Aug

19

Beer Review: Golden Monkey (aka The Nectar of the Gods)

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Golden Monkey BeerI don’t know about the rest of you, but I have a hard time listening to wine snobs tell me about beer. It makes me think of when it was fashionable for a ballplayer to try his hand at two pro-sports at once. Sure, you could pull a Deion and hit a homerun and score a touchdown in the same week, but lets face it. You should stick to the sport that best strokes your ego. So no offense vinojoe, but I’ll take it from here. See, I roam the streets of Philly. A beer town. We love beer so much we’ve turned the shelled-out breweries of yesteryear into unnervingly stylish living spaces, our yeast lust throwing down any monetary amount for such a living as well. Our deli’s serve up over 360 different varieties. Our gastropubs create menus around the decadence that is … beer.

So here’s how we kick this off, Giacometti’s Rules to Neverfail (when ordering a beer). Rule #38: If there’s a “monkey” in the title, odds are you’ll enjoy it. Exception: unless living off the land for survival, I think you may want to avoid Monkey Piss

Case in point. Victory Brewery’s Golden Monkey. Victory has seen an incredible amount of success in recent years. Established in 1996 in Downingtown, PA (woot) this little micro-brewery/restaurant-that-could has busted out on the national scene. Now most of their (over 15) ales served are pure delight, but with summer here, and my local watering holes putting Golden Monkey on tap, it’s become my drink of choice till probably sometime in October.

Technically the Monk is classified as an Abbey Tripel, and after a single 8-oz. serving you will know why. I suppose I should have put a warning on this one of, “be sure to order some nosh before divulging in the blessed juice”. If you partake in this on an empty stomach, I dare say you will learn why there’s a monkey in the title, as you will be sitting at the bar delicately rummaging through you stoolmate’s hair looking for fleas. But I digress … Being this an Abbey classification you’d expect a darker, heavier Belgium strong, but as the title suggests it really isn’t so. No, Victory, while keeping the Belgium at heart, gave it a smooth light touch making it (too) easy to go down, and a beautiful golden color.

For all you ladies out there hoping to out-muscle your man, but not man enough to tackle the rough-hewn waters of Euro-beers, this one’s for you. Not so hoppy and heavy, but rather smooth and silky, especially on a hot sumer night. It has an ever so slight fruit air to it. Not Hooegarden-ish lemon down your throat, but rather a light, simple (apple?) nod.

Summation: If you find it, drink it. If it’s in a store at only $4 bucks a bottle, get a case. Giacometti full approves.