Moonlight Reality Czeck

Brewed by Moonlight Brewing Company
Style: Bohemian Pilsener
Fulton, California USA

(on tap @ Flavor) pint is a hazy yellow with a nice head that retains and laces well. aroma is awesome - a big dose of noble hops overtop grainy/grassy malt notes. I can’t say how much I like this nose - it’s what Prima wished it smelled like. flavor is clean and balanced, with both the hop and malt coming through clearly. finish is again excellent - very crisp and clean. again, I can’t say enough for the drinkability, as it finishes with the perfect dryness and lightness to go in for more.

This is a wonderful pilsner. It’s deep gold with a big, dense, white head that lasts and leaves rich lacing. The aroma is malty grain, bread, pine - a good, strong, pilsner aroma. The taste is very nice malty, sweet, bready body with a good hop bitterness that is a mixture of pine and lemony citrus. The finish is a wonderful blend of both toasted bread/grain and simultaneous balancing hop bitterness. It’s a great combination of malty sweetness and hop bitterness, both married beautifully.

On tap at the Red Room in Santa Cruz. Poured into a big ol’ nonic, this beer appears beautifully with a pale golden color and an inch of white fluffy head. Nose includes very crisp, light hoppiness and some faint sugary sweetness from the malt. This is the best pilsener I’ve ever had, good lord. Delicious sweet grainy malt is countered by light, fresh, floral hops to create a quite perfect synergy. Smooth, light, nice carbonation level, exceptional for the style. At 4.8% this is easily one of my favorite session beers, very refreshing and tasty and uncloying and just absolutely great.

Getting to try this beer at a beer/food tasting in San Francisco was magical. Meeting Brian (AKA many other aliases) was great. He knows he’ll be missed at the GABF.

Beautiful golden hue, bright and slightly floral aroma. Perfect hop accent with little sweetness and round, full grain flavor. I loved the subdued maltiness and the delightful lingering finish that somehow turned out to be juicy and rich. Almost perfect.

Served on tap at the Toronado. It has a clear golden colored body with a thin white head. The aroma is pretty good with a crisp hop presence leading a good malt backbone. This is one of those beers where I can actually picture the hops and barley when I smell it. The flavor has good bitterness; actually a bit more than I expected for a light pilsener. Behind the bitterness is that same strong malt backbone that was in the aroma. Hop flavor is not very strong at all. The body is not quite as light as I would have expected, but still fairly light. This would make an excellent summer drinker.

On tap, multiple locations. Transparent pour of pale gold with a tall head of foamy white. Clean herbal hop aroma that sits atop a solid pale malt bready base with firm bitterness. Wonderful, rich melanoidin characters from the pils malt give it a light, green raisin character. Clean, yeast-wise. Light bodied, crisply carbonated mouthfeel with a soft, velvety texture. Rich pils malt flavors overwhelm the palate immediately, high in maltiness but low in sugar. The hops arrive mid-palate, providing a clean herbal and lightly spicy noble hop flavor. A moderate hop bitterness lingers in the finish, drying up the palate nicely, quenching thirst. Incredible malt complexity overall considering the simplicity; this has such a wonderful pils malt flavor that isn’t matched by many other beers. The softness on the palate really seems to accentuate the melanoidin qualities as well as the freshness of the hop flavors - there aren’t any harsh minerally qualities providing any unwanted astringency. Wonderful Bo Pils. When this is on, it’s pretty tough to beat.

Super fresh pint obtained at Lanesplitter in Berkeley. Best bohemian style Pilsener I’ve ever had. Great saaz hop nose. Very drinkable, very clean. Fresh grain in the smell and the flavor. A very simple brew, but so well made. The yeast strain that Brian’s using for this brew seems to spit out a lot of sulphur, so sometimes you’ll get that in the nose too.. Unfortunately the kegs of this don’t seem to age well, as I’ve unfortunately had some old tasting pints of this around town. Great, high quality session-able Pilsener. Head and shoulders above Trumer.

On tap @ Flavor Bistro. Clear light golden with a one finger staying frothy white head. Aroma of floral and grassy hops, with some saltine/biscuity malts and a hint of pasta (thank you Garret Oliver). The flavor continues to be spot on with more flower petal hops and only the slightest bit of sulfur notes. Dry finish with bitterness peaking at a 3-4. Moderate carbonation with a light to medium body. This is probably one of the best pilseners that I’ve had.