Moonzen: Monkey King Amber Ale (Hong Kong: Amber Ale: 5% ABV)
Visual: Clear apricot. Thin white head.
Nose: Strong toffee malt. Cinnamon. Malt chocolate. Dried apricot. Fruitcake. Lemon sherbet.
Body: Sherbety lemon. Light chalk. Peach. Peanuts. Peppery. Mild toffee. Mild bitterness.
Finish: Lemon. Figs. Malt chocolate. Bitterness and a mix of praline and nuts. Gunpowder tea. Peanuts. Chalk.
Conclusion: This is a very different amber ale experience, examined and explained right here in the streets of Hong Kong! *cheap pop* (For some reason wrestling is on my mind right now, so I am being mildly self indulgent in my writing)
Anyway, most amber ales I’ve encountered have had at least a degree of being malt led. This does show strong toffee and therefore malt influence in the aroma, but the body is instead a fresh sherbety lemon led thing with peach notes behind. The malt body shows itself more as a nutty character, with a chalky backbone rather than a heavier toffee or malt chocolate base. There are hints of heavier malt notes but the fresh hop notes definitely rule the roost and push the rest to the back.
It is an odd beer in that it does not match anything I expected going in – so I must just take it as a beer in itself – fresh, citrusy, hints of peaches, but with a chalky grounding base. Let it warm and more balancing malt comes out, hinting more at the expected style concepts along with a growing peppery to gunpowder tea bitterness that adds some pep.
While it is slightly off when cool, heat balances the citrus notes with the malt and it becomes a good amber ale with just a touch of heat. The characteristics are odd – matching almost British ale grounding notes to American peach sweetness – a pretty good and different amber ale that it worth a try if you happen to be in Hong Kong.
Background: Hmm, we handed Hong Kong back to China in what, 1997? Should I list it separately, or under China? I listed it under Hong Kong based on 3 main considerations. 1) I needed to go through customs to transfer between the two. 2) they have their own money and 3) Most locals still view themselves as a separate entity culturally in the discussions I had. The whole scene seemed different enough that a separate listing from China seemed to make sense. Anyway, this was a random find – I was heading back from viewing the definitely legit items selling night market towards the hotel when I saw the Funky Monkey Bar – seeing that it had a few craft beers I decided to drop in for a quick one. Quite a cool aesthetic to the place.