Moa and shares in the brewery.

Firstly, let me fess up: clearly my posting schedule needs some attention and for that I am sorry. With that out  of the way, on to bigger and brighter things - namely beer! Beer wonderful beer to be precise! There is an old joke about drinkers "owning shares in the brewery", but recently via a very slick marketing campaign Moa launched "own a brewery".

Feelings about slick marketing campaigns aside, if there ever was a case for putting your money where your mouth is, it would have to be this! Moa make splendid beer, quite outstanding beer in fact, and what's more, they make a whole range of it. I've written about Moa here and their wonderful beer here so with news of their IPO fresh from the tap (excuse the bad puns!), it seemed like the perfect time to go back and review another of their incredible brews.

Moa 5 Hop is touted as a Winter Ale but this delicious brew would be fantastic any time as far as I'm concerned. Made in the ESB style, it has a lovely amber, almost red colour. Floral and herbaceous on the nose as well as a bit spicy, it almost reminds me of Gingerbread.

Credit goes to the fantastic beer blogger Philcook for the image.

The taste? Utterly delicious, sweet around the edges marks this as unmistakably Moa. Complex malt base, perfectly balanced bitterness and flavourful hops giving a distinct kick on the finish. A great example of craft beer working to style but with its own personality. A great brew for sure!

Good Press for Moa

Getting big press doesn't seem to be too much trouble for Moa these days, but I didn't know that the head brewer there, Josh Scott, was none other than the son of Allan Scott - he of the fantastic Sauvignon Blanc!

Anyway, there's a great wee write up here about some of the thinking behind their amazing beers and the new craft beer Moa Quad.

I've already talked about Moa's fantastic Breakfast Beer and I'm always excited by Moa offerings, but I love the attitude that the new breed of beer makers are taking - it's not about sucking back a dozen bland commercial beers: beer is to be enjoyed and reflected on much like wine.

Now, being in Auckland my challenge is to track down this fine tipple...

Too Early for a Beer?

Sometime last year, those wonderful folk at Moa Brewing Co. crafted something quite unusual. The called it "Breakfast Beer" and styled it after Belgian Wheat's. It was released to much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the media, worried that a beer in the morning would lead to widespread alcoholism.

Well, thankfully a year later the end of times hasn't arrived, and our society hasn't crumbled into a drunken wasteland. I can't help but think that at $8.50 a bottle, this is priced into the beer connoisseurs market, rather than the dedicated morning drinkers, but that's a different story.

What I can say is that this is delicious! On the nose it's all hops and fruit, it's a lot like a good wine in that the aroma is so alluring that i'd almost be happy just to smell it all day (but I wont because I know what wonders lie within! )A real treat to drink with a lovely full wheat mouth feel and a crisp slightly hoppy flavour, with only hints of cherry sweetness. Hugely rewarding and refreshing drinking, and I can't think of a comparable local Wheat Beer.

It really reminds me of a good European Wheat Beer, and a good Fruit Beer, my closest points of reference would be Hoegaarden Wheat Beer and Verboden Vrucht Strong Ale, but it's much more complex that the Wheat and less work than the Verboden Vrucht.

It's definitely not a "session" beer, a couple of these would be plenty. Moa have a reputation for crafting fantastic beers and this lives up to expectation. I don't know if I'd call it a breakfast beer, but I'd be up for 11sies!