| Product: |
Golden Monkey |
| Date: |
05/09/03 (53 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: A curious American super strength beer from a microbrewery acknowledging a monastic heritage
Disadvantages: Did I really taste baked beans?
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered with failure, than to take rank with those poor souls that neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not VICTORY nor defeat" - Theodore Roosevelt
From time to time I engage in flights of fancy and go off in search of pastures new, of lands over the seas, of foreign shores. That way I get to seek out and enjoy many bibulous pleasures. My current away-day (figuratively) has been centred over North America. My adoptive State has some fine beers and microbreweries which I will be introducing to you when I am transported lierally to Florida a little later in the year. The United States of America is generously littered with ale houses and breweries right across the fifty one. On this occasion however I am about one thousand miles due north of Orlando and am in the Keystone** state - Pennsylvania. I was quite fascinated with the idea of an American brewmaster taking the same raw ingredients and spices and producing a high strength Belgian Tripel ale. Could they do it? Have they succeeded? Only the tasting will confirm.
THE BREWERY
The history of this brewing company reads like a fairy tale come true. The Victory Brewing Company of Downington, Pennsylvania is the brainchild of Bill Covaleski and Ron Barchet who first met as school kids. After University and experimentation with home-brewing kits, they took a 'beer tour of Europe' which started at the Belgian brewery of Orval and progressing through Switzerland, Bavaria and the Black Forest.
In 1988 they both joined the Baltimore Brewing Company, spending time apprenticed in Germany and expanding the line of imported European beers into the USA. By early 1994 they decided to branch out on their own and founded the Victory brewery. Their brewhouse is now to be in the old Pepperidge Farm bakery at Downington, Pennsylvania. They produce a ran
ge of 21 draft and bottled beers which mimic many of the styles and strengths of the European beers that they spent time studying. They have taken the quote from President Teddy Roosevelt as their corporate rallying cry.
There's hope for friend Proxam and me yet!
They say of Victory Golden Monkey: "A Belgian-style Tripel. Enchanting and enlightening, this golden, frothy ale boasts an intriguing herbal aroma, warming alcohol esters on the tongue and light, but firm body to finish. Exotic spices add subtle notes to both the aroma and flavor. Strong, sensual and satisfying.
COMPOSITION: Malts: 2 row German malt; Hops: European whole flowers; Spices: coriander seed and others; Alcohol by volume: 9.5%"
THE BOTTLE
They shipped Golden Monkey in inconspicuous plain brown glass bottles closed with a dark blue crown cap decorated with 'Victory V' in red letters. The neck label notes that you have to pay a 10 cent deposit in Missouri (5 cents in - amongst other places - Vermont, Delaware and Oregon). The front label is decorated with a many limbed monkey hiding its face but with a large eye on its stomach. The brewers tell us that:" a magical, mystical Monkey whose golden soul glows with the wisdom of ages. This warming flavored ale is rich in the spirited tradition of Belgian-inspired brewing. Exotic spices from the East round out this global journey to joy"!!
The front of the bottle also bears the health warning from the Surgeon General (rather like the warning on a packet of fags) listing the dangers of drinking alcoholic beverages to pregnant women and to drivers and operators of machinery. The rear label tells us that Golden Monkey is imported into the UK by James Clay & Sons (who else?). The contents are brewed to 9.5% ABV. The bottle contains 12 US fluid ounces (OK that's 355 ml to you and me)
THE DRINK
Although stored in a cool place (not chilled this time,
mind), the top came off with quite a strong puff of gas. Golden Monkey poured a dark gold / mid amber colour which was crystal clear. There was no sediment in the bottle. There was good carbonation but little lasting head. This is a rather odd nosed ale. Sure the hops and malt are present but there are also wafts of other smells (yes I use that word advisedly) that I would not associate with the unstoppered ale bottle. Do I detect rubber? baked beans? honey?
Similarly the first taste is a complex melange of flavours - some expected, others not so. Golden Monkey has a quite powerful, rounded and smooth effect on the tongue ? honeyed bitterness, quite pudding spicy with fruits and blossoms, However there are also a whole raft of other vague flavours that flit tantalisingly around the edge - never coming completely into focus. There was a slightly antiseptic quality; again a beany tang; and mixed herbs - but not the brewing or pudding type that you might associate with flavoured beer. This is a strong brew - the high alcohol content is very evident. The moderate bitterness does persist on the palate after swallowing.
This is described as a Belgian Tripel (type) beer. I must say that my favourite of the genus is Tripel Karmeliet - which knocks this into a cocked hat. It is also said to be brewed with coriander. I have tasted a number of Belgian brews (Hogaarden, Duvel) which are strongly flavoured with this spice - giving them a somewhat medicinal quality - but again they are crisp and clean in their drinking. It is also described as bottle conditioned but it is not cloudy like so many of the Belgian white (or wheat) beers and there was no yeast sediment.
I drank this bottle on its own as an aperitif. At 9.5% ABV I only wanted the one. Because of the very pronounced tastes I would not want to take it with food (except with some Heinz perhaps)
On balance Golden Monkey delivers a rather curious experience but I am not really convince
d that it is worth the trying. Don't get me wrong - the nose, the taste are not objectionable; they are, just, different and unexpected. In my limited experience, a Belgian this beer is not. I will crave a second opinion from my specialist colleague north of the border. Overall, there are superb American beers from a growing range of microbreweries across the States which are delightful, full bodied and full of flavour. Maybe Victory should accept that you should leave Belgian Monastic brewing to Belgian Monasteries - and if you want to quaff a specimen, you should import it just like the rest of us.
AVAILABILITY: Victory Golden Monkey Tripel Ale: 355ml bottle. Safeway supermarkets £1.79
** Pennsylvania was described as the Keystone of the federal union at a Republican rally celebrating the victory of President Jackson.
[POSTSCRIPT: The Victory Brewery Summer Newsletter 2003 contains the following description of two of their draft-only seasonal beers. Anyone join me for the 2004 season?
Scarlet Fire Rauchbier.
Exotic yet mild lager... Sublime complexity and intriguing malt character glow from this traditional amber lager. The hallmark beer style of Germany's Franconia region, this beer features beech-wood kilned malts for a softly smoky and rich flavor. Overall mild and mellow, this one's a fascinating treat!
Malts: 2 row German malts inc. Bamberger malts. Hops: German whole flowers. Alcohol by volume: 5.8%
St. Boisterous Hellerbock
Robust and exuberant character... Our St. Boisterous is a full-bodied lager. His muscle-man body comes from decocted German malts and noble German hops. Lagered long and cold to refine his strong temperament, he emerges smooth and seductive, with a malty sweet charm all of his own. It's a classic rendition of the German 'maibock' style. Malts: imported, German malts. Hops: imported, German whole flowers Alcohol by Vol. 7.3% ]
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