Moo Brew Dark Ale
Moorilla Estate

 

 

 

 

Another free sample from a rep for me to review - living the high life brah! This time from Moo Brew - look I wasn’t a fan of their Belgo, and their Hefeweizen that I previously tried had some funky problems going on (I’ve since had a sip of that one during a tasting and it was a perfectly fine Australian Hefe, aka not as good as a German one). Anyway fresh start for Moo Brew, as it is for any brewer when I try their new beers - I save my judgements for the column labelled ‘T’. So here goes with their Dark Ale (wish me luck or something else; say I win a million in a lotto I never entered, that would be nice, and interesting, yeah wish me that instead).

Poured from a 330ml bottle into a nonic pint.

A: Almost opaque mahogany body with a thin half centimetre khaki head that is leaving some gnarly lace on the inside of the glass. Looks good, nice and dark without being oppressive. Head fades away to a wafer thin blanket. 7/10.

S: Brown sugar and thick molasses upfront pounding the nose with sweetness - which is all fine with me. Hint of milk chocolate... kinda reminds me of the molasses chew in the Whitman’s Sampler box - it’s a molasses/chocolate/malt extract bonanza (for better or worse). 8/10.

T: Yep, just as expected with brown sugar/molasses/chocolate/malt extract flavours coming through... but wait! What’s this?! A note of roasted coffee towards the finish: which is a light earthy and coffee bitter riposte. Not bad, flavours could use a wee bit of amping - and I am drinking this close to room temp too. The flavours are actually quite well placed, but dare I say it? This needs more sweetness and heft. Aside from that this is the best Moo Brew I’ve reviewed yet. 7/10.

M: Mid to light bodied, more body would be nice as noted above, and a slightly gassy carbonation. 6/10.

D: I could easily imagine this as a 6.5% ABV knock out Dark Ale - one that is big, chewy and almost as sweet as a bottle of Leffe (pick any Leffe - they’re all sugar bombs). However what we have here is a lighter - wistful Dark Ale that doesn’t do a great deal to excite, or disappoint, this now long in tooth craft beer drinker [I’ve seen things and tasted stuff man!]. That said I can see this going down well with punters, and it’s probably a great deal fuller on tap, as all beers tend to be, so if I was in a pub I might give this another look in one day. 7/10.

Food match: *gone off to buy a Whitman’s Sampler box as that shit is G*

Trying the Moo Brew Dark at the Sail & Anchor in Freo. It poured a deep mahogany with white head that is leaving a lace. The scent is sweet bread. The taste is rich bread with hints of coffee and peat. The Mouthfeel is medium in body with good carbonation. Overall it's decent and worth a shot.

 

From bottle, Pours a very dark brown, thin off white head, mild coffee aroma and rich chocolate flavours. very enjoyable good stuff worth a try if your in Tasmania.

 

Poured from the bottle to give a lovely creamy dark head which stayed around. Nice deep coffe colour and sweet malty aromas. Really good balance of sweetness from the malt and a bit of a dry hoppy finish. This is the first Amercian style dark ale I've tried and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Will look out for it again. Very distinguished looking bottle too.

 

On tap at the Westend Pumphouse in Hobart.

Pours a dark cola colour. Head is foamy, nice beige colour, retaining nicely. Looks great.

Smells pleasant. Dark, roasty with healthy notes of chocolate and dark caramel. Sweet, decently dark.

Taste has that slight sour note throughout, which casts a slight pall, but the pleasant flavours come through anyway. Chocolate notes, mild roast midway. Slightly spicy on the back. Mild overall but nice flavours. Actually the spice on the back is the winner. Dry, but revivifying in a big way.

Bit of carbonation, bit thin. But only a bit of both. Decent and it goes down.

Nice dark ale, well crafted with good flavours.

 

 

 

 

A: On tap- Served a deep mahogany color with a small tan head that fades quickly but leaves ample lacing til the end.

S: Aroma of coffee, dark chocolate, bit of toffee and an earthy grain in the background.

T: Taste of toffee, dark chocolate, bit of coffee and roasted malt. Nice bitterness and a dry finish.

F: Solid medium body, smooth and quite creamy. Nicely balanced.

O: Enjoyable beer that goes down easy. Worth a try.