Boney Fingers
Moonlight Brewing Company

 

 

From a case of pint cans I had shipped out for my birthday. Date on can 10/14/24. Fresh!

Pours an opaque black in color with an inch of pillowy tan head on top with excellent retention, though it does subside over time, and quite a bit of lacing on the glass as you drink. Carbonation is hard to see, but the creaminess of the head is a good sign. Beautiful. Don't think a beer in this style could look any better.

Aroma is roasty with notes of coffee, chocolate and some floral, piney hoppiness. That's balanced out with an underlying sweet, molasses, brown sugar quality that reminds me a bit of ginger cookies. Some funky earthiness to round it out. Surprisingly, not a strong aroma.

Taste matches the aroma well. Predominantly espresso and cacao balanced nicely with subtle pine hoppiness. After the swallow, you are left with a lingering roasted bitterness. Fuller in flavor and perhaps a bit more roasted than Death & Taxes, and, as previously mentioned in the review for that beer, I'm a huge fan of dark roasted beers that are balanced by hoppiness, and it's done fantastically well here, too.

This one is full bodied with moderate carbonation and a good amount of creaminess. Finishes crisp and dry. Not quite a palate wrecker but the flavor does linger on the tongue. I find it quite drinkable, especially in the cooler months. ABV is masked very well.

Well, this is the best dark lager I've ever had. I think it slightly edges out Death & Taxes in terms of the rating, but which one I'd choose really depends on my mood. I could drink Death & Taxes pretty much any time, since it is lighter bodied, but this one is more of a cold weather beer for me, as it drinks like a porter and has a higher ABV. Can't go wrong with either, though, really. I am going to savor the hell out of my remaining can of this and I very much look forward to having it again. I'm an absolute sucker for dark, roasted, hoppy beers. Cheers!

Look- deep dark brown that I cannot see through. Beautiful thick tan head that retains over a long period.

Smell- cocoa and espresso notes are strong. Nice and roasty light burnt sugar

Taste - light roasted chocolate coffee finish. This is definitely a little higher than the standard lager regarding abv, but can't even tell.

Feel- full bodied with great carbonation. Finishes dry.

Overall - dark lagers are one of my favorite styles Moonlight knows what they're doing. We'll done

 

Thanks, Chris, Dan

Jet black with a dark brown head with excellent retention and lacing. The nose takes everything you love about Death and Taxes and gracefully, carefully amplifies it. Roast, coffee, dark chocolate on clean fermentation, soft hoppiness, mild , bitter chicory. A little fuller than D&T, allowing the richer flavors to linger. Stunning, long finish. Lovely

Chocolate, roasty coffee notes abound on this one! Slightly overdone with the roasty chocolate coffee bitterness on the backend...and not as good or balanced as Death & Taxes, of course, but still well-done and tasty!

I like this beer a lot despite it not looking or smelling like anything special (beyond being a great black lager). It improves upon the death and taxes base with just a little more of what you (or maybe I?) want. This beer was on sale for a very short time, so I only got a few cans, but I look forward to snagging more the next time it comes around.

I’m going to go there. I’m telling Mark Twain to move his ass to the side because Boney Fingers is even better than Death & Taxes. I mean, let’s be real here: Death is no slouch. But this one is pretty much one of those Hadid chicks after plastic surgery. It was fine before, but it’s even better now.

 

Can poured into a Mountain Ramble Brewery pint glass

A: Pours super dark brown wit a bit of a mahogany tone and a frothy khaki head that settles to a firm layer and laces very nicely.

S: Roasty, coffee, char, a touch of chocolate, earthy, herbal pine, slightly floral and grassy, faint hints of dark fruit, and just a touch of burnt sugar.

T: Roasty, earthy, a bit of char, black coffee, and a hint of chocolate, resinous pine, herbal, grassy, and floral notes, dark fruit hiding deep in there, and a little burnt sugar.

M: A bit on the fuller side of medium body, moderate carbonation, a little creamy.

O: Definitely delivers on what it promises as an amped up version of Death & Taxes, which, not gonna lie, on a lot of nights I would opt for. (It's just so insanely drinkable!) On those other nights when you want a little more, this would absolutely hit the spot.

 

Appearance - The beer was black in color with a light tan head crowning the glass.

Smell - The nose was roasty a similar profile to iced coffee.

Taste - The overall profile is very roasty. It was a little more coffee forward that it’s counterpart beer. There was bitterness toward the back. I’m not sure if the lager yeast was really allowed to shine.

Mouthfeel - Carbonation was small, allowing the pour to be smooth.

Overall - This a well-designed lager, but I think I’d like Death & Taxes better.

Can from lupulo Santa Cruz.
Seasonal October drop from brewery
Appearance: black with thick tan head.
Smell is bread, chocolate, malt, roasted espresso/coffee.
Taste is coffee and/or mocha, toasty, malty. Somewhat higher abv not apparent in taste.
Full bodied clean fairly dry finish.
Overall: world-class. Almost identical to death & taxes. Does higher abv mean better? I’m not sure, it’s an individual choice. Definitely recommended either way.