Maui Brewing Company - Coconut Porter

Two weeks ago, I moved into a new place in northwest DC. The fridge that came with the apartment had a vertical can chute, wherein your enterprising wine-and-beer blogger could put around 10 cans of beer in readily-available fashion. This led me to explore the different beer varieties in cans, something I normally would not think to do.

There always was this old association that canned beer equals cheaper beers. And in the past, maybe that was true. But today it seems that there's a whole beer subculture of brewers who brew specifically for cans - a process called "microcanning." One of the benefits of putting beers in cans is that there's no way for light to get in the can, so the beer's taste and composition is not affected at all by the sun's rays. Likewise, the microcanning process can pull more air out of the can before sealing, thus reducing the deleterious effects of too much air. And those craft brewers who know the benefits of cans (and those beer drinkers who know that they are not receiving a lesser product by buying beer in cans) end up winning in the end. Throw in the benefits of safety (no breaking  glass), portability, recycling (many communities do not have glass recycling facilities, but they do have aluminum recycling), and the ability to take cans to parks and sporting events, and you've got yourself a winner. It's just up to you to find which ones you like.

So in order to utilize this new can chute, I perused the canned beer section at my local Whole Foods on P Street in DC. There were some I tried and liked (such as DC Brau's Belgian white, 21st Amendment's Sneak Attack, and Maui's Mana Wheat) until I spotting this gem hiding behind the Belgian wheat section:

Straight from Hawai'i, Maui Brewing Company's coconut porter instantly piqued my interest. As a fan of well-made beers brewed with unique ingredients, the thought of coconut mixed with beer was interesting. I'd never tried a beer like this, and I imagined a light, bright beer with a prominent coconut milk taste. What I got was exactly the opposite.

This is beer is dark. The word "porter" should have given that away.

Right out of the can it had a nice aroma of coconut and produced a thick buff-colored head. I let the beer sit for a few minutes to open up a bit.

This beer is simply excellent. The first sip is one of sweet, oaky porter paired with just a hint of coconut. The taste overall is one of leathery malts, dark chocolate, coconut, and roasted coffee beans. It's undeniably silky smooth, and sweet, with absolutely no alcohol burn or taste. The coconut flavors really come out in the aftertaste, which is brings out the roasted bean taste and little taste of hops. There are also tiny coconut particles mixed in, too, which is cool.

The real reason why the coconut porter is a winner is that the flavors contained in the beer are so well-paired. Some beers, like Rogue's Voodoo Doughnut, simply fail at mixing flavors correctly. I also had a truly awful watermelon lager a few years back that also sucked. But this beer merges the flavors of coconut perfectly with the base porter. There's no conflict, and the flavors work perfectly in concert to provide a delicious, deep, sweet beer. There's no harshness to it, so you could easily savor this beer. I wouldn't pair this with anything, because the beer is so good. I would definitely recommend it, although it costs $11.99 for a 4-pack. It's a little more expensive than your typical six-pack but absolutely worth the cost.