Moonlight Bombay by Boat IPA

Brewed by Moonlight Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Fulton, California USA

I had this beer on hand pump at Lanesplitter Pub on San Pablo ave in Berkeley, CA. Wonderfully fresh. It tasted like it was straight out of the secondary fermenter - cloudy and alive tasting, not filtered and dead tasting. Perfect taste at clightly cooler than room temperature. Excellent dry-hopped hop flavor. I would guess Cascade hops. Nice balance between sweet and bitter, obviously leaning towards the bitter. no discernable yeast flavors. A wonderful beer that is very memorable days later.

Had on draft at Cha Cha Cha’s on Haight in San Francisco. A terrific surprise, with strong citusy hop aroma, hazy gold in appearance. The flavor is dominated by grapefruit and other citrus with a decent malt balance. Tastes fresh and very strongly hopped, a joy to consume.

On tap at Flavor. Bronze with a compact head like whipped egg whites. Aroma is earthy and of orange zest. Grapefruit hop bitterness leads into carmel sweet base, with grassy notes. Medium bodied (like 2% milk) and moderately carbonated. Bold (not coarse) hop finish prevails.

Draught at Toronado Pub. Beautiful hop aroma; perfumy. Clear, light amber body with no visible carbonation. Thin, off-white head. Not much lace or head. Very bitter with a little harsh malt at first. As the palate adjusts, the harshness fades. Excellent. A nice find that is clearly underrated.

From the tap @ Barclay's. Plenty of citrus and floral in the nose with saliva-inducing bitterness. Stood up well to the Stone IPA I chased it with.

Tap @ Toronado. Hazy dark golden color. Thick, sticky, sweet, and bitter as all get out. A good citrus element to combine with the vinous notes. Strong malts.

On cask. Slightly hazy, orange-tinged gold colored body with a firm head of fizzy ivory. Resinous hop aromas that suggest heavy pine and grapefruit, but also feature an unidentifiable English-like hop profile as well. Very complex and dank. A subtle, cookie dough and caramel malt note adds a touch of sweetness to balance it out. Restrained yeast esters with an English character. Medium light bodied, softly carbonated mouthfeel with an assertive hop bitterness. A high level of hop bitterness emerges immediately on the palate, maintaining intensity evenly into the finish. Along the way, plenty of pine, earthy, and grapefruit hop flavors emerge. A soft, slightly biscuity, toffee malt sweetness compliments nicely. Remarkably hoppy with a clean hop taste. Hop flavors are unique in that I’m sure I’ve never tasted this combination before, but it works very well. Excellent IPA.

On tap at The Red in Santa Cruz. Poured into a pint glass. Clear amber with a foamy white head that leaves some decent wisps of lacing. Aroma is very leafy and raw. Some citrus zest in there too. Flavor is grapefruit oil up front and then a very herbal bitter finish. Perfect non-astringent bitterness, reminiscent of Pliny the Elder in standard IPA form. Another good one from Moonlight.