Moonlight Artemis Gruit

Brewed by Moonlight Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Fulton, California USA

Strange brew. Pours red brown with a thin white head. Strange smell, almost of a cleaning product--piney, yet a little bit smoked. Tastes a bit the same, but the cardamon is overwhelming.

On tap at City Beer. So this is a gruit, is it? It is a strange brew no doubt. Pours a slightly cloudy medium amber with a nice whitish head. Aroma is very herbal with oregano, thyme, rosemary, and pine. Flavor is dominated by oregano, alone with some other herbs and maybe even flowers. Pine and thyme again present on the flavor. Body is medium with average carbonation. Interesting, but overall not great in my opinion.

Draft at Toad in the Hole. Hazy amber with dense off-white head. Piney, medicinal, and slightly smoky aroma. Initial sips are hard to take and leave me wanting for a bit more sweetness, but given time,a nice rich herbal tone fills the palate like a Läkerol. Finish is still just a touch bitter.

Draft. Rich amber beer with a light tan colored head. Herbal aroma. Herbal (mostly thyme and oregano) flavor with sweet malt. Medium bodied. Heerbal qualities linger with sweet malt and light spruce.

Draft @ Flavor. Pours a slightly hazy, effervescent orange-amber color; light tan head with beautiful fine-bubbled lacing. Heavy amounts of aromatic floral notes, with hints of Indian spices and, seriously, loads of floral and spice notes; a very interesting nose. Medium mouthfeel: following the aroma, loads of floral notes, light candy sugar and that prevalent Indian spice (no one told me this was a gruit); really nice, unique integration of foreign-seeming spices. Medium finish: light sugar, lingering spice, toasted malts; balanced end; odd, distinguished.

Light brown with a fluffy white head. Very earthy spicy aroma and taste with a dominant flavor of cardamom.