I spent a little time drinking in San Francisco, which offered a couple bucket-list beers from Moonlight Brewing Co.
Moonlight, a small craft brewer in Santa Rosa, has been quietly producing a couple of the best American-made lagers for years. Unlike most breweries their age (21 this year), they've never made any major expansions, never bottled, and rarely leave the Bay area. I was lucky enough to find their two most vaunted beers, Reality Czech (#1 Czech Pilsener on BeerAdvocate) and Death & Taxes (#1 Euro Dark Lager).
The Reality Czech was an excellent pilsner, but not the best I've had. Maybe this minor disappoint (really, it's tasty and worth trying) was what kept me from keeping notes on it. Death & Taxes, however, blew me away. After ordering a pint for myself, I insisted on a pitcher for the table. Nobody was disappointed.
Death & Taxes Black Beer
Moonlight Brewing Company
Euro Dark Lager | 5.00% ABV
4.38/5
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
I'm always a fan of the style, seeking out new (at least to me) examples, and this is the best I've had. It has the agreeable drinkability of your standard dark lager or schwarzbier, but the depth of a great Baltic porter. There were fruity, cherry tones at times, and then dry toffee and cocoa with an interesting cola edge. I'm so impressed by how many, clean distinct (and delicious) dark malt flavors are crammed into this lager. Go find this beer. You need it.
