Moonlight Twist of Fate Bitter Ale

Brewed by Moonlight Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Fulton, California USA

Cask at the Toronado. Very fruity/citrusy aroma. Dark mahogany color with a decent off-white head. Medium bodied with mild, creamy carbonation. It’s a bit of roasted malt, but mostly citrus and floral hop. Very smooth. Finishes nicely bitter. Very good and flavorful.

On cask at Toronado, SF. Ruddy brown with a foamy, airy head. Light body for a cask beer, but starkly woody and easily bittered. Nice British-style Brown Ale. (#3407, 4/11/2008)

Cask @ Toronado 1/4/08. Pours dark amber with a thin tan head. Nose is muted but hoppy. Taste is sweet and hoppy and a little bitter.

On cask at the Toronado. 1/3/2008. Aroma of dark crystal malt, fruity esters, and strong green apple (acetaldehyde) notes. Poured dark brown with good clarity. Nice tan head with moderately low retention and good lacing. Flavors of dark crystal malt, dark brown sugar, and yeast. Fruity, citric flavors with a good level of hop bitterness in the finish. Some spicy hoppiness as well. Slight green apple favor in background. Between dark malts and hops, beer was fairly bitter overall. Medium-light body. Moderately low carbonation.

This is far too dominated by one-sided, unbalanced bitterness. It is dark amber with a big, dense light tan head that lasts and leaves rich lacing, looking very good as is typical for Moonlight. The aroma is mostly grapefruity hops with a hint of pine and a hint of grain. The taste is mostly grapefruity an lemon-pulp hops, very bitter from the start, with a hint pf pine. A hint of toasted grain becomes noticeable, especially in the finish and aftertaste, bit it is too little, too late. It’s very bitter and drying, uncomplex, one sided, and lacking body for the bitterness. It’s like an English bitter with less flavour and much more bitterness. I don’t see the point in this one.

Cask at Toronado, San Francisco. Brownish amber, small head. Perfumy grapefruity nose. medium bodied with rounded mouthfeel. Some cookie malt and caramel, long very bitter finish. Very direct and assaulting. Lovely surface but not much depth.

Tap at Beachwood BBQ. Copper color with a white head. A mild to strong citrus aroma with a little tropical fruit as well. Flavor is strong and hoppy with a nice toasted malt backbone. The hops domiante this ESB with notes of grapefruit, pine, and pineapple. This is a fine ale. Lots of dryness. Would probably go very well with spicy food. It went amazing with BBQ.

On tap at Lanesplitter in Berkeley, CA. It pours a clear amber with tan head. The aroma is vaguely malty mixed with pine hops. Overall the aroma is mild. The taste is malty with crystal malts followed up by dryer roasted malts. A nice pine hop bitterness jumps in to accompany the malts. It tastes like a little brother of Stone’s ABA. I also get some mild fruitiness.