Moonlight 40 to Life

Brewed by Moonlight Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale
Fulton, California USA

On draught @ TAPS. Medium orange with a one-finger very light beige head, fantasticv retention. Apple cider vinegar is what I pick out first. Some leather and toasted malts fall behind. There is also some straight acetic acid separate from the malt vinegar. A tinge of cherries is also noted. The flavor adds a little bit of wet paper, as well as some toasty malt notes, and a surprising bitterness. Almost has a Duchesse thing going, but better ( and Duchesse isn’t bitter--or toasty). Finish was semi-dry with bitterness @ a 4 and sourness @ a 3. Medium body with creamy smooth light to moderate carbonation. Not bad at all.

Draft @ TAPS Petaluma. Pours a slightly hazy, tarnished copper-orange color; light tan head - huge, textured - with great retention and lacing that sticks, web-like and persistent. Beautiful, honey-tinged nose of sour red fruits, soft notes of vinegar (not the full-on acetic acid I was expecting at all), and some apples and mixed fruits; dry, honey notes at the core, fully developed sourness; this improves greatly and grows more effusive as it warms. Great presence in the mouth: medium-to-full mouthfeel: creamy, nicely acidic, loads of tart, sour red fruits and citrus, with again that honeyed / apple / generous and layered sweet note at the core that comes off as anything but undeveloped: honey, hints of toasted maltiness; light cereal; a hugely unique, dense, throat-clenching and heartburn-inducing bit of brilliance (Joe warned me about the vinegar in the Moonlight sours; this one is perfectly executed to what this kind of souring can be). Just, stunning. Long finish: nothing sticky or stupid here, and a very surprising end: lots of toastiness, minerals, and light cereal malts; as clean a finish as the Lunatic Lager. Beautiful.