Tonight I'll be drinking Moonglow Weizenbock from Victory Brewing in Downington, PA. Weizenbock is a style you don't see around that often, especially in the US craft beer market. It's essentially a dunkel-weizen beer brewed to doppelbock strength....you could call it an imperial weizen. Moonglow is brewed with imported German malts, german whole flower hops, and yeast that also originated in, you guessed it, Germany. It registers 8.7% alcohol, and it's being served out of a 12oz bottle.
The beer is a muddy-dark reddish brown color with a massive layer of tan foam. There's a bit of sediment floating around, but not as much as I expected. The aroma is...huge. Tons of bananas, other fruity esters, all carried on alcohol fumes. Also some sweetness - combination of dark fruits and sweet caramel malts. The first couple sips, I had a hard time tasting the beer, it was pretty overwhelming. After getting acclimated, I notice plenty of wheat malts up front. Peel that away and you get layers of unripened bananas, toasted malts, and some spices. Some herbal hop bitterness comes in to help balance things out. Alcohol breaks through towards the end, and it brings a nice burn to the finish.
Overall Rating: I wasn't sure what to expect with this brew, but it turned out to be pretty good. Big, bold, with lots of german funk. As it warms, there is a slight medicinal taste that isn't great, definitely takes away from the experience. But not bad. B+
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