Maui Brewing Company - White Russian Golden Imperial Porter

This is the second of two Maui beers in this special offer that takes their inspiration from an old-school cocktail. This golden imperial porter incorporates Maui-roasted Origin coffee and freshly toasted coconut to create a White Russian-ish vibe. An exceptional porter core, well-roasted, and tinged with vanilla. Golden in color but packed with chocolate and coffee notes.

White Russian Golden Imperial Porter pours a deep golden-orange color, despite its focus on dark fruits and chocolate and roasted malt. Capped by off-white foam with nice lacing around the edges. Expressive milk chocolate and coffee lead the aromatics, and this stays richly roasted on all fronts, with a nice, toasted-coconut overlay throughout. Generous in chocolate expression, with its special additions of coffee and coconut so well presented.

Medium-full body, leading with lots of smooth milk chocolate and nicely roasted coffee. The milk chocolate, coconut, and vanilla provide this with a sweet focal point, while the potent roast and dark chocolate and espresso notes provide bittering balance. This strong porter is densely roasted and packed with layered chocolate. Its coffee presence leads everything here, and this is just incredibly generous and well roasted, with all of the other elements providing a great showcase for those coffee additions. Definitely a little out there with the golden-color disconnect, but this one’s incredibly tasty, with all kinds of impact from its special additions.

Of the four Maui releases in this special offer, this seems like the one to prioritize enjoying fresh. Most prone to veering into overt sweetness, and those special ingredients are most expressive right now. The emphasis on chocolate, coffee, and coconut, with a lightly sweet focus overall, has us looking to creamy vanilla counterpoints, or peppery/chili-fired steak.