Beer – #364 – Moa – Pale Ale

This was on ‘special’ and so I dived right on in. Drinking now a Moa Pale Ale.

In the giant 750ml bottle, this a 5% ABV beer, being around 150 calories a serve, and this bottle would be slightly less than 3 standard drink units in NZ.

Brewed by Moa Brewing Company this is in the Style of an American Pale Ale, and they are in Blenheim, New Zealand

Moa Pale Ale is a New Zealand take on a popular North American beer style. Using

Selfie

famous Cascade and Nelson Sauvin hops, the dominant features in this beer are unique to New Zealand and the Moa bottle conditioned brewing method. Its hoppy strength displays powerful floral, citrus and tropical notes, and like its northern cousins is a beer best enjoyed just below room temperature.

While the intensity of the typical Nelson hop bitterness is well presented in Moa Pale Ale, there are also luscious sweet malts and bright passion fruit flavours. Offering a heightened complexity, this exceptional beer displays flinty and mineralistic characters. Moa Pale Ale is best served at approximately 6˚C in a tulip glass.

A performance bottle, foil, cork, cage. Cork was difficult to get out! I need a drink after that effort.

Muted but lovely floral hop aroma.

Cloudy orange golden pour with a nice fluffy and lively head, less of the hops aroma in the glass.

Full carbonation, and a real burst of hops in this, not sour or overly bitter, just a pit intense and earthy like you’d be expecting. I hope this mellows and flattens out more as it warms up, it’s started well enough.

This is nice to drink, it really doesn’t have any real peaks of dips, it’s just pleasing and seems to be well balanced.

This is a great way for me to start a Saturday evening, this is easy drinking and palatable, but (and there is always a but) I don’t know that you could session on this, or make an evening of it.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8 a of its things from the thing. I have a kind of love hate with Moa, to in my head I do, and this is more towards the love, and that is a good thing. For all it loveliness though this really does lack a bit of body and strength in the palate. Still think though this is a good beer.

The double dip review

Am I enjoying it? Yes.
Would I have another? I probably would, it’s a nice performance bottle
Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? Yes I probably would, I wouldn’t however swig it from the bottle.

It was also a Bob Marley kind of afternoon

AMERICAN PALE ALE

American Pale Ales are light in color, ranging from golden to a light copper color. The style of this beer is defined by the American hops used. American hops typically have high bitterness and aroma.This is a perfect beer for big fare like grilled burgers or combination pizzas, as well as lighter fare like sushi and green salads.