Blue Moon Winter Sample Pack 2014: Blue Moon Belgian White

Brewed By: Miller Brewing Company (MillerCoors) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin   

Purchased: 12oz bottle from the Blue Moon Winter Sampler 2014 bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Belgian White, 5.4%

Reported IBUs: 9

DAE Macro sampler packs?

Over the past few years of penning horrible blog reviews, I have never actually reviewed one of America's classic beers: Blue Moon Belgian White. I did review their god-awful Grand Cru once upon a time, but how about some of their more seminal releases? I couldn't pass up on the Winter Sampler Pack for 2014. This thing cost about $15, and comes with five unique beers. Well, five really, because who hasn't had the Belgian White? About MillerCoors aka Blue Moon:

Blue Moon was first brewed in 1995 at one of MillerCoors' R&D arms; in a sandlot, in Denver, Colorado, by Keith Villa. Keith Villa is an OG player these days. He's off judging beer, and talking about his PhD in brewing from the University of Brussels. There's a PhD for everything these days. Seriously though, it's Blue Moon. Read the Wiki. 

Blue Moon's Belgian White is the classic beer that you can find at terrible chain restaurants like Applebee's and Chili's. You might also find it at TGIFridays. This beer is literally a classic American craft staple, regardless of what people on forums like "BeersAdventures" and "RapesBeers" might say. Blue Moon is brewed with orange peel, oats/wheat malts, and the usual shit you'd find in a Belgian White. This beer is Keith Villa's pride, and Keith Villa is MillerCoors' Stepford Wife. 

Blue Moon Belgian White

For a MillerCoors' product, this beer is vibrant and orange, and hazy and unfiltered. It actually looks like a legit wheat beer, or at least until the head dies off and you are left with orange juice. Then again, this is a Witbier, not a Hefe.

The aroma is all sorts of conflicting. You get wheat, orange, and honey -- but the aroma is very thick. It smells pretty sweet, and takes a turn towards cereal, with some Fruity Pebbles, and fake spice. It's kind of how I imagine an extract batch of a Witbier would smell.

Witbiers aren't really my bag in general, and Blue Moon tends to highlight a lot of the things about the style that I don't love. For 5.4%, Blue Moon is fairly dense and heavy. It's also fairly sweet. This beer dials up the saccharine juices, and reminds me of apple juice. It tastes like something made from extract, or something that could be further fermented out. In the taste is juicy orange, Fruity Pebbles, some bubble gum, artificial clove that is cloying, and lots of wheat. The saccharine edge isn't overly enjoyable, and the fake spice goes over-the-top in ways that rival Hoegaarden. 

Despite some of the flaws that Blue Moon has, it has a full body that is pretty substantial at 5.4%. The complexity is bottom-of-the-barrel, but the saccharine orange and Fruity Pebbles sweetness is obnoxious enough to stand up to the heartburn inducing foods you might find at such chain restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's, etc. This is a fully utilitarian beer, something beyond the monotonous Pale Lagers likely to be on tap wherever you go, but not nearly as interesting as many other beers. I mean, I'd take a Sapporo over a Blue Moon Belgian White 9/10 times. This is truly a MillerCoors product...the saccharine sweetness reminds me of Miller Genuine Draft, and the relatively uneventful transition from orange/wheat, to a spicy/salty middle, to the bubblegum/wheat back end isn't impressive. And yes, Blue Moon is definitely slightly salty in its attempt to do spice. Salty like semen. Yum.

Rating: Average (2.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. Blue Moon isn't offensive enough to hit that below-average stride, and this beer actually does sort of pull off the style. It's a bit cloying on the sweetness, but the slight brine/semen/salt note that is probably supposed to be coriander spice actually adds an interesting dimension...oh shit, I'm fishing here. Or phishing. Ha, the jokes on you! Seriously though, I would never go out of my way to buy a 6-pack of Blue Moon, but this is a serviceable beer on tap. I've had this beer while out to many a shitty chain restaurant with family and friends. This is a great beer to shove an orange in, and call it a fucking day. This is my Chili's beer. 

Random Thought: The Blue Moon Grand Cru was hilariously bad. Maybe that's why I don't see it on shelves anymore. 

Samuel Adams White Lantern

Brewed By: Boston Beer Company in Boston, Massachusetts 
Purchased: 12oz bottle from the 2013 Sam Adams Winter Classics variety pack bought at Binny's in IL; 2013
Style/ABV: Witbier/Belgian White, 5.5%

Reported IBUs: 10

Tonight I'm knocking out the rest of the new beers from the 2013 Winter Classics variety pack. About Sam Adams:

The Boston Brewing Company/Sam Adams is, of course, the brain child of Jim Koch (and Harry M. Rubin and Lorenzo Lamadrid). Founded in 1984, Jim Koch got the ball rolling after college when he decided to resurrect and brew his favorite family recipe. That recipe belonged to his great-great grandfather, Louis Koch, and dates back to the 1870s (where it was brewed in a St. Louis brewery). That infamous family brew is the Sam Adams Boston Lager, of course. You can read more about the history of the Boston Brewing Company HERE, or check out their website HERE.  

The White Lantern is a Belgian-style Witbier/White brewed with Spalt Spalter Noble Hops, and two row pale malt, wheat malt, and Ida Pils malts. Clocking in at 5.5% ABV and 10 IBUs, this beer features the addition of tangerine and orange peel, coriander, and Grains of Paradise.  

Samuel Adams White Lantern

The beer pours into a hazy orange body, and kicks up one or two fingers of sea foam white head. In bright light, the beer is a gorgeous orange color, with jets of carbonation rocketing upwards. There's some lacing on my glass, and the bright white head is sustaining nicely. 

The aroma on this beer is very subtle, with lots of wheat, coriander and lemon, orange peel and orange, a hint of clove, a hint of the Grains of Paradise, and lots of wheat-grain wheat punch.

Ehhhh...this is shaping up to be my least favorite of the 2013 Winter Classics. You get a wash of malty wheat with some Grains of Paradise/Coriander driven spice, hints of lemon and orange, and lots of bready wheat. There's a good amount of lemon asserting itself in this beer, and some hints of grass along with the wheat. It just tastes like it is missing something...but it's not offensive and it is on point for the style.

I love my Grains of Paradise and Belgian Whites. This beer is okay. It's drinkable at 5.5%, has a nice balance of wheat malt and lemony spices, and a dash of orange peel too boot. It is the perfect vehicle for the holiday season, despite having average complexity and average palate depth. The mouthfeel is light-bodied with high levels of carbonation and creamy density. Up front: wheat and Grains of Paradise; that rolls into coriander and lemon with more wheat; back end is trailing lemon/orange peel, and the finish is malty. 

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. It's not offensive, it's not amazing, it's par the course. But, definitely an appropriate Winter/holiday beer. I would pair this beer with some glazed ham or Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner. I could see this going well with sweet potatoes and pineapple. 

Random Thought: And now...the Cherry Chocolate Bock

Rogue Farms Pumpkin Patch Ale

Brewed By: Rogue Ales in Newport, Oregon  

Purchased: 750ml (1 pint, 9.4oz) bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013 

Style/ABV: Pumpkin Ale, 5.6%

Reported IBUs: 25

For all the reasons to have scorn and wrath and hell fire for Rogue, they do occasionally do good things. Tonight's beer is brewed using fresh pumpkins grown at Rogue's 42 acre hop yard. The pumpkins are picked, taken to Rogue's brewery in Newport, roasted, and pitched into the brew kettle to make this very beer. Even a douche canoe clock is right twice a day. About Rogue:

Rogue has been around forever, and if their beer was more widely available, and not so damn expensive, I'd probably drink more of their stuff. The brewery was founded in 1988 in Ashland, Oregon by Jack Joyce, Bob Woodell, Rob Strasser, and home brewer Jeff Schultz. Due to increasing space and distribution limitations, Jack Joyce went searching in Newport for a location for the new Rogue pub. It was at this time that he met Mohave Niem, founder of Mo's Clam Chowder. She offered Jack space to brew in her building, and in 1989 the Bay Front Brew Pub was built. Rogue's headquarters currently reside in Newport to this day. In May 1989, current head brewmaster, John Maier, joined Rogue after a brief sting brewing with Alask Brewing. John was a former Senior Technician with Hughes Aircraft Co, and a graduate of the Seibel Institute. To learn more about Rogue, check out their website HERE.

As previously noted, this beer is brewed using fresh roasted pumpkins from the brewery's pumpkin patch. In addition to the fresh pumpkin, the Pumpkin Patch Ale (formerly the Chatoe Rogue Pumpkin Patch Ale) is brewed using a list of 13 ingredients, including Rogue Farms Dream Pumpkins; Rogue Farms Dare, Risk, Carafa II & Crystal Wheat Malts; Rogue Farm Independent Hops; Orange Peel, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cardamom, Vanilla, Ginger & Nutmeg; and Rogue's infamous Free Range Coastal Water & Pacman Yeast. Punching in at 25 IBUs and 5.6% ABV, this beer is modest in its execution like many of Rogue's ales, despite the huge grocery list of ingredients. 

Rogue Farms Pumpkin Patch Ale

This beer pours with a fizzy, effervescent, and rapidly dissolving sand/tan-colored head. The head starts out with two fingers that rapidly drop off, leaving some lacing on the edges of the glass when you swirl the beer. The body of this beer is a darker amber/brown/orange in low light. In bright light this beer is a vibrant dark orange, has a semi-transparent appearance, and features lots of carbonation rising upwards with mid-to-large sized bubbles. Good times.

The aroma on this beer is really awesome...I'm getting lots of ginger and cardamom, some nondescript sweetness (maybe from the yeast?), and lots of vanilla. Swirling the beer and stirring it up brings pumpkin spice, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon to the forefront. The aroma is too mild to point in the direction of a mulled wine or Winter/Spice beer, but I'm not really getting tons of pumpkin spice or pumpkin seed or pumpkin. 

You do get more pumpkin in the taste...I'm picking up soda-like carbonation and spices working in tandem with lots of cinnamon, nutmeg, spritzy ginger, and some pumpkin spice. There are actual notes of baked pumpkin and pumpkin puree in the taste, though subtle they are (/yoda). There's also mild malt sweetness, with toffee/vanilla and some breadiness. It's not overwhelmingly spicy like many Pumpkin beers are.

This is an easy-going, well-made Pumpkin beer. As the beer warms up, you pick up more and more of the pumpkin and vanilla in the taste, which is awesome. The beer has good palate depth and complexity for the style, and the drinkability is super high (especially at 5.6%). The mouthfeel is medium-light, with lots of carbonation and spritzy spices helping things along. You get blasted with malt sweetness, vanilla, and pumpkin up front; that rolls into baked pumpkin and spices; the back end is trailing spices and malts. It's actually a really nice, well-balanced, Pumpkin beer. Especially at the ABV.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

This is a Strong Above-Average, and jives well as far as Pumpkin beers are concerned. The subtle use of spices coupled with the big vanilla and pumpkin that starts to pop as this beer warms up is what makes this beer work. Additionally, this beer isn't overly boozy, so you get a lot of flavor in a reasonable package. 750ml bottles of this go for around 10 or 11 dollars, which is more or less a good deal. I'm about to pair this beer with some potato and leek soup, but this beer would pair well with any pumpkin foods, Thanksgiving foods, or Fall trimmings. I rarely say it about Rogue, but this beer comes highly recommended. 

Random Thought: Or for you folks in Chicago, highly Wreck "O" Mended.