Moonlight Homegrown/Greenbud Ale

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

Draft @ Toad in the Hole Pours a clear, bright yellow-orange color; off-white head with good retention and assertive lacing; attractive pour. Nice amounts of earthiness and basic tea-like malts in the aroma; lightly dry and crisp. Medium mouthfeel: lively earthy and mineral and citrus acidity; nice biscuity and tea maltiness at the core (wanted more notes; having too pleasant a conversation at the bar!); nicely crisp, dry, very drinkable and toasty; slightly green, stalky notes over a nicely crisp, juicy IPA; very solid beer. Medium finish: toasty, biscuity, nicely dry; cereal at the end.

On draft at Obriens. Cloudy light orange with thin head. Nose is dank green plants and pine. Flavor is pine resin bomb with a solid bread malt backbone, light citrus and fruits in the dry finish. Medium body, carbonation is a bit too high and biting. Wonderfully fresh and tasty wet hop IPA.

On tap at the Trappist. I had this beer at the Toronado in 2007, and thought it was one of the best beers I had ever tasted. It was extremely disappointing to find that this year’s batch tastes like a very mediocre, blander Sierra Harvest. Mild hop flavor, almost no aroma (the version 2 years ago knocked you out before you even took a sip). I love Moonlight, but the recipe on this one seems to have changed dramatically and not for the better.

On tap at The Red in Santa Cruz. Light honey amber color with a dank sticky offwhite head. Nice lacing. Pineapple and grapefruit hop flavors with some herbal notes and light caramel sweetness. Flavor is caramel and berry sweetness with a lot of resinous oily hops. Completely unastringent, with a light bitterness that could stand to be stronger. The dry aftertaste lingers nicely.

Draught at Toronado, San Francisco. Hazy golden. Aroma of peach and sulphur. Sweet and medium bodied with rounded mouthfeel. salty and dense with lots of aromatic hops and peach candy. Above medium bitterness.

Draft: hazy amber, some lacing and retention. Aroma is rich Chinook hops. Very sweet and fruity, simply bursting. Flavor brings this, bittersweet with a medium body. Great success.

I sampled both the Cascade & Chinook versions of this (they were two separate beers on draught) at Toronado in San Francisco, California. They were about the same, so here’s the overall rating: Copper coloured body with a perfect sized dense tan head. Aroma of nothing but hops - a good way to tell the difference between Chinook & Cascade is to have these side by side. Medium-bodied; Sharp pungent hoppiness in the mouth, coupled with a good malt backbone and more hoppiness to finish it out. Overall, a great sampling from these wet hopped beers - I really enjoyed the mouthful and the aroma of these. Nothing missing in my mind! I sampled both of these on draught from Toronado in SF on 27-October-2007.

On draft at O’Briens Wet Hop festival. Clear golden color with a creamy off white head and traces of lace. Nice floral and citrus hop aromas, toasty malts and spruce. Pleasant fruity flavors, toasty, citrus juice, with orange, crisp floral and herbal notes. Medium body, smooth and easy carbonation. Enjoyable.