In my experience, the norms universally love it while there are few beers that inspire such invective from the geeks. I'd never had it before so bought a bottle to give it an honest assessment. And I found that really difficult. On the plus side it's gently spicy, lightly carbonated and very easy drinking for a 5.4% ABV wheat beer. On the negatives, it's very watery and has an off-putting syrupy-sweet orange concentrate tang to it. I'd be tempted to let it past as a no-nonsense barbecue quaffer but I don't think I can forgive the combination of thinness and busy flavours.What really honks the geeks off, however, is the presentation. Blue Moon was one of, if not the, first industrial macrobrews to try and leech some credibility from the craft beer movement by passing itself off as part of it. And it's still leeching. "North American Craft Beer" it says on the front (where it used to say "Belgian White" until the breweries of actual Belgium took them to court), but it's not craft at all: it's factory-brewed by Coors and is another part of their muscle-flexing in Ireland. The worst bit for me is the claim, straight from a cynical marketeer's focus group playbook, that it's "just a bunch of friends having fun making great beer". Grim.
Anyway, that's Blue Moon: take it or leave it. How about something else light and summery from Stateside with a bit more cred?Brooklyn Summer Ale is a bright and clear amber ale, lighter than Blue Moon at 5% ABV but much fuller of body. There's a soft-water mineral quality to it, almost bordering on soapy, and there's a subtle mandarin-sherbet fruitiness at the back. It's tasty, sinkable and satisfying without being bland or any way cerebral. It's great to see an American summer ale that isn't a knock-off of kölsch or wheat beer.
Worth keeping in stock for any glimpses of the sun.
Have to say BN, you have captured the essence of Blue Moon perfectly. The off putting syrupy orange concentrate and wateriness particularly.
ReplyDeleteI understand it is going to hit Manchester in keg form soon, as of course "Blue Moon" is the anthem of Manchester City and Coors reckon they'll find a willing audience there. Seems it will be about £4 a pint. Coors will be disappointed then.
Maybe though the Burton version will be better? I won't hold my breath.
Remember Blue Moon from when I first went to California and was quite dissapointed.
ReplyDeleteSo many of my friends in SC drank this stuff, then they had my LimeLight. Either I make beer better than commercial breweries or commercial breweries make beer worse than my home brew - take your pick.
ReplyDeleteSo many times in the States, after talking with a "norm" about craft beer, they will respond with "Well, I do like Blue Moon." It's usually a big let down when I tell them Blue Moon is actually Coors. The strategy where mega breweries sell beer posing as a much smaller brewer seems to plant the seeds of its own distruction.
ReplyDeleteYeah, i fully confess, I bought it due to the label, and was disappointed. then i looked closer and saw it was a Coors product - things sort of clicked then. It's a strange beer indeed - weak and with a real saccharine tang.
ReplyDeleteDid you not do "the serve" with a slice of orange? Apparently, Blue Moon is all about "the serve".
ReplyDeleteMore like a double fault...
ReplyDeleteAgree wholeheartedly with everything you say about Blue Moon TBN, when I first tried a bottle I gave it the benefit of the doubt and thought I must have gotten a bad bottle, when the second bottle tatsed the same I was very dissapointed. I can't believe that this beer is popular with 'norms' or 'geeks'. On the flipside I am looking forward to trying the Brookyn Summer ale, I like their lager and their Brown Ale is pretty good too.
ReplyDeleteWell, there are much worse extremely popular beers out there. Maybe we should be happy that normal people like beer with flavour too.
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