Great Lakes Moondog Ale
Inspired by our rock 'n roll city, Moondog's smooth body and undomesticated hop bite set the stage for late night howling.
3.4
246 reviews
Cleveland, United States
Community reviews
A cloudy yellow color. Aromas of flowers and other earthy hopps. Flavor was rather hoppy as well and a minimal amount of malt.
Bottle listed as Moondog ESB from Beervirgin72. Bottled on 08/04/08. Pours with a small, off-white, foamy head with good lacing. Hazed golden yellow color. Aroma has some hops, diacetyl, honey and bread. Flavor is devoid of hops, with cereal and honey...all malt. Grainy, but clean. Moderate carbonation.
Listed as Moondog ESB on bottle. Pours a clear deep gold with a small off white head. Nose was bready and of toasted malts. Flavor was much of the same.....pretty good.
Pours medium orange with a frothy off-white head. Aroma is lightly malty; cookies, toasted malts. lightly hoppy, and lightly yeasty; dough and leather. Flavor starts balanced twords bitter and clean with hop bitters, finishes with some carmel malts flavor and sharper bitterness but clean. Light to medium bodied, creamy and softly carbonated
Not a lot of aroma here, maybe a little of the flowery hops. Clear, copper color and lacy head. Sweet hops, very nice and not overpowering. Good session beer.
Bottle: Bonus from Monger - Thanks! Pours a light copper color with a large, fluffy sand colored head. Nice sheets of sticky lacing. Aroma is rather mild, soft with maltiness and a mellow floral bitterness. Picking up some caramel as well. Taste malty and bready with a little bit of caramel and citrus. Floral hops make up the trailer. An easy drinker.
Presentation: It was poured from a brown12 oz bottle into a pint glass.
Appearance: It has a large frothy white head that has very good retention and make great rings of lace with each sip. The body has a light honey color with a slight haze.
Smell: The aroma is wonderful and well balanced. It has sweet bready malt with some buttery notes as well as some fruity notes and mild floral hops in the nose.
Taste/Mouth feel: The flavor matches the aroma with a solid malty base that brings buttery and fruity notes with perfectly balanced hop bitterness and flavor. Some of the fruity notes include elderberry and black currant and the hops give some floral and herbal notes to the party. The palate has a smooth silky texture with soft carbonation, a medium body and slow lightly bitter fading finish.
Notes: Wow, I really enjoyed this easy drinking and refreshing ESB!!!
One of the better ESB’s i’ve come across, so I decided to rate it. Wonderfully balanced flavor between the mild malts and very flowery european hops. Just enough of both worlds to make this a very nice session beer. The finish on this is squeaky clean and leaves nothing in the way of bitter hop astringency or overpowering sweetness. Great brew!
Had at Mongolian Wok in Columbus after watching OSU ’whoop’ Purdue. Certainly not an English-style ESB. Decent looking dark yellow. Floral aroma. Very nice balanced beer. Lots of malt present like always in a great lakes present. This one had plenty of hops to back it up though. Enjoyable.
Bottle (12oz). Pours a slightly hazy golden-orange with a large somewhat-lasting fluffy off-white head. Slightly mild aroma has that hint of tomato juice that I get from ESBs again -- I’m sure it’s just me though. Aroma has a good amount of floral hops, caramel malt, some buttery toffee and fruit. Flavour’s pretty much the same: Bready along with buttery toffee and floral hops -- there’s a good amount of flavour and it’s quite easy to drink. Finish could be a bit more bitter though. Medium bodied. A good version of the style, something I could drink many of.
Pretty average, kind of a surprise for Great Lakes. No real aroma on this one, some slight flowers. Flavor is subtle hops with some slight bitterness. This one just didn’t do much for me.
Bottle from 3 Sons. Nice clean hop odor, plenty of flavor in this deep golden Ale. Modest head and lacing. Bif hop tatset, with a little hint of must near end. Very nice finish.
The body is very lightly hazy, almost clear, and golden amber in color. A small, foamy, geige colored head settles to a thin, patchy film with a solid edge. Wispy flares and wet spots of lace dot the glass. The aroma shows light, toasty biscuit notes, caramel, orange marmalade, and hints of bitter grasses and flowers. The flavor follows suit, biscuity up front, with a somewhat peppery, citrusy, floral hop finish. Well balanced and quaffable. Medium-light bodied and finely carbonated, it goes down smooth and easy. This isn’t going to blow you away with complexity, but it will surely please as a well executed, warm weather session brew.
12 oz. bottle from Premier Gourmet - Pours a golden color with a nice size off white head. Light lacing. Aroma is light herbal hops. Flavor is esters and toasted malt. Light to medium body. A decent beer.
Smooth and mildly oily on the palate. Good beery and yeast aroma without any ill tempered alfactory. Lots of personality right from the start on the tongue. Tries to become acridly bitter but just never gets there. Finish is bitter, like bitter medicine and lingers for quite a while. You can really feel the hops in this one. Ignites emotions from within.
This is the best esb ive had to date. Great aroma of high hops with a beautiful color and lacing of the glass. Tasted bitter but smooth the whole way down. Great lakes does it again.
this is one of the best esb’s i have had. very floral hoppy in aroma and flavor, nicemalty backbond that supports those hops. would definately buy agian.
Small white head on this one. Rich golden color. Flowery aroma with a hint of hops. Sweet and spicy flavor with a creamy mouthfeel. Flavor of hops gets stronger as you work your way through the glass. A nice beer for spring.
bottle BB 8/18/8 courtesy of monger... clear pale copper body with a soapy barely off white head. muted aroma... pale caramel maltiness, light spice and orange peel. flavor is similar... grainy as well, some caramel sweetness, mild fruity hops, grain, leather-ish and spice. small amount of dry bitterness on the finish. i could drink a lot of this as it reminds me of 8th street... but not as good.
Clear light anber with a frothy head. Mild aroma is bready pale malts, faint hops. Medium body with light carbonation. Good pale malt sweet bread flavor with a nicely bitter, clean finish. Draft @ Lakes CLE airport.
I’ve reviewed this in a bottle but I wanted to try this on tap. Well I got my chance on a layover in the Cleveland Airport. I stopped by the Great Lakes Brewpub in the airport.
Poured a 1 finger head into a 22oz glass.
Aroma is very Citrusy, , strawberry, cherry
Taste is quite solid. The hops are bursting with freshness. A delight! Mild bitterness lingers on the palate afterwards.
Mouthfeel : very creamy - perfect level of carbonation.
Drinkability excellent. The only thing stopping me from having a couple more is the flight I have to get on in a half hour.
I think this is their flagship beer -- what an awesome, awesome brew. I tried to take a keg with me but they wouldn’t let me.
I plan to keep lots of Ohio friends who can send me GL beer until I see this in Texas.
Serving type: on-tap
Pours gold in color with a white ring around the top of the glass. Smell is subtle hops and nothing else. Very bitter in the taste. Lots of bittering hops in this beer. Bubbly, almost a heavy carbonated feel due to the hops. It’s that bitter. Not a whole lotta flavor, just a very bitter beer. Easy drinking. Very good web, lacing on the side of the glass. After a few sips, this is a highly hopped beer. It really is noticeable.
12oz bottle. Aroma has notes of vegetable, citrus hops, and some caramel malts. Orange amber hue with a foamy white head that diminished and left some lacing. Flavor is toasted malts and resin hops that end in a nice bitterness. Palate is light-med bodied and lively. A decent ESB & as it turns out a good session brew but, it does havoc to your golf game ;^) Wouldn’t mind another.
On tap at Mad Mex, Robinson. Light hoppy sweet aroma, mild, with light carbonic gaseousness. Neutral fruit. Medium orange-amber clear with thin off-white head. Medium watery body with medium carbonation and light acidity. Starts with a bit of pale malt sweetness and some neutral fruit. Hoppy bitterness toward the finish, with mild grassy character. Bitter astringent finish, with a bit of malty sweetness in the aftertaste.
Draught in sampler at GBL in Cleveland. Flowery/floral nose, bubbly in glass. Not much overall; mildly malty flavor.
12oz. Bottle: Faint aroma of malts, citrusy hops, caramel, and toasting. Poured amber/orange in color with a small white head that lasted throughout. Clear but slightly hazy. Sparkling. Flavor is lightly sweet and light to medium bitter. Tastes of toasted malts, caramel, some citrus hops, grains, and biscuit. Light to medium body. Watery, but chalky texture. Average carbonation. Toasted malt and citrus hop finish is on the dry side.
12oz bottle. Pours copper/amber, with a moderate sized off-white head. Aroma is mainly sweet malt, with some floral hop accents and some yeast. Moderate earthy hops take the forefront on the palate, with balance from caramel malt. Nice ESB.
Surprisingly good. About the best bitter I have ever had. Did not taste watery with my meal. Not overpowering in any aspect, but well balanced and highly drinkable. Lightly sweet caramel malt flavor. No complexity, kind of boring. Not much in the way of aroma.
From a bottle. Pours a copper color. Hoppy aroma. sweet malt background. slightly bitter.
I’m actually a little surprised at this one’s lower scores. I really liked the mild but fresh hop aroma paired with the toast-like malt. This is definitely a session beer and isn’t going to overpower your tastebuds, but this is an excellent beer to relax with.