Beer of the Weekend #257: Moon Man

The beer tonight is the last I have yet to try from my New Glarus custom sixer: Moon Man, brewed by the New Glarus Brewing Company of New Glarus, Wisconsin.


(The last beer in the custom six-pack is an extra bottle of Spotted Cow, which I have no clue why I bought.)

Serving type: One 12-ounce bottle. Typical New Glarus batch codes and no freshness date.

Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is golden with very slight amber tones. Two fingers of white head dissipated fairly quickly, but left a thick, lingering lace that eventually thinned to a spotted lacing and ring around the edge.

Smell: Enticing grapefruit citrus. It obviously signals hoppiness, but the aroma itself is not an explosion of hops. Complimenting the grapefruit is orange, sweet strawberry (almost bubblegum-like), and sweet caramel. There is also a little pine spice.

Taste: Delicious and not overpowering. Tons of citrus (grapefruit and orange) and sweet fruit (I still think it is strawberry). There are also flavors of sweet caramel malts and a nice dash of pine spice to leave a lingering bitterness on the cheeks.

Drinkability: POW! This one would take Alice straight to the moon without Ralph’s help. This is a truly excellent brew, though not hoppy enough for those far down the road to hop tolerance.

Fun facts about Moon Man:

-Style: New Glarus calls it “No Coast Pale Ale,” while BA classifies it as “American Pale Ale.”

-Price: $8/6=$1.33.

-Serving temperature: 40-45ºF.

-Alcohol content: 5 percent ABV.

-Food pairings: The beer’s New Glarus webpage suggests, “Fish, Burgers, Brat and Kraut, Thai, Chocolate Cookies, Wild Game, Pizza, Curry, Jambalaya, Pulled Pork, Spicy Foods.” For cheeses, the lone recommendation is “Gouda.”

-Nerdy description from New Glarus:

Moon Man is a seriously cool cat. [Literally. It is named after a cat.] Always comfortable in his own skin, he never tries too hard. So cool we named our "no coast" pale ale after him.

You hold a session beer with a bright bold blend of five hops that flirt obligingly with the smooth malty backside. Don't let this one lay around it is brewed to be enjoyed today. Bold and engaging without pretense, because in Wisconsin you do not have to be extreme to be real.

Just be,

Someone should have a writing, punctuation, and editing class at The Great American Beer Festival. Please.

-Oh, snap. In brushing up my “Honeymooners” knowledge for the Drinkability zinger, I found this little tidbit on Wikipedia:

In the 1998 Film Half Baked, a music video featuring (parody) rapper Sir Smoke-A-Lot contains the line "I wanna talk to Samson! Fly me to the moon like that bitch Alice Kramden!"

I never really knew what Sir Smoke-A-Lot was saying at the end of that line, so now a mystery is solved.


The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.

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