Beer – #808 – Altitude – Moonlight Track
It got a bit chilly and wintery outside, and I’m inside looking out and about to have a Stout, seems like it is that kind of afternoon. I’ve even chosen this based on recommendations and have great expectations, of the beer, not the book.
Dark chocolate and caramelised sugar with a hint of charcoal
This is a 500 ml bottle of a beer that is a humble 12IBU, but has 195 calories a serve and 6.5% ABV, the whole being 2.6 standard drink units in NZ
Altitude Brewingin the style of a Stout and that happens in the very picturesque and lovely Queenstown, New Zealand
Stout Chap has Stout
To create our first dark beer release, I headed back to my British brewing roots. Not just in terms of the style of the beer but also it’s point of difference. I’ve brewed this as a sweet stout, as the sweeter base works much better with the fresh roast coffee, dark chocolate and molasses favours.
The addition of a small amount of peated malt gives a terrifically distinctive whisky nose. It works to balance the beer and adds to the complex aromatics and layers of favours that coat your palate for a lengthy and complex finish. This beer will reward ageing.
The Moonlight Track links Arthurs point with Moke Lake behind the peak of Ben Lomond. Once home to legendary wildman Barry Crump it’s named after old-time gold prospector George Fairweather Moonlight. Records reveal George succumbed to exposure searching for nuggets, but locals still believe he met a grislier fate. Although the track is best walked at night, with the light of a full moon to guide your way, tread carefully as old George Moonlight may just be out exploring with you.
The Moonlight track is a peated stout, the first of its kind in NZ. A nose of smoky single malt whiskey, molasses and chicory and a smooth dark chocolate flavour. A brew of genuine comfort.
So, what could possibly go wrong?
Lovely Chocolaty nose on opening, rich and indulgent, milk mocha, That seems like a good indicator of what might be to come. But I’ve been drawn in before.
Very lively the dark beer puts with a lovely coffee brown head, a head that keeps on giving and eventually overfills the glass, my mistake there, a bit keen
At 29 IBU this is slightly more bitter than I expected, but it has a brilliant and rewarding warmth from that sugary chocolate coffee malt body.
Slightly smokey too, That would be the “peated” part but as a taste and not an aroma.
Despite my reservations about this not having a bigger mouthfeel it rally is quite tasty, and it most certainly isn’t thin to drink, there is a lot of flavour in this.
The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 9 of its things from the thing. Lovely bit of Stout this, nice chocolate and coffee bits. and a twist of smoke to give you another thing to enjoy.
The double dip review
- Where did I get it? Liquorland in Forrest Hill, but it’ll be in the good places.
- Am I enjoying it? I am, it’s a beer that develops as it warms and sits, and could do perhaps with being even warmer than I allowed. Not to warm though that you;don’t be proper.
- Would I have another? I most certainly would.
- Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? Lovely story to go with the beer, and the beer is worth a conversation on it’s own. I don’t like the cold but I can imagine a big fire, couple of these, the moonlight and a good time had by all.
Music for this: “Christine and the Queens” of course called “Christine and the Queens” on the Spotify
Héloïse Letissier (born 1 June 1988), known by her stage name Christine and the Queens, is a French singer and songwriter.
STOUT
Many stouts do not fit the classic “Irish” definition as exemplified by Guinness, either due to their hop or roast rates, or higher gravity (in the case of many American stouts). They are still basic stouts, however, not falling into any of the subclasses.
