Once in a Blue Moon

I have a couple of friends who are obsessed with Blue Moon. It is one thing to always order the same thing where ever you go. (Ahem. Not unlike the total poser who writes this and orders a Miller Lite most of the time.) But to only go places that serve Blue Moon? That's a super fan.

Blue Moon is a Belgian White beer. What a Belgian White beer? BeerAdvocate says that it is:
A Belgian Style ale that's very pale and cloudy in appearance due it being unfiltered and the high level of wheat, and sometimes oats, that's used in the mash. Always spiced, generally with coriander, orange peel and other odd ball spices or herbs in the back ground. The crispness and slight twang comes from the wheat and the lively level of carbonation. This is one style that many brewers in the US have taken a liking to and have done a very good job of staying to style. Sometimes served with a lemon, but if you truly want to enjoy the untainted subtleties of this style you'll ask for yours without one.

It is manufactured by the macro-brewer, Coors. Beer snobs find this horrifying. The assumption is that anything mass produced by the big dudes must be watered down, middle of the road, boring stuff for the unwashed. I think it just comes down to your own personal beer snobbery. I love a good beer, but then again I love almost all beer, so I think this is pretty good. Does another, small brewery make a better, more interesting White Belgian? Absolutely! But that isn’t available everywhere, is it?

When you pour the beer into a pint glass, it shows maybe a ½ inch white head that dissipates quickly. There isn’t any of that fancy lacing sticking around the sides of the glass like you get with thicker beers. It appears cloudy, and has a light yellow color. It smells like citrus, oranges, maybe coriander? It is very mild, in both smell and taste. Everyone drinks this with a slice or orange, and it isn’t unlike the more common lemon/wheat beer combo. It just works. It is fruity, light, and often called a summer beer. Translate: chick beer.