Monkey Mountain Porter is a 5% porter from Monkey Mountain, based in Oita, in Kyushu, Japan. It’s part of their regular lineup and can be found in both bottles and on tap. Like many of the other beers from Monkey Mountain, Monkey Mountain Porter contains apples to make it a happoshu beer, rather than the beer the government defines as 95% or more malt in the grain bill.
Monkey Mountain Porter Aroma and Taste
Monkey Mountain Porter poured out a pitch black colour with a load of frothy, slightly off-white head on top. Clearly this beer had been bottle conditioned as there is no way that amount of head would have come from a fresh beer. Well, after letting Monkey Mountain Porter settle down – which seemed to take ages – there was your typical porter aroma off the beer – chocolate, coffee, with a light dusting of black malt to boot as well. Once Monkey Mountain Porter had warmed up, there was a slight butteriness to the beer, but nothing that was offensive, though slightly unusual for a porter style beer.
The initial black malt dusting brought a faint acrid flavour to the body – not as rough as some beers we’ve had in the past, but enough to bring some slightly tongue twisting to the palate. With the chocolate and coffee flavours being the most prominent, the body could have done with being a bit thicker to support the flavours. In the end, Monkey Mountain Porter felt like it was more a lively Schwarz-like beer than an actual porter. Monkey Mountain Porter finished with that same butteriness lingering in the nose coming through in the body.
Monkey Mountain Porter The Bottom Line
Monkey Mountain Porter is porter-lite – needs more body.
Where to Buy Monkey Mountain Porter
Monkey Mountain Porter can be bought online at the following places:
