IPA
Moonwake Beer Co.

their house ipa, and they pack a lot in, german malts, a neat mix of hops including southern cross, and its lower in alcohol than the standard american type for sure, which was a theme around scotland, very agreeable session beers are in vogue, and i just love that. this is bright but not all the way clear, honey colored and higher headed than the other hoppy beers we had when we hit up the brewery, looks good in their artful glassware. it smells nice and fresh, with some generic citrus to the hops, kiwi fruit, green gooseberry, verdant without being the harsh kind of green at all, this is pretty mild really to an american palate. the malt is bready and european, of some interest here and not just malty for the sake of it, a major contributor. a bit of fermentation character too, but not really english style to me, just a well rounded and balanced glass of ale here, subtly interesting hop character that warms up well. the flavor has hints of mango and juniper to it, zested orange, and a botanical freshness but the hops arent way out in front like they often are in the states, they are part of a more interesting whole and i think the grain does a lot for this, and this seems quite interesting and dynamic overall, baked bread, earthy minerality, light tannic character. hops are pretty mild on bitterness but this has some snap on the finish, light oils on the tongue from the hops too, light lime and melon rind to me. overall rather nuanced and understated, but good and very drinkable without wanting for anything. i wish we had more time here to dip into more of their stuff, especially some of the more interesting sounding hoppy offerings they had, but it was great to get to visit and i think you can do a whole lot worse than this for an everyday ipa. clever recipe.

 

Canned in a big old tallboy crafty craft can and purchased from Beermoth in Manchester City centre
Pours a hazy wheat coloured body with good white head
Aroma is grapefruit & glucose
Flavour is stone fruit then big bitterness