Blue Moon Golden Knot
Blue Moon Brewing Company

 

 

 

Blue Moon Golden Knot has almost no head, but a little bit of white foam shows itself for a few seconds. The appearance is of hazy gold, with some tiny bubble streams and no lacing. Aroma is of sweetness, white bread, and white grape skin. Taste is of sweetness, grape skin, alcohol, and wheat. Mouthfeel is medium and prickly. Blue Moon Golden Knot finishes dry like champagne and boozy.

RJT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from bottle into a wine glass

Appearance – The beer pours a golden amber color with a one finger head of white foam. The head fades quite quickly leaving a bit of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma of the beer is big of a fruity smell with lots of white grape, apple, and a bit of a banana aroma. Along with these smells are some light lemon aromas and a bit of a more grassy and herbal smell. There is a little bit of yeast as well as some light spice smells of clove and coriander, giving a nice sweet and fruity spiced aroma overall.

Taste – The taste begins with a fruity and doughy taste with the fruit being mainly of a white grape, flavor but also containing some apple and pear. As the taste moves on more and more yeasty flavors come to the tongue bringing with them some spice flavors of clove and coriander. While these flavors develop the fruity flavors are joined by some other sweeter flavors of a caramel and sweet malt flavor. Some herbal and light grassy flavors also develop on the tongue later in the taste with some candied flavors and a bit of a honey joining into the taste. In the end, with all the flavor transitions that occur, one is left with a sweet and fruity somewhat malty but wine-like taste to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on the thicker and creamier side with a carbonation level that is on the average side. A little thinner of a body was more expected and may have been more appropriate for the somewhat wine like characteristics of the brew while a slightly higher carbonation would have produced a nice champagne like feel that would likely meld very well with the beer characteristics of the brew.

Overall – A fairly tasty and much thicker than anticipated brew with a very nice aroma. Overall this was a rather well done beer-wine like hybrid.

 

 

A 9I% abv Wit bottled the 13th day of 2014. Ummm...the abv boggles my mind.

The first pour from the 750 ml bottle shows me a crystal clear light golden brew that produces a 2 finger head of foam. The bottle says serve chilled but I usually don't go that route.

The smell has a hoppy flowery thing going on. No, not really hoppy; more of a dank flowery nose to it. There could be some clove notes there but it's hard to distinguish. Then again, I get a resembling nose of an American Adjunct Lager here. I "don't" get any grape like presence in the nose at all.

Taste wise, it seems like a completely different beer. The wine-ish grape that this brew is brewed with is the first thing I notice. It brings a relatively sweet aspect to the taste. I get hints of yeast and some spice but the fruit seems to dominate the taste. It's sweet but very slightly tart.

The mouthfeel is fine; medium body and carbonation.

In the end, I find it an okay brew though 750ml of it may be a bit too much for me.

 

 

Pale gold colored beer with a large but no lasting snow white colored head.

Smells fruity and spicy. Grapes and light fruit with powdery yeast aroma. Little bit of apple scent. Alcohol is completely hidden.

Starts out mildly sweet with a white wine like finish. Fruity with a very mild tartness in the finish. Definite grape taste, not my favorite fruit but it isn't overpowering and is slightly like the taste of a sweeTart candy only less sour.

Mouthfeel is light.

Overall this is quite mild like a beer version of Liebfraumilch wine. Not something I would pick over Hennepin but it is pretty easy to drink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

750 ml bottle, 9.0% ABV. Label calls it a “wheat ale brewed with the juice of chardonnay grapes”.

A – Color is a medium gold with lots of orange. Extremely clear. Head is pure white; it starts out weak and thin and fades quickly to almost nothing. A little bit of lacing, which is all that keeps it from looking more like wine than beer.

S – Aroma has a strong wheat malt character (not yeast-dominated wheat or wit beer, but the malt itself), overlaid by a gentle flowery note like faint lavender or chamomile. This might be part of the grape juice character, which it definitely has. It also gives a sweet impression, maybe like faint honey. No hops. There is just a bit of alcohol around the edges. Clean and fairly complex.

T – A white wine-like taste comes first, only later followed by crisp wheat malt. There is an apricot note and a big sweet finish, but little aftertaste. No hops flavor and no obvious bitterness, although the beer is not sickly sweet. Flavors are nice, but it seems to lack hops or malt backbone to give them structure.

M – Thin body. Low, almost undetectable carbonation, except for some pinpricks on the tongue. No hops or alcohol burn. Sweetness coats the tongue after the swallow.

O – The overall impression is of a thin, sweet, un-beer-like beer. Some complexity from grapes and fruity/flowery aromas and flavors, but there’s not enough malt and/or hops to give a beer reference point. Although this is definitely drinkable and smooth, it is not a great beer. The best thing about it is the low price for a large bottle of strong brew.

750 ml bottle poured into a Blue Moon tulip.
9% ABV,

A - Golden Knot has a soft glow of warm golden honey with carbonation rising to the white head through the vibrantly clear beer. The plush head lowers slowly leaving lace on the glass.

S - Surprisingly spicy, fragrant notes of white pepper and clay yeast esters join the sweet aroma of plump Chardonnay grapes, smooth malt, and soft wheat, faint warm alcohol trailing in the background. Golden Knot showcases the marriage of wine and beer very well with it's inviting aroma.

T - Subtle yeast characteristics impart notes of clay, banana, and a delicate spice but are quickly subdued by powerful honey-like sweetness and white grape skin, pilsner-like malt adding to it.

M - This muscular beer hides it's rippling body well as 9% ABV barely peeks through the full, sweet body, unchecked by hop balance and only encouraged by the Chardonnay grape juice. Wheat does a good job of softening the feel, lightening it mildly along the finish.

O - Blue Moon's Golden Knot has an intoxicating aroma that brings wine and beer together wonderfully but the taste fails to follow through with it's end of the bargain, choosing heavy, unbridled sweetness over balance and harmony for an outcome that the average craft beer / wine consumer might enjoy but this cloying beer is best poured into a few glasses.