Moss Bay Extra
Hale's Ales Brewery & Pub

 

 

I like what Moss Bay is saying. It just doesn't say it loud enough. I'm told that this was the original precursor to Hale's Red Menace Amber. It is now served at the pub as a rotational offering. The smell is of faint fruitiness suggesting strawberry and plum with a taste that similarly emulates these qualities in both contour and intensity. The beer's most standout attribute is its deep cerise color with polished clarity. Very sensual. Its nadir is the anemic, disappointing body that's startling in its deficiency.

The bottom line is that while the flavor is appealing, there's not enough of it to go around. I keep waiting for the malts to step up and salute. They don't.

Pours dark amber/light brown with a thin tan head that becomes a patch.

The smell is of caramel/toffee with light citric and earthy notes.

The taste is of caramel/toffee with citric (and berry-like?) fruitiness. Slight alcohol notes and soft woody dryness in the finish.

Light-to-medium bodied with soft carbonation.

Easy-drinking. Balanced.

If I were to judge it as an APA, I would have scored it lower. However, its characteristics are much more in style with an ESB. It also says "Extra", which I'm taking as another solid clue that this is mis-categorized. To me, it's an ESB, and a fine one at that.

Thanks to jcwattsrugger for bringing this one back for me from his trip!

Purchased From Trader Joe's on Nov. 5th, 2006, warm off the shelf.

Poured from bottle to pint glass

a-nice dark red color. Very thin head. As beer is drunk head remains only as a ring around glass edge. No head in middle. Poor to non-existent lacing

s-some malt. hard to detect much hop in the aroma. Not a very aromatic beer but the malts smell good.

t-subtle malts. Some bitterness. Bitterness lingers as aftertaste as beer is drunk. no real aromatic or floral hop flavoring. this beer reminds me of a classic English bitter or pale ale.

m-somewhat oily. Not thin.

d-this beer is certainly drinkable. The lingering bitterness, although certainly not overly bitter or unbalanced, would keep me from drinking as a session beer.

I picked up a couple of bottles of Hale’s Moss Bay Extra at a specialty shop to taste, review and enjoy. I poured this beer in to a pint tumbler.

Pours a brown color with a bit of a red hue and is cloudy. A huge unmanageable head forms (see note below for more on this).

The smell is hoppy with a distinct malt character.

The taste is also hoppy, but with a sweet malt presence, and a bit of a nutty flavor. There is a caramel flavor, and other spice like cinnamon. The hop and malt flavors are well balanced, and the flavor is full and satisfying.

The mouth feel is fairly crisp and clean, particularly for a beer of this character.

This is a drinkable beer, but I agree with other reviewers that it is miss categorized. I think it is more of an ESB or a Red Ale.

NOTE: This is probably the last review on this one. It is no longer listed on Hale’s website, and has probably been discontinued. The beer literally exploded from the bottles I had, which suggests to me a poorly cellared bottle conditioned brew that is probably a year-old or more.

I agree with the previous reviewer that this beer drinks much more like an ESB than a Pale Ale, but I have a more favorable opinion than he.

Appearance – Pours deep amber with a two finger offwhite head and light lacing.

Smell – Spicy hops dominate the smell with some underlying malt sweetness. The aroma is not as balanced as the taste turns out to be.

Taste – Balanced! There’s a lot here in this beer. It is very hoppy and very malty. I can’t say one outsteps the other, nor does one really attack sooner. From the first moment, there is an upsurge of malty bitterness that is wonderfully equal and superbly malty-spicy-bitter crisp.

Mouthfeel – This is medium-full bodied; a big beer.

Drinkability – This beer’s arguable miscategorization hurts in drinkability in my book – it would be drinkable for an ESB, not so drinkable compared to other Pale Ales… That said, I enjoyed and highly recommend this beer.

12oz bottle picked up at either Huckleberries or the Rocket Market. I forgot about this one.

Poured a very dark amber, with a modest, off-white head. Very slight amount of lace.

Smell is mostly hoppy: floral hops & piney hops. There's a substantial malty backbone, however.

Taste is very similar to the smell. The hoppiness is what kicks in first, but it is quickly matched by the malts. This isn't spectacular, but it's pretty tasty. It doesn't remind me of a pale ale, however. To me, this is more like an ESB.

This is a medium bodied ale. While it's by no means flat, I wish it had just a tad bit more carbonation.

Not a bad beer. I think this is closer to an ESB than a pale ale. It would definitely make a decent session brew. I wouldn't mind having this on-tap.

The beer pours a ruby red color with a thick frothy offwhite head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is great. It has a smooth toastey scent that boasts of pale, crystal, and roasted malts. It is sweet and breadlike with a nice hop balance. The taste is good. It has a rich, malty flavor with a dry bitter finish. It is a bit earthy. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a medium bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is an excellent brew. It has a complex malt bill along with good hop presence; very drinkable.

Pours a amber brown with a light head. It has a light hop and malt smell. Not much but a light smell. The first hit is a malt flavor and sweetness followed by hop. It has a slightly bitter after taste that tends to linger.

The alcohol is noticeable in the feel. It has fizz and burn and then bitter follows. It tends to coat your mouth for quite a while.

This is not a beer that you have one after another. Its a kind of an end of the night special warmer.

Dark gold with agood head this is the malty easy drinking beer that really is an Amber ale. The solid malty midbody with the dry finish makes this a good food beer with aspirations of sessioness. I noticed a slight metallic taste eventhough this bottle was picked up from the brewery. All in all a decent amber ale with session placement,

Shazam!!! thanks to Mike from Specialty beverage for dropping the case and "getting" me a sample.. Pours a classic amber orange with a nice white head.. The head doesnt linger to long. but it does lace well. Smell is malty with a bit of pine tree. Taste is great. Nice malts that linger till the hops come in and dry the taste out with a bit of piney lemony hoppyness. But some how in the end there is a bit of caramel taste in the end.. So it goes malty dry-and then just a touch of malty.. This shit is as smooth as P-funk at their peak!!! It Tasteoliscouswerwnistic!!! Drinkability.. Damn MF drink it up all night and connect to the mothership.. Seriously this stuff is a great session brew.. Highly reccomended!!! although I dont really believe its an APA - more of a NW style bitter

Pours a amber orange with sediments, foggy and cloudy with a white head that is average, lacing sticks to the glass with every gulp. Smell is a blast of citrus and caramel, very refreshing, roasted malt subtleness. The taste is very sweet and citrus tones bring up the rear. Medium bodied, could drink a few of these, average.

The beer pours a hazy orange amber with a slight but lasting head. The aroma is caramel and slight hops. The flavor is slightly bitter, caramel, and a very slight metallic flavor. As it warms the flavor goes to citrusy. The finish is dry and bitter and has a slight caramel flavor. The body is medium light, a little too light. You could drink a ton of this due to the light body and the subtle flavors.

12 ounce bottle, label says bottle conditioned.

Appearance – This one was gorgeous. The body was a clear, bright orange and the head was one of those monster pitters that laced the hell out of my Ruination glass.

Smell – The sharp but easygoing floral and citrus hops have a musty compliment. I can pick up a small malt balance that is sweet and full of maple.

Taste – This one is very light. The citrus hops lead the way here followed by that sweet malt I mentioned at the nose.

Mouthfeel – Right between light and medium-bodied with a little carbonation and very sweet and refreshing.

Drinkability – Boy, did this go down well. I didn’t think it was exceptional at any one rating, but everything came together quite nicely here. This is a mild, very drinkable pale ale from the great NW.

Medium brown color, medium white foamy head. Aroma is malts and slightly sweet, touch of fruiyness. Medium bodied pale ale. Highly hopped. Medium malts. Nice hop flavor, good ale taste. Lots of flavor. Finish is clean. Aftertaste is slightly bitter, nicely malty.

Color is a clear red, head is full, thick, bubbly, cocoa-colored. Aroma: indistinct, nondescript, subpar. Hints of butter, and...little else, cream?, slight spiciness. Smooth mouthfeel, minimal hops, just-right malt, sweet notes jump in from time to time. Short, simple finish. But tasty, and substantial enough for the style, a style, admittedly, I've never much liked. If it's an "extra" that can only be meant in that odd British sense, that calls something smooth and quite un-hoppy a "bitter". Bigger than many ESBs I've tried, but still rather hum drum.

Deep copper hued with a khaki head that dimishes rapidly to a patchwork skimming.
Complex hoppy nose, though not particularly large. Metal, pine, grapefruit peel, grasses and florals.
Taste begins with caramel colorings mixed with wheat bread toast. Lightly buttered. Hops enter first with some citrus rind bitterness mixed with pine. This morphs into a floral tone, then lingers in a tea-like fashion. A blast of bitter metallics provides closure.
More action from the malt would turn this into a head-of-the-class ESB. Still very good and addictingly quaffable.

An extra mossy thanks to Bighuge.

A very solid bitter....nice spicy hop nose with good malt present too...another great nose from Hales....royal gold in color...clean and crisp looking....taste is more a fruity hopiness and very nice tasting malt backbone....maybe a tich thin but I'm getting picky...finishes on a dry note...very solid bitter..

I can't tell for sure, but if this is an ESB, its a lighter and less malt-balanced one...

Clear dark amber, 1/8 of an inch of yellowish head of good duration. Distinctly lemony and hoppish aroma, sharp and verging on pine. Hop domination in flavor, sense of bitter rinds early with the malt actually becoming more apparent later, to give a thicker swallow. Some white pepper and conifer needles mid mouth. The malt backbone is a little lacking in assertiveness but this is a pretty nice brew. An interesting beer to have right after a Whitbread Pale Ale...