Despite being confined to Crafty Towers for weeks on end now, I've still heard a couple of people praise the name of Moon Dog's latest core range beer as a real gem. Clearly, they're not people with a child who spent three months from the first lockdown going to sleep with the Lion King soundtrack playing... Even the Moon Dog staffer that dropped in samples of the session sour said the Disney hookworm had been lodged in his head for weeks after shooting promo material for its release.
There's precious little information on the cans, which look like a lolly wrapper from Willy Wonka's factory, but that's always fun as it presents a test for the old olfactory system. Said system informed the grey matter the beer "appears to be dry hopped as there’s some light yet lively citrusy, lemony, red berry aromas", going on to conclude: "Indeed, there’s much of the hoppy, New World summer ale about the flavour too." I don't need to fire myself yet as enquiries revealed the beer is dry-hopped with citrusy, tropical Citra and Mosaic.
Where Lagoona Matata differs from a summer ale is in the gentle lick of acidity – this isn’t a sour sour – and a finish that adds to the quench. Indeed, such is the balance in favour of hops over funk, even drinkers who've found sours lack a certain appeal might pick up a Lagoona Matata and declare: "No worries!"
James Smith
Published September 4, 2020 2020-09-04 00:00:00
