On Sunday the 19th of November I visited the MOO Brew Cellar Door in MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art on the banks of the Derwent River, 12 kilometres north of Hobart, Tasmania. Both MONA and MOO Brew are owned by David Walsh.
MOO Brew has been brewing for twelve years and have recently made the move to put some of their beers into cans along with the bottles that they have always used. They have a state of the art brewery.
The artwork on the labels of their beers is by artist John Kelly.
The beers that I sampled were:
1. Single Hop, 4.8% abv, this beer uses the Enigma hop and has a golden straw colour and a subtle citrus aroma. It has a mild fruit flavour and a gentle bitterness on a crisp dry finish.
2. Pilsner, 5.2% abv, this has a golden straw colour and a malt aroma. It has a sweet malty taste and then a gentle, lingering bitterness.
3. Pale Ale, 4.9% abv, this has a golden colour and a sweet floral and citrus aroma. It has a very nice complex malt flavour with a mild bitter finish.
4. Hefeweizen, 5.1% abv, this has a straw colour and a wheaty aroma with notes of banana and spice. It has a smooth wheat, yeast flavour with plenty of banana and clove spice tastes. Very good!
5. Dark Ale, 5.0% abv, this has a dark brown colour and a chocolate roasted malt aroma. It has a wonderful roasted malt flavour of dark chocolate, caramel and coffee on a mild bitter finish. Excellent!
6. Hoppy Lager, 5.0% abv, this has a light straw colour and a sweet malt and citrus aroma. It has a sweet malt initial taste and then flows into a mild citrus fruitiness and a gentle bitterness on a clean, crisp dry finish. Nice!
The MOO Brew beers were all very enjoyable. The MONA is a wonderful venue that regularly hosts concerts and live music as well as being an Art Exhibition Gallery. There is also accomodation and a restaurant and a bar on the site.
I would like to thank Luke, at the cellar door, for his hospitality when I visited.
