There are three beers that I feel form the trilogy of fermented flavour awesomeness. The first is my personal favourite Rochefort 10. The second is by buddy's favourite, Orval. Final spot of honour falls upon my wife's favourite, Rodenbach. If I were stranded on a deserted island... you get the idea. Rodenbach is the pinnacle of sour beer perfection. The brewing process is quite complex and involves multiyear aging in open air oak vessels called foeders. This brewing process, and subsequent blending, produces a sour ale of startling complexity. One can pick out flavours of sour cherries, caramel, oak, balsamic vinegar and red wine. Whenever I taste a beer that claims to be a Flemish red sour, the comparison relative to Rodenbach is determined. It can be very hard to duplicate the fruity esters of cherries without a long and complex wood aging process. One way to mimic these flavours is to add in cherries. I fully endorse this idea.

Sang Du Merle 2016 = 9/10 


The best year so far. A nose that carries a tart, sweetness of cherries is sure to please Rodenbach fans. Within all that are hints of oak, balsamic and apple cores. It is not often you experience an effervescent, cherry infused balsamic but this is one of those times. Add to that a sweet prickly acidity that lingers and you pretty much sum up the Sang 2016. A must for sour fans.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 9%
Value +1
Appearance +1

Glassware: Snifter or tulip

Food Pairings: I would recommend a sweet and sour Chinese dish. The bright acidity and effervescence would cut the heavy fats. While the sweet and sour from both would just resonate.

Cellar: I put a few down

Every release of the Moon's barrel aged series is something to look forward to. Wild/Brett yeasts in wine or spirit barrels, what is there not to love. This release was aged in French oak with kiwi and whole leaf Wai-Tai hops.  I forget what these bottles set me back, perhaps $10ish. If this was a release from a bigger American craft brewer, you happily hand over $15-$20.

Kokako = 8/10 


The satisfying pop of the cork opened up aromas of barnyard Brett and tingly citrus. Prickly favours of lemons, wool, pineapples wash back with a refreshing tart acidity. Not quite mouth puckering, but close. The bottle will not last forever, but the linger of tart barnyard and lemonade almost does. Not sure where the kiwis went. Excellent.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 6.9%
Value +1
Appearance +1

Glassware: Clean tulip

Food Pairings: Food pairings with sour/wild beer are hard. Mainly because you just want to enjoy them on their own. I'm would pair with an open faced sandwich with tapenade and sticky wash rind cheese. The funk of the cheese and the beers should blend well. There will also be the sweetness/fattiness of the cheese and the oily olives contrasting with the sour of the Kokako.

Cellar: I'm will certainly but a few away

I am really far behind in my posts, this beer was released in January. The name eludes to the flavours and it also has a great label. Correct me if I am wrong, but is this the first Brett conditioned beer to be released in Victoria? If so, props to Clay for releasing a brave new beer. If not, just props anyways for a great beer.

Hip as Funk = 7/10

The nose is all brett with nostril tingles of wood pile and wool gloves. It is a pleasantly tart and acrid sip that might be categorized as medium in body. To balance the tartness is a light pit fruit sweetness that encompasses apricots, dried pears, peaches and horse blanket. Sadly all these great flavours just end. It is has an oddly clean ending for an initially funky beer.


Taste +4
Aftertaste 0 (it just ends)
Alcohol Content +1 7%
Value +1
Appearance +1 (great label)

Glassware: I would prefer a tulip, but my buddy Brian has chosen a hefe style. Which is fine due to abundant head produced.

Food Pairings: Pairing with sour beers is a challange, but pick something on the light side. A good idea might be a grilled ham and a funky brie cheese. The high carbonation of dryness would work well to remove fatty or spicy tastes from the tongue; hello Pad Thai! A spicy sausage hoagie would be a good choice.

Cellar: The brett yeast might produce some interesting changes with the residual sugar. Might be worth it.

Maybe I am reading too much into this, but I don't remember hearing about the release of these two beers. Perhaps the need for the press release is dead. Has it been replaced by Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Will a brewer's social media follower list reach enough beer drinkers that outside help is not needed? What does this mean for blogs/websites that deliver beer drinking news? Perhaps I am thinking too much about this; shut up and review the beers.

This first beer had very little to say about it on the Moon Facebook page; "beer named after the View Royal Fire Department and inspired by a collaboration cask of Smoke & Fire. Its a sweet, lightly smoked malt base with just a hint of hop peppers in the boil". So it is sweet Scottish ale with light peppery spice?


Bulldog Belgo Scottish Ale = 6/10

With most Scottish ales the nose is fairly tame of peaty/smoked malts and caramel sweetness. The Bulldog delivered with a bit of prune richness in the aroma. Without any further surprises, this ale was a balanced mix of mild caramel, peat, dark fruits and dried apricots. This syrupy sweetness was layered upon an earthy hop bed with a spiciness of unknown origin. It left a chewy residue similar to a Mackintosh Toffee bar that you found in a potted plant. Very nice, I should have brought the bigger growler.

Taste +3
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 7%
Value +1
Appearance 0 (for minimal press and little info on beer)

Glassware: Definitely a Scottish thistle; preferably cleaner than mine.

Food Pairings: Would bridge a dish with roasted or caramelized rich flavours, perhaps a pan seared pork chop with caramelized onions. I was thinking about a BBQ portabello mushroom burger with Branston pickles. The sweetness would calm a spicy dish. How about some flame broiled chicken with fiery Jamaican jerk sauce?

Cellar: Nope


This was the real purpose of my visit. There are three little words that makes Mrs. Left4Beer's heart go pitter-patter: Moon sour ale. I was instructed to go to brewery and not to return without a couple of bottles. This beer had an eventful life. It lingered in port barrels, mingled with black currants before getting a dose of Brett then stuck in a corked bottle.

Le Sang Du Merle = 9/10



The nose eludes to quick tour through sour town. The tour starts at the crossroads of black currant and tart vinegar. Next is a stroll into the land of tannic currants, sweet raspberry vinaigrette with a slight funk cameo. The tannins provide a dry pucker which is enhanced by the slight Brett character. This sensation just keeps going to a dry finish far in the distance. Sour beers never describe well to those who have never tried one. Well done.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 9%
Value +1
Appearance +1  (very elegant and simple hand stamped labels)

Glassware: A tulip or snifter would work well to trap the inviting sour and tart fruity aromas.

Food Pairings: Nothing, just enjoy.

Cellar: With the addition of Brett and complex wood notes, this is certain one to put in cellar for 2 years minimum.

Sticking with the Moon's signature brewing style we have another German influenced beer; the altbier. This is also another collaboration, which is something Clay and crew do a lot of.  Altbier means 'old beer', which could be applied to almost every German and European style of beer. When one mentions altbier, they are generally referring to a dark, lagered ale from Düsseldorf. Think of this as a dark Kolsch. Typically the alt style expresses some dark ale characteristics: caramel, dark fruits with a mild hop floral and spiciness. Extended cold conditioning (lagering) tends to smooth out the edges and cleans up the finish. How does the Maxminer stack up? Brilliantly.

Maxminer's Altbier =7/10


The nose is a tad restrained but enough clean, caramel maltiness floats up. There might be a little floral spiciness too. Alt beers are never flavour powerhouses. Each sip is clean with great balance between tame chocolate, caramel, bread, raisins and floral/spicy noble hops. True to form is hits all the marks and just tastes... well, good. The finish holds a slight tongue coating of sweet caramel. A very enjoyable beer, sadly it is only a seasonal.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content 0 5.3%
Value +1
Appearance +1 (always better from a growler in a proper glass)

Glassware: The altbier uses the stange style glass, but generally it is a bit larger (330ml). I picked this smaller size because it said 'Alt'. You could also pick a Willibecher.

Food Pairings: Anything caramelized and restrained in flavour will pair nicely. Would work well with grilled chicken, all things pork or a BBQ portabello mushroom burger. Mushroom caps with young Gouda sounds darn tasty.

Cellar: Nope

People think blogging is easy; it is not. It pains me to drink all these great local beers and fire off my opinions. The research involved can take hours: looking up facts, consult other tasting notes and determining impact upon local beer scene. Hah, who am I kidding - blogging is easy. I am just lazy. Plans are made, notes are taken but the world conspires against me. Sometimes it is a Herculean task to raise myself from the couch. Binge watching NCIS with Mrs. Left4Beer is quite enjoyable after a pint - or two. Agent Gibbs is the worlds most dangerous man.
Impressive procrastination require creative solutions. Maybe I should try a stream of consciousness approach to beer reviews. Let the stream begin. Sounds like I just faced off with the urinal.
Octofox from Phillips was a usual release from the boys and girls on Government street. It was a well done bomber of hoppy goodness. This one was more on the tropical side: mangoes, pineapple and caramel apples. When I think about, has any new Phillips release been anything but hoppy?  I'm not talking about the revisited favourites like the Rifflandia beer. The Kangarooster keg was another hoppy American IPA. I'm sure this scary clown beer will also be a hop bomb too. Let's give the Octofox a seven; it was darn tasty. The Kangarooster beer gets a four. There was a bit of funk in there that might not have been intentional. I might not drink the scary clown beer, I have this thing against buying six packs. Maybe it will be on tap at the Drake. On my shopping list there will most certainly be the Gerry Hieter Cherry Ale. Why are there all these Phillips releases all of a sudden? Oh right... The advent calendar. There was an article in the Boulevard magazine with Matt Phillips which stated that each beer would be different.
Who else released beer this week. Not sure about Spinnakers, there have been no emails from them lately. Either they have nothing to say or no one is handling the media emails. Could be both. In the past, I have visited the historic waterfront brewpub and found new beers on tap with no press release. The coffee and spoke beer comes to mind. Mind you, this was a few months ago.This might have been the first cold brewed coffee beer produced in Victoria. Cold brew coffee is proper; it showcases a good quality bean.
What else have I drank this week? Road Trip by Lighthouse was nice. A fresh hopped beer that is not an IPA/PA is refreshing. Sadly the American brown style Road Trip does not really display the fresh hop goodness well. It does makes for a tasty, juicy hop beer. This one gets an eight; pair it will roast (either vegan or flesh) and gravy. Glass? Anything pretty will do. I should insert a picture in here soon... There - perfect.
This photo brings me to my next beer: BenchWarmer by Moon Under Water. This beer is fricken great. Well done John Adair and Jeff! This blonde brew packs lots of cereal and oat malts with understated flowery and spicy hops. There is a bit of lemon citrus for good measure. This beer gets a nine! Definitely serve in a Star Wars glass. Pair with a lemon breaded trout or any creamy pasta. This might even go well with a Hollandaise sauce. I can't wait to try the Moon's other collaboration with Molsons. There is more to this story, but Altbier is a good ending.
I forgot to mention the fresh hopped beers. Satori was awesome, as usual.Was a little disappointment with the Wolf Vine this year. It smelled and tasted like wet dog. Looking forward to the Phillips fresh hop release in Mid October; doesn't seem very fresh thought. Didn't this same thing happen a few years ago?
There. I'm all caught up, you figure out your own pairing.

I feel that I have not given a local brewpub it's deserved share of attention. They have released, and collaborated on, a fair number of beers this year. Very few have been reviewed on this blog; time for some catch up.

Year One Red Wheat Wine = 9/10


As the name describes it, a wheat wine is a strong brew made with wheat malts. As a barley wine is a strong brew made with barley malts. Clay and crew went one step further and used three yeast strains to ferment on yellow birch. This brew is surprisingly drinkable for a double digit ABV fluid. The alcohol is warming but not hot. All over the mouth are tastes of dried fruit, pears, tannins, white grapes and pineapple. All this on a creamy blanket of wheat. My getting a growler fill of this beer was not one of my brightest accomplishments. Get a bottle or share the growler with friends. I have no friends, so the pleasure and privilege is mine.

Glassware: Choose a -small- tulip for this sample. I went for the stemmed tulip branded by Urthel. The only reason for this is that I really like this glass.

Food Pairings: Some sort of fatty white fish would be in order. Loads of alcohol to lift that fat right off the tongue. Perhaps poached red snapper with cranberry sauce would be in order. This beer could go nicely with Camembert.

Cellar: Nope. Lacks striking complexity for suitable maturation. Drink it fresh.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 Somewhere in the double digits
Value +1
Appearance +1 (Growlers of wheat wine are awesome - for only $16)

This was the first cask to be tapped at GCBF 2013 and was performed by none other than myself. Thank you Sara at the Parting Glass Blog for capturing this moment. I think Clay is whispering, "don't screw this up, everyone is watching." Luckily I did not; not bad for a first timer.


Berliner Heist =7/10

This is an arbitrary number based on a vague memory. I had mixed feelings about this beer. One side was impressed be the fresh tartness and surprising amount of flavour in a low ABV brew. The other felt cheated that we did not get a true all brett soured beer. The Heist was served correctly with a variety of sweetening syrups to counter the tart and sour flavours. But, dang it, the beer drinkers of Victoria were ready for a truly sessionable sour beer. Perhaps it was only this drinker that was ready. Regardless, I got a growler full and enjoyed every minute of it.
In the near future, Moon Under Water will be serving another obscure low ABV beer: the kvass. I was on hand to see lots of dark rye bread being tossed into the mash tun. The small batch sample was very tasty. Look for this one in the near future.

I feel like such a failure; there were no notes taken about this beer. Sometimes you must do these sorts of things. Not think too much about a beer. Sit back, crack it open and savour the flavours without trying to pick it apart. SNORT, that was funny. Beer pricks never do that. It is true that no notes were taken about this beer. Luckily the little grey cells are still working.

Shatterbier (Moon Under Water) =8/10


Normally when brewers try to blend beer with coffee, they go the easy route. Stick those beans in with a stout or porter and you can't do wrong. Blending that roasted or brunt flavour with a delicate golden ale had me a little leery. But we must not forget that coffee can be roasted and brewed to be light and fruity; a perfect match for the golden ale. The nose was light and fruity with calm, toasted aromas from the coffee meshing well. An expected heavy handed roasted espresso smack never arrived. Perhaps the flavour was similar to a light roasted pour-over. This combined with the mild peaches, floral and effervescence of the golden ale perfectly. I forget what I paid for this beer, but it was under priced. It does look intimidating and the side writing is hard to read, so it will probably linger in the shelves. This is good news for local beer geeks that appreciated an experiment gone well.

Glassware: Chalice. The massive aroma and carbonation needs somewhere to spread. Other options would be a tulip or snifter.

Food Pairings. This is a tough one. Perhaps something light and mildly roasted. Lightly grilled sea bass with a lemon sauce. Welsh rarebit would be nice.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 9%
Value +1
Appearance +1 (perhaps the second most elegantly packaged beer in Victoria to date. Hoynes Gratitude is still #1)

Rauchbiers are rarely pretty beverages. This uniquely smoked beer dates back to the days when all malts were dried by wood fires. Often the smoke left residual flavours which were transferred to the beers. Modern malting methods do not use wood smoke anymore. If one wishes to taste history, search out beers from the town of Bamberg, Germany. Many breweries there still use beechwood to dry their malts in creating these characteristic beers. The definite example, with its memorable label, is Aecht Rauchbier Marzen. Sadly, it is rarely found in Canada. The initial smokiness is hard to take, but after a few sips it grows on you.
Why the sudden interest in smoked beers? I have no idea. Perhaps it is brewers wanting to experiment with forgotten styles. Personally I would have hoped they would try to brew a Gose instead. Maybe it is the local fascination with bacon and its smoky flavours. This is also something I do not understand.

Smokeshow Rauchweizen = 7/10

There was only the mildest of wood smoke surrounding the bready and fruity malts. It tasted the same from start to linger, which was good. The pleasure was pale fruits, mild apple and whole wheat bread with a tannic/astringent addition from the smoked malts. I couldn't drink too many, but the one I had was very enjoyable.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content 0 5%
Value +1
Appearance +1 always better from the source

In case you missed it: Moon Under Water changed hands. Clay Potter is now brewing up some new stuff for local craft beer lovers to devour. Their Pilsner was great, dunkel ditto. The newest brew is a weizenbock. This style is essential a strong wheat beer. While other bocks are lagers, weizenbock are generally ales. The definitive example of a weizenbock is Aventius, by Schneider. I think you can find it in bottles around town, or Clive's Classic Lounge has some. These brews have a high percentage of wheat malt in the recipe and often uses a specialized yeast strain. A combination leading to big flavours of bananas, cloves, wet cereal, caramel and figs. So how did the Victorious fair?

The Victorious Weizenbock = 9/10
Ratebeer  = 4.1/5.  Thanks Capflu

WOW, party time in ester town! With a big nose of Wheaties, bananas and cloves, you know the flavour will be equally as large. The creamy and full mouthfeel adds no new flavours but does provide a bit of warmth. All the way to the end, the bananas prevail. Sweet tapioca, figs and cloves end in a longer linger of banana puree. Well done. For all you savages out there, a perfect food pairing would be heavy game. Think about duck, venison, or pork stew. For the more gentle folk; mushroom paté or tempeh stroganoff would be suitable. Both could agree on flambé bananas for dessert. 



Taste +4
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 8.2%
Value +1 worth trying
Appearance +1 not served in proper glassware, but the tulip was close enough

I like not introducing myself. Maybe it makes me feel like some undercover beer agent snooping around for the latest news. This sounds better than I'm an antisocial jerk that doesn't like to talk to anybody. So I sat at the bar at Moon Under Water and talked to no one. Actually I sat next to Dustin from Central City, but he left as soon as I sat down. This happens often to an antisocial jerk - me, not Dustin. Dustin is very pleasant, but I don't talk to him much (see above)

I did learn a few things while silently seated at the bar:
a) Moon Under Water has a rotating guest tap. Not big news, but they do have what is up next on the chalkboard. Clay mentioned - not to me- that he would be getting Coal Harbour stuff on tap soon.
b) Next up on tap is a weizenbock!
c) People really like the wings.

I tried the cask of dunkel, it was OK. I little thin, but ok.

Pott's Pilsner = 7/10

It is not often I give a Pilsner a high rating; usually these beers are inherently boring. They shouldn't be boring, but often they are brewed that way. This is the second best pils I have ever tasted. Prima Pils by Victory brewing is #1. The nose is very agreeable: minor DMS, good amount of straw, spicy hops with a citrus tinge. Something very unexpected happens when you take a sip, there is flavour. Quite a bit for a local Pilsner. It's the spicy hops that grab you first, not too assertive, they are comforting. Then the lemon-lime citrus steps in and says hello. This is followed closely by straw malts with faint pale fruits. To finish it off, there is a lengthy linger of dry, spicy citrus hops. The DMS only adds body; it doesn't increase your daily intake of veggies. Well done. I also like the fact that it is unfiltered. There is nothing wrong with a little cloudiness.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content 0 4.9% (know it should get a -1 but it's my blog)
Value +1
Appearance +1

Other Pils reviews
Pacific Pilsner
Hoyner Pilsner
Swans Trumpeter Pils

This is a classic example of how a brewery will have it's signature flavour. If you drink enough brewpub stuff you will understand. The Bradley's at Moon Under Water quietly toil away and repeatedly produce tasty brews. Try the food too; it's dang tasty.

Moon Under Water Red India Ale = 8/10

This beer smells a lot like their IPA and their bitter. Which is good, because I quite like them both. The hop aroma is characteristic of other Moon Under Water selections but with toasted bread. It is a sweet smell of various PNW C-hops (orange, tangerine and grapefruit); not crazy but pleasant. Smooth, cooling and creamy, each sip consistently delivers toasted bread with plenty of citrus hops. A long finish is pomelo rind, dry and mildly astringent. Sadly, this red India ale will be on tap for a short period of time.

Taste +3
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 6.5%
Value +1
Appearance +1 always looks better at the source

Other Red Reviews
Green Flash Hop Head Red
Captain Sig Northwestern Ale
Big Red Imperial Ale (Southern Tier)