Mongozo Banana Beer

An American, living in Japan, drinking a beer from a traditional African recipe that’s commercially brewed in Belgium. Isn’t globalization terrific?

I’m new to reviewing. I welcome constructive criticism, tasting suggestions, and my thanks for the opportunity to drag you all along on my tasting adventures.

I’ve been jealously reading the winter/holiday beer reviews since I can’t get the seasonal stuff where I am. I chose Mongozo Banana Beer for my first Belching Monkey review. Banana? Monkey? Get it?

A lot of beers have interesting bottles or labels. Sometimes, I will buy an untried beer, wine or other spirit because of interesting packaging and sometimes this strategy lets me discover a gem!    Mongozo’s packaging is plain but it does its job: BANANA. BEER. 4.8% ABV. Did I get a gem? Read on.

Pouring the beer, there was a big cloud of creamy BANANA! and vanilla fragrance that smelled good if very sweet and not very subtle.  Also present  in the fragrance there was whiff of yogur and a  hint of taffy.  No scent of anything artificial, chemical or phenolic. Still, not a complex or interesting bouquet.

According to the creator of  Mongozo, the traditional “glass” is a calabash (gourd). Even with global trade, I didn’t have a calabash handy, so I used a regular glass. You can find Mongozo-branded beer glasses that mimic the calabash shape. The beer in my glass was  slightly hazy yellow ale with a  small, white, creamy and dense head which didn’t stick around long. No real lacing, which isn’t suprising, since I don’t believe there are hops in the beer.   If there are, I missed them completely.

Despite its smell, I was expecting Mongozo to be sour and was surprised by the candy-like sweetness of my first taste. The sweetness  didn’t put me off the beer entirely but it gave me pause.  As the beer warmed up – I may have served it too cold – a bit more of a sour note came up, but not enough provide contast or balance. I had a hard time finishing the beer because of the sweetness. Mongozo has a soft mouthfeel that veers dangerously towards flabby. I prefer a brew with spine. I decided the banana beer was a one-trick pony as there wasn’t much going on other than BANANA!  Mongozo seems competently produced;  there’s just not much there with which to work.

Foodwise,  I would pair with spicy dishes.  Mongozo Banana might work as a dessert beer, although I suspect there are better choices.  Mongozo could be a fun one-off “Hey, let’s try this!”

I wasn’t crazy about Mongozo Banana Beer, but not having had African-style beer before, it’s only fair to to plan on revisiting the style, if not this particular beer. It also made me feel to good to know that Mongozo is a  fair trade product. If you have friends who are allergic to gluten, they can have this wheat-free brew.

If you try it, let me know what you think!

Kampai!