ANOTHER STAB AT THE MOYLANDER

Careful readers may have noticed effusive praise in these quarters far too often for MOYLAN’S HOPSICKLE, one of the most mind-boggling great beers we’ve ever had, and a charter member of the HBJ 10/10 club. There are those who will tell you that the “triple IPA” Hopsickle, while great, does not hold a candle to the mere Double IPA from MOYLAN’S called the MOYLANDER, and that while the Moylander may suffer in thr PR department, it is absolutely the superior beer. I decided to put this theorem to the test the other night.

Right when this blog got going we had our first MOYLANDER and pronounced it a 7.5/10 – “not too shabby”, as they say. Could this number hold? Might it even improve? Let’s find out. The Moylander is every bit as intense as its brother the Hopsickle, and has this intense surging citrus mass of hops that could cause surprise eye-watering in the unprepared. It has a real spicy character to boot, one that calls to mind both freshness and a deliberate attempt to overwhelm the taste buds. It’s one of those “bubble” beers – one that I admire and enjoy for its craft and care, and yet one that might be little too strong to even get through an entire pint of. And I thought there was no GOOD beer that I’d say didn’t deserve an entire pint’s worth, but some of these double IPAs really deserve to be served up in 6-8 ounce glasses instead. Too much. I’m going to drop my ranking down to 7/10 this year.