Blue Moon Winter Sample Pack 2014: Blue Moon Cinnamon Horchata Ale

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: Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer, 5.5%

Reported IBUs: 10

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. 

After pretty much #reking the Farmhouse Red Ale, I'm genuinely surprised to say that the Cinnamon Horchata Ale actually smells really fucking good. If you haven't #educated yourself on Horchata, do so now. The Cinnamon Horchata Ale is brewed with 2-row pale malt, long grain rice, and Sterling hops. 

Blue Moon Cinnamon Horchata Ale

This actually pours into a really nice, hazy, golden-pineapple-yellow body, kicking up two fingers of thick white head. Head retention is actually solid on this, as is the lacing and the carbonation.

This is far and away the most aromatic and best smelling beer from this Blue Moon Winter Sampler. This has strong cinnamon on the aroma, along with apples. It smells like apples dipped in cinnamon, apple pie filling...with some peppery spice, apple cider, and some wheat malts backing the whole thing up. It's actually a really inviting nose. 

Somehow the taste isn't quite as good as the aroma, but it still delivers a solid punch of apples and cinnamon. I'm getting a lot of apple pie filling with this one, with some wheat and caramel sugars in the mix. The apple pie filling is enough to bring out the nostalgia in me and warm my heart. But this is still one-note and has too much underlying caramel sweetness. Why. 

As you drink this, the rice starts to show up more in the taste, which is a nice wrinkle of complexity depending on how generous you want to be. This is not bad, maybe the best variant in the 2014 Winter Sampler. This is light-bodied, but still on the sweeter side of things, and has okay palate depth. The complexity leaves a lot to be desired, but this is an effective apple pie filling delivery system. I'm sure some people dream about that shit, and Keith Villa made that happen. The progression of this beer is pretty much apples and cinnamon up front; some wheat and more apples and cinnamon in the mids; and big pie filling, caramel sweetness, and faint bread on the back end. This really plays up the pie thing, and begs to be paired with some apple pie with American cheese on top (because MillerCoors). 

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. This is basically liquid apple pie filling, and that's high praise for something brewed at some Canadian sandlot in the armpit of MillerCoors' super corporation. Again, I'm gonna second the apple pie pairing. With American cheese. 

Random Thought: For $15 you can buy a 750ml bottle of really good beer...or a 6-pack of really good beer...or a 12-pack of mostly average to mediocre beer. I guess this Blue Moon Winter Sample Pack would be serviceable for a party or something, but I wouldn't pick this up if you are looking to drink good winter beer. Just buy a couple of bottles of Trader Joe's Vintage Ale, or some Abt 12. 

Sapporo Premium Beer

Brewed By: Sapporo Breweries in Tokyo, Japan (or wherever it's contracted)  

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Japanese Rice Lager, 5.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

This is my beer. This beer has ushered me through countless sushi and Chinese food meals. This light, cheap, refreshing rice lager is a little slice of beer culture...and frankly, one of the best macro lagers available. And it's made by Sapporo, my guys!

Sapporo is the oldest brewery in Japan; and was first brewed in Japan by German-trained, lager brewer, Seibei Nakagawa. Sapporo Premium beer was brought to the USA in 1964 to save sushi lovers like me. 

The Sapporo Premium is a staple and classic, and features rice in place of corn. DAE Japan? This beer pours into a nice dark gold color, kicking up two+ fingers of dense, off-white head. This actually has head retention, and leaves webs of lacing. It's like a Lager...with hops. What a concept.

Sapporo Premium Beer

This actually smells quite hoppy out the gate, especially at lower temps. In particular, you get a lot of grassy hops, floral hops, and some cracker/biscuit that is going to totally betray you when you taste it and realize this beer is rice-based. It smells incredibly bright, clean, vibrant, and fresh....words that often DO NOT describe the typical saccharine sweet and skunky pale lagers that typically cross paths with hobos and 7-11.

At cooler temps especially, this is just a treat to sip on. It has a lemony zest like club soda, with some nice funk and malt backing from the rice. This does provide some of that "lager funk" typical of the style, but it's much cleaner and more refreshing than other examples. There's a touch of apple in here, completely intentional. And the grassy and floral hops that were in the aroma show up in the taste. This really punches in all the flavors you'd want from a Lager, without any of the saccharine sweetness, skunkiness, or weird gasoline flavors that you might find in a 40oz of malt liquor. 

You have to be a cold hearted bastard to rate this beer like it's some sort of fancy thing. This is the epitome of clean, functional beer...sort of like Japan. I mean, what sort of weird tentacle candy that doubles as a dildo for young men will they think of next. This is just light-bodied, refreshing, clean on the palate, and fairly complex for the style. How many Lagers provide that clean Lager funk and malt base, with some gentle apple notes, and then bring it all home with crackers, biscuit, and grassy/floral hops. This is my sushi slayer, and maybe my desert island Lager.

Rating: Divine Brew (5.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Divine Brew on this. Leave it to Japan to make the quintessential sushi-beer pairing. Ignore BeerAdvocate or RateBeer in regards to this beer.

Random Thought: You do want to drink this beer fresh.