger bottom end with a few more malt sugars roaming around. What malt is present has been roasted to a light char. Black coffee is present as well. Not literally, as far as I know.

The hops are grapefruit peel puckery, yet there's enough East Kent Goldings character (used as a finishing hop) to give it an English sort of vibe. American porter is still more accurate, but I don't want to split hares. 50+ IBUs seems about right.

The body/mouthfeel is where the malt shortage is felt most acutely. Even at an ABV of 4.2%, it's a trifle thin. For that reason, bubbles that wouldn't ordinarily come across as harsh, do so. Aren't rabbits supposed to be soft and fuzzy? Apparently not sinister ones.

This Flying Monkey contract brew has potential. I'd recommend keeping the hop bill intact and adding more barley malt. Maybe then the beer would be as impressive as the name. The label needs a whole lot of work too.

12 oz bottle with a Roadtrip Brewing label, marked "Brewed abd bottled for Road Trip Brewing by EME Squared Brewing." The only way you could tell it was from Flying Monkey is because the "rabbit" is the distinctive Flying Monkey with helmet and rabbit ears. I guessing this is a contract brew, but I don't see a lot of info on the label.

Poured into an imperial pint glass. Thin mocha colored head that quickly recedes. Moderate lacing, but not a lot of stickage. Color is a black coffee brown, which if you think about is kind of an odd thing to say.

Smell has a dark coffee aroma, with a hint of hops in the background. Taste also has a nice strong coffee flavor. Not any kind of fancy coffee, but a Folger's Special Roast type of coffee.

Mouthfeel is a thin bodied with a moderate carbonation. This is a pretty standard porter. I do typically like a fuller body for a porter

Wow, the best beer yet manufactured by Flying Monkey. Poured a dark brown that didnt allow much light to go through. Had a nice inch coco head that disappeared pretty quickly. Left a nice lacing all the way down the glass. Smell is of roasted malts, chocolate and smoke. Taste is a lot the same. It had a litte hope kick at the end of the beer that really wasnt expected. Extremly well balanced. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a nicly oily texture that coats your mouth. Drinkability is good.

Bottle. Poured a dark brown color with a light brown head. Strong lacing. Nice full mouthfeel. Aroma is a nice and malty with a hint of smoke to it. Flavor is rich and smokey. Nice maltiness to it, and it has a nice hoppy kick that was more than I expected. Not a bad offering.