Bad Monkey Chimp Chiller Ale

About 4 years ago in a bar my girlfriend (now my wife) and I frequented often, the bartender offered a new beer from the cooler. If my recollection serves me correctly, it was humorously called Butt Monkey. The brew with the ridiculous name was made in the state of Pennsylvania so I was inclined to give it a go. Long story short, it tasted pretty much like your average adjunct lager, but maybe a tad bit more interesting.

Maybe the brewery realized that no one was interested in drinking a beer that didn't even have enough respect for itself to bear a name that avoided references to one's back end. Seeing the brew for the first time since that night four years ago just a few weeks prior to this writing at the distributor I work at on weekends, the brewery has evidently gone the safer route with the name of Bad Monkey.

It appears tarnished gold with a head that disappeared in less than a minute's time. It smells like an eviscerated pilsner: wet malts, mild grassy hops and nothing more.

In the mouth it unenthusiastically delivers a slightly tangy hops note upfront with an extremely mild malt bill. The presence of caramel malts is just barely in the room. A glimse of the fruity ale characteristic comes through in the feel and finish (probably the best feature to this beer).

Somewhere I heard or read that Bad Monkey is in the area of 6% ABV, but the grains required to make that a positive attribute clearly did not make the cut. What I mean to say is, this a concoction that's had 100% fermentables added to the recipe to both thin out the final product and raise the alcohol content.


Proof that I wasn't crazy when recalling the "Butt Monkey" story.