Collaboration Series Moonlight Ale
White Birch Brewing

 

 

 

 

I think the bottle I got wasnt stored properly but I could definitely get the nuances out of it. Overall, this beer was kind of messy. I really enjoyed the toffee, fig, raisin, and sweet chocolate I got out of the nose. When it came to the taste it was very acidic, almost on the side of being sour, but not. The taste was of burnt coffee grounds and slightly lemony. I was kind of disappointed because the nose led me to believe I would get a sweet fig, honey, and dark chocolate in the taste. The mouthfeel was amazing, I enjoyed the way it coated the tongue. It was unfortunate but I was not able to finish it. I think the bottle I had may of been on a shelf too long, because I did not get any infection in it. I would definitely try Moonlight again.

i have had this one a couple o times now but just getting around to putting in my review. served cold and poured into a pint glass, this was enjoyed numerous times over the last few months.

nice dark pour, black with a great look to it as a head of tan rises up from the bottom of the glass and reaches a height of about two inches, dropping tons of side glass lacing along the way.

aroma is really quite interesting. i pick up notes of bitter dark chocolate, sweet honey, earthy hops, coffee and a wonderful roasty character that spreads as the session goes on. nice and clean without too much heaviness in it, it reall starts to show itself off quite nicely here. by the time it hits room temp it is super sweet and loaded with cocoa and wonderful earthy notes. subtle honey and sweet malts close the palate and leave a smooth, albeit somewhat dry finish.

overall i really liked this one. a very different take on the style and another winner from bill.

Had this as part of the infamous White Birch tasting at the Holistic Institute of Dramming, thanks to Tim. Notes will probably be short since there were so many different beers to note, and drink.

Pretty dark colored, but a little thin, and lots of chunks at the bottom. Roasty, oatmeal, coffee, light honey, fairly bitter, slightly fruity, a little chewy and a bit of minerality. It's fairly smooth, and has a nice taste, but a little thin and chunky on the body, and not what I was expecting. The honey is very light and almost not detectable.

Bottled Feb 11, 2010

Terrible experiment gone awfully wrong here. What a mess...
I am embarrassed at having kept this in my fridge for a few weeks thinking that it would be enjoyable at some point. Now I wish I had never dared open it.

Smell of tartness , soured RIS, charred malt, honey sweetness mixed with chocolate and ashes. I believe this has also gone from terrible to worse than terrible as I think it may be infected.

If you have one of these, you may want to find a plant in your house or outside your house that may need some nutrients and pour this near it. There is a very thin mouthfeel and a high carbonation. Large mocha head and a little lacing.

Honey in a RIS is a good idea, but the black patent roasted malts are overdone. By my tastebuds, this beer is bad enough that people may seek it out because it is so fantastically awful. I have heard similar things spoken about some Indian Wells beers.

Bottle. Pours a dark brown color with a slight tan head. The nose has a smokey roasty aroma that is not all that pleasant. Burnt taste with overly roasted notes. Some dark chocolate notes as well. Medium mouthfeel. Just not a very good beer. Leather taste.

Pours a tan head with good retention. Leaves some thick lacing. Color is black. Good appearance.

Aroma: A ton of roasted malts, molasses, black licorice, chocolate, and booze showing.

Taste: Way to much roasted malts. Campfire thickness. Smoke notes. Chocolate and dark fruits. I don't want a lot of this. It is just hard to drink.

Mouthfeel: Dry, roasted, and bitter. Medium to full bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. Ends bland.

Overall, I couldn't finish a lot of this. It was awful. I shared this with a bunch of beer guys and no one liked it. Undrinkable mess.

Thanks to beerFMAndy for sharing this one with me. Poured from a bottle into my pint glass.

A: Dark brown/black. About two fingers of mocha head. Tiny lace ring.

S: Roast coffee, hints of chocolate, and smoked malt, dark fruits are present as well.

T: Bitter dark chocolate and black coffee. Dark fruits and mild honey sweetness in the finish.

M: Medium body, maybe a touch thin for a RIS. Light carbonation.

D: Overall average RIS. Nothing really stood out except the honey flavor in the finish.

22 oz bottle split and poured into a Sierra Nevada imperial pint. Bottled February 11, 2010, Batch One, Bottle 179 of 516, 8% ABV, Best Served at 50-55°F.

Thanks to Rochefort10nh for this bottle!

A - A moderate pour ends up with some thick cascading into a four-finger dark tan head. Rich brown-tan color with a loose composition and moderate retention. Rich lacing on the glass with absolutely no light shining through. Totally black.

S - A beautiful and clear aroma invites the first sip; I hold off. Clove and spice notes come from the honey addition. Awesome balance between the chocolaty roasted malts and meadery's honey. Tiny notes of coffee poke through. Very sweet smelling.

T - The blend doesn't work so well in the flavor unfortunately. They honey clove comes through but doesn't seem to mesh with the coffee and chocolate malty flavor. It's not disgusting but something about it is awkward and slightly off-putting.

M - Medium-bodied and smooth with a solid moderate carbonation finish. Sweet blends well with the acrid bitter finish of the malts. It has a good body but it seems a little too different, not great, some how.

D - Thankfully I shared this bottle which is what I was waiting on. Just too rich in flavor and feel to have alone in this quantity. All-around, its a decent stout but the fantastic aroma doesn't do it for the flavor. I wish it would carry over.

Bottle. Pours black with a nice creamy mocha head. Nose is roasted malt, dark cherries, a touch metallic. Flavor profile is quite bitter with roasted malt and maybe just a touch of coffee. Little sweetness until some creeps in as it opens, expressed as honey sugars I think. Extremely high carbonation, which is odd I think. Not bad, nothing really excellent either.

big thanks to mikesgroove for this one. bottled 2/11/10, bottle 255 of 516.

poured near black from the bottle to a sun king brewery shaped pint glass with a 2 finger huge, big bubbled frothy mocha colored head leaving major retention.

aroma of sweet molasses, milk chocolate, and maybe a bit of coffee and honey in the wayback.

a very unusual tasting stout, i'm guessing that the honey has mellowed the big black coffee bite. as with the aroma, i'm picking up molasses forward fading to a sweet coffee and chocolate. very nice melding of ale and stout styles.

somewhat thin, high carbonation, but it's not un-enjoyable in the least.

drinkable - hmmm... drinkable enough, though i'm not sure i'd have a 2nd bomber back to back with the first.

The first of a Collaboration Series.
Bottled February 11, 2010.
Batch One.
Bottle 357 of 516.
The beer was black in color with a huge mocha head. The bubbles in the head were huge, and the head dissipated very quickly. A bit of brown sediment remained in the glass, despite a careful pour.
A sweet aroma with a background of roasted malt.
Interesting taste, a sweet stout. Honey, espresso coffee, a little chocolate. Very nice.
A little too carbonated and thin.

22oz. capped bottle. Poured two shades shy of black with a quarter inch, loose, mocha-colored head embedded with tiny ringlets and exhibiting good retention. Nose reveals cocoa, a little booze and a slightly vegetal character. Taste is roasty, sour/tangy with a residual ashtray acridity. Mouthfeel is somewhat thin - just shy of medium, with a carbonation that is just a little too assertive. Very weird - not at all what I expected. The sour and bitter qualities did not coalesce well and I couldn't detect the mead in the mix.

Thanks to mikesgroove for the extra! 22oz bottle into a Three Philosophers chalice. Batch One: #63/516, bottled Feb. 11 2010.

A careful pour does well in building a sizable cap of brown-paper-bag foam. Large bubbles pop and crackle as the head slowly drops to a ring and a thin sheet supplied by several hot-spots of carbonation. Moonlight's body is a deep mahogany that nears the blackness of the namesake's shadows. Aroma suggests equal parts roasted black patent malts and sweet clover honey. Charred Earth, floral lilac--both tangy and succulent at the same time.

Takes a few sips to fully wrap my tongue around the flavor. For the most part, it's the embodiment of the aroma. Sweet grasses and clover honey up front with a bit of vegetative greenery. The taste changes quickly, though, to a charred beast of a stout with bitter Baker's chocolate, earthy hops, and a kiss of mocha. The only place where Moonlight could stand some major improvements in the mouthfeel. Carbonation is too high and the bubbles too large; makes the beer roll around the tongue instead of gliding across it like a big stout should. Body has the right thickness, and the alcohol is hidden well. Overall, I enjoyed this beer immensely, as it has one of the best flavor profiles of roasted dark malt that I've come across in recent memory. Definitely give it a try, and be on the lookout for White Birch Brewing...

22oz bottle, #61, courtesy of rochefort10nh.

Beautiful pour that settles in pitch black under a big frothy tan head that shows excellent retention and lacing.

The aroma is interesting. It's got a chalky bittersweet chocolate smell with some caramel malts and vanilla as well. Hints of coffee and maybe some honey though it's certainly not a major factor.

The taste is more of the same with an unorthodox combination of flavors. The first taste is bitter chocolate with some espresso and honey sweetness following. The finish is dry and chalky.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied and a bit bigger than a standard stout. It's more bitter than I was expecting.

I'm not certain what the honey adds to this as the dominant flavors are bittersweet chocolate and dark malts. Not bad.

Poured from a 22oz bottle into my Portsmouth large snifter/tulip glass. Pours a dark brown to solid black once the glass is filled. A massive frothy tan head forms and has excelent retention. As it slowely dissipates, it remains for a long time as a creamy surface. Full coated lacing, super sticky. A great looking beer.

Aroma is strong of coffee. Malts and roasted coffee beans is just about all that is noticable. No booze present in the nose.

Some plus' and minus' in this beer. It's not bad at all...but somewhat of a let-down. First of all, the carbonation is a bit too high making the mouthfeel a tad light for the style. The coffee notes in the nose are super strong, but the actual coffee flavor is more bitter than anticipated. No booze, again...noticable. White Birch makes some delicious beers, and again this one isn't bad...but not my favorite in the WB line-up.

Batch One
Bottle 380 of 516

Poured into a Portsmouth tulip glass. Moonlight has a huge, light tan head, that traps large sized bubbles. Very airy/frothy. The body is essentially an opaque black. Chunks of foam left behind as lacing. Looks pretty good.

Cherries, black malt and bittersweet chocolate make up the majority of the aroma. Sweet malts, a touch of alcohol and faint honey notes round out the smell.

The taste, like most White Birch brews, is quite interesting. Bitter, chalky, black malts, bits of tart cherry, sweet malts, bittersweet chocolate and a hint of honey on the finish. Very similar to the aroma.

Mouthfeel is smooth with warming alcohol. Somewhat creamy, but not thick, almost ale like in body. A little bit of tartness.

Drinkability is decent. This is definitely a unique beer that keeps you coming back to the glass to figure out what is going on. The flavor seems a bit off kilter, which lowers the drinkability a bit and the bitterness is a bit strong, but all in all it is enjoyable. A 22oz bottle is perfect for two people.

Overall, this is another good offering from White Birch. It would be nice to see the chocolate and honey notes pulled out a bit more and the bitterness toned down a bit. But for a first attempt and a honey stout, this is a pretty decent offering. Worth checking out if you like other White Birch beers.