Thus Let Us Drink Beer - Moon Dog
Claiming that it is currently not a bad time for Australian craft beers and breweries would be an understatement par excellence. We are not talking brewing concoctions for the sake of novelty, but beer making that excites the palate and makes one look forward to upcoming releases.
A brewery that has intrigued me ever since I came across them at Melbourne’s Beer Week is Moon Dog , specifically because of their limited releases that proved not only to be a delight to drink but whose presentation and naming was also on point – in some ways the nomenclature reminded me a bit of the genesis of names for the expressions of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.
Now, if you like craft beer, the mere mention Moon Dog having created Cognac barrel-aged double IPA along other beers that run the gamut from lagers via stouts to sources, all presented in visually and aesthetically pleasing packaging that despite all its idiosyncratic features depending on the individual beers, always carries the creative DNA of Moon Dog.
As you might have gathered, experimentation is key and things get interesting once you leave the territory of their delicious core range, which I find popping up as staples in more and more quality bars, i.e. Old Mate pale ale, Mack Daddy dark ale, Beer Can and their deliciously hoppy Lager with its well-balanced bitterness.
Moon Dog Mack Daddy is a Dark Ale, and again, a deliciously hoppy one at that and the more robust roasty chocolate flavours one would expect from a dark brew.
Let’s delve into more interesting emissions, shall we?
It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Beer is, well, a big, rich dark Christmas beer and being a sticky date quad, it makes an ideal companion to your dessert, or, a welcome alternative to that. I had it with a dram of Laphroaig’s Quarter Cask, and it made for a boilermaker combination that took things to the next level.
Moon Dog has a range of revolving more traditional IPAs, the common denominator of which is that their hop game is on point. Take for example the Tiger’s IPA, named after the brewery’s dog, which is heavily informed by the usage of Kiwi hops, which is not as bold as other Moon Dog beers and brings with its fruity flavour that culminate in a melange of apricots and melon subtlety into the mix.
While the aforementioned should make your mouth water, we have not even covered the tip of the iceberg yet as learning more about Moon Dog’s special releases, we need to look at covering the brewery with further instalments to do justice to how they have refined the art of turning things to 11 in terms of the triumvirate of boundary pushing brewing, flavours that leave you smacking your lips and presentation that is a feast for the eyes.
---
Photos from company website
