Beer of the Weekend #295: Moo Joos

Congrats to Iowa State for beating the second-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys tonight.

I have to admit: I like this time of year — late-autumn and early-winter, that is. I like it when the temperature drops and it gets dark early. No more shorts, no more flip-flops; it is sweatshirt and jacket weather. It has me craving thick, dark beers with tons of roasted malts, and I am satisfying that thirst this weekend.

The beer of the weekend is Moo Joos, brewed by the Brau Brothers Brewing Company of Lucan, Minnesota.


Serving type: Six 12-ounce bottles. No freshness date.

Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is opaque black; no light passed through when I held it to a lamp. Two fingers of buttery, thick, tan head dissipated quickly (which was a surprise) to leave trails along the glass, a thin film, and a ring around the edge.

Smell: Dark, roasted malts make the first impression. Coffee, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, caramel, and black licorice. The aroma is very rich, much like a thick, chocolate pudding, and it has an oatmeal smoothness to keep the roasted bitterness at bay.

Taste: Once again, the roasted malts make the first impression. Coffee is most evident, but its roasted characters are mostly kept in check by sweeter flavors of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and caramel. That said, the roasted characters actually leave a delicious bitterness lingering in deep crevices. It is not as sweet as the smell, but I am cool with that. It still exhibits that lactose and oatmeal balance.

Drinkability: It is a stellar example of oatmeal/milk stout with a nice roasted edge. Very enjoyable.

Fun facts about Moo Joos:

-Style: Brau Brothers calls it “Oatmeal Milk Stout,” but BA classifies it as “Milk/Sweet Stout.”

-Price: $8.99/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.

-Serving temperature: 50-55ºF.

-Alcohol content: 5.8 percent ABV.

-Food pairings: BA recommends chocolate. Go for it.

-IBU: 24.

-Color: 42 SRM.

-Brau Brothers is apparently proud of the fact that Lucan has a population of just 220.

-Here is some nerdiness from the website, which I need to rekey since I cannot copy and paste it:

Moo Joos Oatmeal Milk Stout is a fair tribute to Lucan’s farmer’s, particularly the town’s hardy group of dairy farmers. Real Lactose is added to the brew kettle and, with the help of a high percentage of oats, creates a beer with exceptional body and welds complexity in flavor with a silky smooth mouthfeel. As always, estate-grown hops and barley are incorporated into the recipe, and infuse the stout with nuances reflecting Southwest Minnesota’s unique climate and soil.

The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.

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