February’s release of the Moon Doggies Beer Club box has seen the return of a retro classic as Bjorn to To Boogie is reborn. Sure, a beer named after a member of ABBA might feel as retro as you can go but the beer, dubbed a watermelon weizen, was first brewed way back in 2014, back when brewers were less eager to throw fruit at beers - and when they did the focus wasn't so much on sours. Drinking Bjorn is a reminder that there’s a lot about wheat beers that make them feel right for Australia, particularly during summer. It’s nicely carbonated, has quite a fulsome body, is satisfying and features soft notes of cloves and banana that come to the fore first before the watermelon kicks in.
Joining Bjorn, is another release concocted with summer in mind, Stop, Hammock Time. Even in a style as amorphous as XPA, labelling the beer a tropical fruit hazy XPA might seem like it’s a long way from a style guide rulebook but you have to remember that Moon Dog hasn’t really ever followed such guidelines (unless it’s to brew a Rulebook Rauchbier featuring actual textbooks in the recipe...). What the beer does capture is a varied mix of tropical fruits, including smooth mango, honeydew melon and guava that are joined by a more lolly-like element that brings to mind Juicy Fruit gum.
Will Ziebell
Published February 3, 2022 2022-02-03 00:00:00
