Chocolate Salty Balls
Moon Dog Craft Brewery

330ml bottle, Bottled on 29/09/2014. Black with an aggressive, towering tan head which would probably still be there if I didn't drink the beer. Nice lacing. Delicious aroma of chocolate and coffee. Light to medium sweetness and light bitterness. Medium bodied with a sublime, fluffy texture which seems to disappear in a puff. Coffee taste in the finish and finally a touch of salt. Quite likeable. 8.

I had a 330ml bottle. This beer won a bronze medal in the 2014 Craft Beer Industry of Australia awards in the Specialty Beer category.
Appearance: pour good dark black colour with deep chocolate brown head. Good lacing remains after head settles. Very appealing.
Aroma: dark roasted malts offering some coffee aroma present.
Flavour: dark bitter chocolate flavours coming through on the front palate with a very dry finish, possibly from the addition of some salt. I would describe as quite a savoury beer. Should have it with some cured meat like beef jerky or a but don't have any on hand!
Overall: excellent and different dark beer, very enjoyable, flavoursome, savoury and bitter.

 

 

 

Pours black with a massive head.
Nose shows sweet bready malt, nutty and toast notes, cocoa.
More cocoa as a flavour, some subtle salt, soft booze and dry roast.

Moon Dog are at it again - their crazy-beer-madness thing, this time in the form of a South Park reference [RIP Isaac “Chef” Hayes], and a Stout to boot! I should also mention those mad Kiwi brew-scientists at Garage Project have also joined in on the mayhem in crafting this chocolate salted treat. What really piqued me about this brew is not the “chocolate” part (I’ve had loads of chocolate beers) but the “salted” aspect. I hope this is one damn salty Stout.

Poured from a 330ml bottle into a Duvel tulip.

A: Almost completely black body, with bits of yeast at the bottom of the glass, and a light caramel brown thick 1cm head that says: “Oi! You got a problem ‘ere!? No? I didn’t think so” (with a cockney accent). 8/10.

S: Dark and milk chocolate with a touch of unroasted coffee bean, and a woody/smoky background. No aroma of salt... does salt even have an aroma? I’ll just go check... yes it does. None of that here. Not really a lot to help it stand out amongst the billion+ Imperial Stouts out there. 6/10.

T: First off: Rich and luxurious mouthfeel. I know I’ve jumped the gun, but the mouthfeel really is splendiferous. Dark and milk chocolate mingled with the aforementioned coffee bean, some wood and smoke, and yes; salt makes a bemused appearance. The flavour profile is sweet upfront, then a smidgen of salt pops up with a slightly herbal bitter finish to restrain everything. More “Chocolate Herbal Balls” than “Chocolate Salty Balls” but eh, it’s pretty damn tasty. 8/10.

M: Superb, dense, rich medium-bodied with a velvety creamy carbonation, and if you think I’m laying on the adjectives that’s only because this is one of the best “M’s” I’ve ever experienced. 10/10.

D: Moon Dog collaborating with Garage Project has turned out a wholly sane and drinkable Stout, that at 8.2% ABV is almost too little of a challenge for my buds, I was hoping for a bit more mad scientist and a bit less “Here’s a chocolate Stout. Here’s some salt. Let’s rack it.” Still it is damn smooth, and damn tasty, and (unfortunately) damn expensive. Bring the price down, brew it year-round and you’ve got yourself a winner here folks. 7/10.

Food match: I would like to suggest something other than “after dinner cigars” for an Imperial Stout, so how about pan-seared cured venison with lingonberry sauce, roasted potato, rosemary and grilled Brussel sprouts.

 

 

This is a collaboration with Garage Project and pours the darkest brown almost black hue with a two finger chocolate laced head and lacing here and there, smell is milk chocolate, dark malts, a touch of smoke and dark fruits, the mouthfeel is medium bodied and well carbonated with tastes of dark and milk chocolate, herbal hops and finished with a lingering dryness and overall not bad and worth a taste cheers.