Moonlight St. Humulus Pale Ale

from notes: (on-tap at Toronado) pint is a gold-tinted amber, poured with little head - but what is there retains well and leaves good lace. nose is rather pungent - the hops have an almost woody and spicy character, lightly mixed with some citric notes. perhaps some caramel notes, too. nicely balanced flavor starts with some sweet, chewy maltiness, and then moves rather quickly to the humulus end, with some rather woody hop flavors coming to the fore, with a solid IBU whack in the finish. rather smooth beer is solidly drinkable - complex without being overwelming. 2 thumbs up, and yet another nice effort from Moonlight.

Tap @ Toronado. Nicely done and well balanced, but was thinking that with it’s name that it was relatively tame to the hop explosion I was expecting - and then I remembered that I had just finished a Double Daddy ....

On tap at Wine Exchange of Sonoma. This amber ale poured with a short white head that dissipated quickly. There is a full malt flavor with a serious hop bite at the finish.

Tap @ Toronado. A dark amber brown color with a creamy feel to this cask version. A solid malt base with a fresh green cut grass flavor but without the hop bite. A nice, rich and satisfying APA.

Rich reddish-amber. Deep berryish hop aroma. Rich resiny, berryish character...a bit cloying though. I enjoy the unique hop character, but find the malts a big sticky, which screws up the balance and body.

Citrus and malt nose with extreme balance. Good full and round mouthfeel with nice blance between malt depth and hop bitterness. Very clean resinous lingering finish that refreshes better than most in the style.

Draught at Toronado, San Francisco. Dark clear amber, creamy head. Rich grapefruit aroma. Sweet and soft with creamy mouthfeel. Aromatic and peachy, like whipped cream with hops! Long bitter finish.

Tap @ Barclay’s. Pale copper appearance with a white head. Excellent example of a pale ale. Hoppy, but not overhopped to extreme bitterness. Nice malt balance, slightly sweet, and refreshing.