'Mr Mistoffelees' and 'Lando Kardashian' both from Moon Dog Breweries

Two new beers to try and a game of rugby to watch probably don’t go together as neither experiences would get the full enjoyable attention they both deserve so as it turned out a wet miserable dark day the next day turned out to be the perfect occasion for new taste sensations.

 

First up was the ‘Mr Mistoffelees’ from the Moon Dog brewery which was crafted as a single keg only release for the 2012 Great Australian Beer Spectapular. (True, that’s how they spell it. Like I’ve said before, these guy’s are quite mad.) now I have no idea what Mr Mistoffelees is but the name must mean something so a quick Google search informs me that he is a character in a poetry book called ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’ which means nothing to me but this book is what Andrew Lloyd Webber’s popular musical Cats is adapted from. Once again a factoid from beer drinking. What this actually has to do with beer is still a mystery so the best clue about what to expect from this beer is actually right there on the label  ‘passion fruit and mango wild ale’.

 

Fruity beers wouldn’t be my first choice however, this 6.2% abv aged in Hungarian oak barrels for 6 months with mangoes and passionfruit,  and with four yeast varieties to chew on four kinds of malt does sound intriguing!

 

Crack open the bottle to a reassuring psssst releases many bubbles which stir up plentiful supply of floaty bits from the bottom of the bottle. Pouring into a glass however formulates zero head and a cloudy light amber clarity with a very strong aroma of passionfruit. Hmmm, dunno about this, it might be an alco pop that’s suitable for a teenagers party?

 

Quick swig and quite the opposite from what I was expecting. This has a sour, almost tartness to it with a loud passionfruit flavour. It does have a bold body with discreet earthy biscuity flavours in the background maybe as a result of the oak barrel and those different malts. With enough back breathing through the nose you can even detect a slight hop flavour.

 

This stuff grows on you the more you drink it and I can see myself partaking this brew  in a swim up bar on a hot tropical island as a pre beer beer. It may also appeal to those ladies (or men) out there who enjoy a dry cider or ginger beer and would like to have another alternative of a hop variety.

 

Points out of 10, I’ll give this a 6 because even though it’s not really my definition of a beer, it does have a complexity about it that makes you want to drink more.

 

Having just drunk The Mr Mistoffelees I was having some hop withdrawal symptoms and the next beer to try offered an exciting prospect. Called ‘Lando Kardashian’ once again from Moon Dog,  and labelled as a triple IPA.

 

Now I’m sorry if you think like I once did that tripel was a misspelt word for three times as much, in this case IPAs in one bottle, then you are sadly mistaken. If this was right then the Lando should be hovering around the 15% abv instead of its lowly 11.5!  The word tripel is a term used way back when, to describe a strong pale ale. The strength of the tripel was denoted by a series of crosses on a cask, X for the weakest and XXX for the strongest beer. This factoid fits it all together for you now doesn’t it?

 

Now the name of Lando Kardashian has me a bit confused, but the guys at Moon Dog will probably be pleased to hear this. I assumed it was a cosmetic Doctor from the popular Kardashian show on TV judging by the latex gloves prominently pictured on the label but a Google search only revealed some freak with a twitter account, hmmm, so could actually be some friend of the Moon Dogs, so once again the name has nothing to do with the beer?

 

So that’s why you have me.

 

This baby has the biggest head I’ve uncounted from the Moon Dogs and yet still only a slight head. However it does have a clear clarity with a dark amber colour. Swirling the brew around the glass and you can see good body and does release a pleasant but not strong  hop aroma but more of a pronounced malt and beer barrels aroma. First taste and ‘my oh my’, this is beer! The taste has taken me back to when I first discovered beer all those years ago when I nicked one of the old man’s 4%er commercial bottles (at which there were only the two big Breweries at the time) and drank it in the garage. I remember thinking to myself, wow, so this is beer, now I can see why it causes so much trouble. Well after drinking a Lando those same feelings have returned, only on a whole new level. A much more stronger hoppy bitterness and sweet malt flavours with subtle whisky notes. This is a powerful beer and yet not so strong that you couldn’t drink another, or at least I think I could have. Let the teenagers have that other stuff, this is a real grown-ups beer.

 

Points out of 10, I’m giving this a 9 simply cause it brought back some great memories for me.