J.W. Lees Moonraker (Bottle)
Bottle; Pasteurised.
Brewed for over 50 years. Named after farm workers who tried to rake the moon from a Middleton stream. The cask version won CAMRA’s Champion Winter Beer of Britain.
Brewed for over 50 years. Named after farm workers who tried to rake the moon from a Middleton stream. The cask version won CAMRA’s Champion Winter Beer of Britain.
3.4
392 reviews
Middleton, England
Community reviews
Rigtig fin øl i glasset, stabil skumhat. Den har en meget tung maltet, sødlig smag, lidt spritet. Næsten ingen humle.
Ciemnobrazowe o malej pianie. Mocne. w smaku wyczuwalne owoce .rodzynki alkohol i slod. Calkiem dobre
Bottle. It’s years since I had this. Funny to think when I first started drinking that a beer of this strength was a novelty.
Nose is raisins, malt, very pronounced metallic note which faded to leave caramel and brown sugar. Taste is brown sugar, sweet malts, raisins, nuts, yeast, apples, hint of vanilla perhaps, dark fruits, darker bitter slightly leathery edge to the finish.
It’s very good for a supermarket beer, but not as good as the cask of my memory. I need to have it out in the wild again.
Great dark brown stout, heavy Carmela and fruit flavour, bottle poured with a off white head. Bought at Asda
Pleasantly surprised by this pours dark brown, nice nose lots of dark fruIt figs dates and smokey flavours medium finish a very nice beer.
Bottle thanks to allmyvinyl.
Appearance - deep amber with a lovely creamy lacy head.
Nose - very much candy sugar. Little bit of sweet malt.
Taste - a touch of barrabricht (spelling - you know the Welsh bread).
Palate - medium bodied with a creamy texture and a balanced dry finish.
Overall - great beer.
Dark brown, light brown head. Aroma is mostly brown sugar, . Taste is sweet, dark malts, bread.
Bottle at AshtonMcCobb’s. Pours clear copper brown with a thin off-white head. Aromas of dark sugar, molasses. Taste is sweet, candy. One-dimensional.
Bottle at ash’s. Pours deep brown, nose is chocolate, caramel, sugary, taste is rich, sweet, caramel.
Bottle from their webshop. It pots deep brown/nr black with a sturdy light tan head. The nose is jammy dark fruits, berry, earth, wood, old leather armchair, toast and smoking jacket. The taste is smooth, roasty, rich dark fruits, bitter, wood, light vinous, leather, some spice, earth and warming alcohol with a dry finish. Fulsome body and fine carbonation. Nice depth of flavour to it. A rather nice beverage.
"what a delicious surprise! i’d never heard of this so had no expectations going in, and ended up liking it better than their far more famous harvest ales. silky texture, with a plethora of tobacco, dark fruit, chocolate, malty goodness. great nose and flavor. i’ll be getting this more often for sure."
Reviewed from notes.
This was poured into a mug.
Thanx Theresa!
The appearance was a semi-dark brown color with a one finger white foamy head that dissipated within about a minute. Light foamy lacing graced the sides of the glass.
The smell had a roasty nutty caramel aroma, somewhat like a brown ale. But a nice rich invasive chocolate came through with a light coffee to enliven a bit.
The taste was pretty much the same with a light added vanilla.
On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a fair sessionability about it. The carbonation was mostly subdued and good for the style and for me.
Overall, English Strong Ale or English Brown Ale, it doesn’t matter to me, it’s good and definitely worthy of having again.
Bottle at home from backlog notes 07. Pours a reddish brown color with a small beige head. The aroma and flavor have caramel, nuts, raisins, slight earthy character. Sweet and not worth the cost.
Extra bottle in trade with Theydon_Bois many thx Sir cons 2014-03-22 Göteborg
AR: buttery, red fruits, nutty aroma
AP: dark ruby, frothy cream beige steady head, layered curtains
F: smooth, plum, caramel, wee soft bubbly, medium bitternees, wee soapy feeling,
Bottle thanks to Theydon_bois cheers Colin; hazy dark chestnut brown pour with frothy tan head, sweet caramel aroma, taste has plums and dried fruit quite boozy tasting, a hint of wood and autumn leaves.
Bottle at home, 23/02/13.
Extremely dark mahogony brown come light black with a well appointed tan covering.
Nose is tobacco, toffee fudge, cake mix, light cocoa, earthy tones.
Taste comprises dark toffee, tea leaves, musty tones, light cocoa powder
Medium bodied with a little oomph, sof t carbonation, semi drying close.
Ok drop, good level of depth, light booze, fairly easy drinker for the ABV.
Bottle from Booths in Ripon. Pours mahogany with a tan head. Plenty of flavour going on - this was a rich and vinous ale. Flavours of toffee and pear drop with warming alcohol. A nice bitter sweet beer.
A: Brownish/Reddish Hue, Passes Almost No Light, Off White Head, Some Lacing
S: Funky Yeast, Sour Green Apples
T: Dark Plums, Bitter Apples, Mild Raisins, Yeast
M: Average Carbonation, Light to Medium Bodied, Sour, Dry
Overall, a weird yeasty sour ’belgian strong ale’...didnt follow the style and a mild sour ale. A good hit but a miss too.
500 ml. bottle. Pours dark brown with an average biege head. Aroma of fruit, malt, chocolate, and alcohol. Taste is dark fruit, roasted malt, alcohol, chocolate, and caramel. On the sweet side. Good.
Wonderful initial aromas of dandelion, blackcurrant and malt. Retains a light head slightly off beige in colour with nice lacing. Palate reveals more malt and touch of port wine and more berries.
Pours a dark color from tap with minimal off white frothy head. Aroma is malty sweet with grape and fruity notes. Flavor is smoky, malty, dark fruits, with possibly some oak. Mouthfeel feel is a little thin but atill decent. Overall this is an alright beer.
Very dark red beer wih a frothy, thick head. Mild smoky aroma. A sweet malt flavour that manages to be quite flavoursome without being especially strong tasting. Some mild fruit taste, grape perhaps.
Not as distinctive as I was expecting from other comments and it’s reputation but maybe that’s just the bottled. The bottle is nice but I’d be keen to try it on tap.
Mild oak notes. Clear cola colored, medium tan head, good lacing. Very oaky, walnut flavor, subtly sweet and bitter. Hints of marzipan and nougat. Vanilla overtones, which become very pronounced in the finish. Elegant.
Poured from big brown bottle into nonic half-pint glasses. Hazy brown with long-lasting beige foam and a little lace. Much deeper colour than I expected. Rich, distinctive English aromas and flavours: sweet grainy nutty malt, caramel, raisins, orange marmalade, stone fruit, flowery/earthy/resiny hops notes. I have a feeling this was an older bottle, the mouthfeel had a pleasant aged/oxidized smoothness. Medium body and carbonation, long-lasting fruity, bittersweet aftertaste. Delicious.
Dark brown. No head. Smooth, Tastes like an extract brew. Caramelized. I’m surprised by the alcohol. Slight orange.
Spicy, fruity nose with some mincemeat and some sweet malt. Deep amber. Flavour is big, rich and bold with sweet malt in balance with vineous fruit. Finish is butterscotch and molasses.
Bottle (500ml):
Mainly dark fruits to start, a combination of plum and sugar with some raisin and a little spice too. There is some toffee malts and some grapes but it doesn’t smell as strong as I had been expecting.
Dark mahogany colour with deep red tinges with a thin, off-white head that is about a millimetre thick that remains consistent throughout.
Dark fruits kick things off with the plums and raisin from the nose along with a sort of fig taste. There is some sweet, rich malts and a little sugar along with an alcohol laced finish.
Medium bodied and with moderate to high carbonation, there is a dry finish that is slightly bitter and boozy with some spice in the mix too.
Very fruity and not as dark as I had expected, although still quite sweet. You can definitely feel that 6.5% abv. after a few drinks and it is quite a boozy beer to drink but it is one that I would have again.
In the bottle there is some deep and appetising fruit. In the glass it is more cola like. Constant head on top of reddish brown beer and body is slightly carbonic and thin for a 7.5% ABV beer. Slight banana quality to taste but not much else. Decent lacing and the mouth does get a decent coat of sap. Opens up a bit more with time.
Certainly is Moonraker. Too bad I was expecting From Russia with Love.
Opaque very dark amber, long-lasting ivory head and light lace streaks. Toasted malt with a push from prunes and candied fruitcake fruit, moves to light bittering at the finish. Not your normal strong ale - not heavy, not filling, too many other flavors working through to dismiss it as "just another ale," a solid drink. Recommended.
500ml bottle - Pours a rich mahogany, head is a thick tan and of considerable duration with some lacing. Aroma of caramel and dark fruit. The flavour is a sublte combination of malted roastness and the sweetness of dark fruit, and has a rich feel to the palate and aftertase. Really good, and a good one for Autumn (Fall) too.