As the weather turns warmer, beer drinkers often turn to products made with refreshment in mind. Wheat beers, with their more easy- going and usually lighter bodied qualities, are often favored during these warmer months and one doesn’t have to search very long to find one of these summer brews at local beverage and grocery outlets. Even the big guys have gotten into the summer beer action and one of the macro- brew summer- style beers available now is Blue Moon Agave Nectar from Blue Moon Brewing. Let’s take a look:
Beer Style: American Wheat Ale
Calories: 173 per 12 ounce serving
Carbs: 13.3 per 12 ounce serving
Bitterness Rating: 14 IBU
Alcohol by Volume: 5.6 percent by volume
Blue Moon Agave Nectar is a straw- colored beer with tinges of tan. The body of the beer is completely clear and its off- white head of foam doesn’t last very long- even following a good pour. The beer emits a nose of wheat, agave, and honey.
This beer has a sweet flavor profile with tastes of sweet, pale malt, honey, and light biscuits dominating. Some yeasty notes are present as well, but there is only a scant amount of hop character. The product is made using pale malt, white wheat malt, and Munich malt with Mittelfruh hops and agave nectar to produce an easy- drinking beer.
Blue Moon Agave Nectar, a Coors product, has a sweet personality and refreshing character- exactly the qualities I would expect in a made- for- summer brew. It is easy on the palate and devoid of much bitterness, making it a good choice of beer for a hot day in the backyard by the pool. The beer isn’t watery in nature, and that is good, but it is certainly easy on the senses and I could see some consumers downing this beer like there is no tomorrow. Without much hop bitterness to keep things in check, the honey sweet malt carries the day, making the beer very smooth and easy to imbibe with abandon.
Easy- drinking beers have their time and place and Blue Moon Agave Nectar certainly fills a void, but it seems a tad lacking in several areas. Yes, it is very clean and the honey- flavor may even hook some consumers. But as a craft beer product, it is rather tame and not very memorable. A little more hop character would be a nice addition and there is a certain adjunct- like character to the flavor that I cannot get past.
I appreciate the lighter beers of summer and I agree that there are some amazing craft brews on the market that refresh and satisfy. Blue Moon Agave Nectar is an okay beer that most will find decent enough to drink, but most will agree that better choices exist. The refreshment is certainly there but the sweetness level and other factors convince me to rate this beer average overall.
Rating: 5 cheers out of 10
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