Moderation Pale Ale
MT Brewery

This pours very dark golden colour with a thin white head.

The aromas jump out of the glass at you. Lots of hoppy goodness - orange marmalade is the big one for me. Lots of resinous pine. Some maltiness as well.

A lot more maltiness on the palate. Maybe a bit too much sweetness.

Another great beer from these guys except perhaps a little too sweet on the finish for me. Doesn't hurt that it's a midstrength. Right up there with Little Creatures' Rogers as one of the best in the land.

Pale straw colour with a tight, white head. Decent head retention.

Lots of butterscotch in the aroma. Light citrussy hops. It looks like there's some diacetyl here which is unfortunate.

Massive bitterness for a beer at 3.3%. Again I get lots of diacetyl but if I move past that there is some nice citrussy hops. The malt profile is a bit grainier than I like. On the whole the bitterness is actually a bit harsh and doesn't work for me.

Medium body and moderately-low carbonation. This is fine.

On the whole this disappoints. A well flavoured APA is what I expected but to me it is riddled with flaws. There is diacetyl, the bitterness is too far out of balance and the malt profile doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

Had on tap but reviewing the one I brought home. Unfiltered. A bit of a surprise this beer. Ticks all the APA boxes with citrussy hop notes some biscuity malt in the background and bitterness in spades. The flavour is a touch (just a touch)thin compared to a full-strength APA but it still beats the pants off quite a few full strength APAs floating around. This is up there with LC Rogers as the mid-srength to drink if you have to drink a mid (or even if you don't have to)

On-tap @ Bearded Dragon...October 08. Only just found my notes....

a) Honey gold, good bubbling. Head thins to a ring, slightest of haze. Nice looking pint.
s) Tropical fruit (paw paw?), herbs
f) Grapefruit, wild vegetation/lantana, slight gamey/meaty note, nice bitterness
m) Light creamy, slightly hollow
d) A midstrength hop-god... and a true model for mid-strength beers. Good stuff

Served on tap at Platform Bar 11/8/08.
A - Seved in a tulip glass a hazy light golden colour with close to a frothy 2cm white head that falls away leaving rings of lace down the glass.
S - Herbal, floral and slight citrus hop notes with a bit of a biscuity malt aroma.
T - Floral and citrusy hops also in the taste along with biscuit maltiness coming through stronger in the taste.
M - Medium bodied with a fairly low carbonation and a slight minerally feel.
D - Quite easily the best "mid-strength" beer I've had. Just as much flavour as any full strength pale ale with the added bonus of being only 3.5%ABV so a few wouldn't be a problem at all.