I received a six-pack of Cacade Lakes‘ Monkey Face Porter from a friend for Christmas, and figured it was time for a review. I’ve been shockingly lax on reviewing our local fare here, I realize; so, expect more beer reviews and tasting notes in the future on local brews (and more generally).

First, tasting notes that I jotted down:

Appearance: Solid dark amber-brown in color, rich coffee. Poured with a half-inch of tan head that dissipated quickly.

Smell/aroma: Mahogany, roast malt, black patent, dark chocolate. No real hop characteristic.

Taste: First impression: smokey malt. I can taste the black patent and roasted malt. There’s some chocolate, but not as prevalent to me. Dry. Coffee-roasty-bitter, but very mild hops. Pretty straightforward porter, no off flavors, and nothing fancy lurking in the background.

Mouthfeel: On the thin side of medium; thinner, I think, than a porter should be. Creamy carbonation.

My overall impression is a decent, dry, creamy yet thin porter. I can taste the black patent malt, it’s bitter but not overwhelming. I like it, it’s very drinkable. The website talks about chocolate quite a bit, but it’s just not that prevalent for me. Still, it’s a good porter, if thin bodied.

BeerAdvocate is on the fence, scoring it 81 (out of 100), with only 64% approval—it’s important to note, however, that only 13 reviews are applied to this score, so it’s not as representative as some of the more well-known beers.