Beer – #224 – Moa – Breakfast
Indeed, a beer called “Breakfast” which raised the hackles when it was first launched a while back. But continuing with the lighter frivolousness of a Sunday then I have in front of me – Moa Breakfast – Brewed by Moa Brewing Company as a Fruit Beer from the warm and sunny Blenheim, New Zealand
Moa Breakfast is a blend of premium wheat malt, floral Nelson hops and cherries. A very refreshing and fruity lager specifically designed as a European-style breakfast beer but more commonly enjoyed as a mid-afternoon beverage in New Zealand.
Although not always.
1.62 drinks of a 5.5%ABV beer in a fancy cork and cage 375ml custom made bottle .
Always something special to open a cork contained beer, the Moa people take some effort in marketing and packaging, although I’ve found their beers to be a bit hit and miss, still you can’t win them all.
reconstituted cork gives a decent little pop on opening, and a really nice light fruit/flower aroma to follow. Pours straw yellow with a giant sized head, I’ve still got the touch. The aroma is still very appealing. No sign of the giant white fluff abating either.
The taste however is somewhat disappointing and insipid. It almost chemical in it’s delivery of whatever taste it’s trying to deliver. The sherbet aroma does not mirror the delivery from the glass. I didn’t get strong fruits, although you could argue for cherry perhaps, probably wouldn’t
So up front a bit sour, and bubble gum, very short palate, and no length of carry. Thin as straw too. So there you have it not a complete success. The pdubyah-o-meter at 5 thinks this is average.
The idea of a breakfast beer doesn’t mean that you can forego taste or palate in a beer, and this appears to be missing both those. It looks great, upfront aroma is nice, pours great, and then, well the wheels fall off.
I leave you with the tasting notes:
Moa Breakfast is a wheat beer based lager with a subtle, sweet cherry aroma and taste. Hints of almond, banana and vanilla characters can also be detected. Low bitterness levels and an absence of strong malt characters emphasise these fruit flavours. Moa Breakfast can either be poured carefully off the lees or alternatively with the lees mixed in if a stronger yeast character is desired. Moa Breakfast is best served at approximately 4°C in a pilsner glass.
Related articles
- Stoush brews between Moa and winery (nzherald.co.nz)
- Cloudy Bay hits out at ‘dirty tactics’ accusation (thedrinksbusiness.com)
- New distribution model now being used by Moa (radionz.co.nz)
A life just as ordinary 
I’m not sure I’ve tried too many cherry flavored beers, but they have never come across very good. Maybe it’s the connection between cherry and cough syrup and that’s what cherry-flavored beers remind me of.
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