Another faux international beer, or is it? And I am guessing that the moon over Belgium is in fact the same moon I see every night, so what’s so special about a Belgian Moon? Not much in my opinion.
This Belgian White Wheat Beer Ale has a bit of an identity crisis. It also happens to be steeped in controversy.
I have a riddle for you. If you call a dog’s tail a leg, how many legs does it have? The answer of course is four legs. Calling the dog’s tail a leg doesn’t make it one. Does calling a beer that is brewed by Coors a craft beer make it one? They call this a craft beer, and not just any craft beer, but the best-selling craft beer in the world.
And what about the name? In the USA this is Blue Moon. Exact same beer. However Coors forgot to register the name Blue Moon in Canada and somebody else registered it. After a number of years they were able to secure the name in Canada however ongoing litigation with Molson (infighting I guess as they were merged by this time) resulted in Coors only owning part of the name? So in 2016, 21 years after it being put on the market in the US, they introduce it in Canada but they didn’t call it Blue Moon. According to Coors they didn’t want any confusion with Labatt’s Blue, however this explanation may not be the whole story. It turns out that in the registration battle for the name in Canada the complainant against Coors was in fact Labatt’s. I am sure I don’t have this history right, there are more twists and turns in this one than a crooked dog’s hind leg, even if he only has four legs. Too much drama for me.
So it’s not a Belgian beer, it’s a US beer or is it? I think it is also brewed in Montreal which I thought was in Canada last time I looked. Whether it’s a craft beer or not is debatable. It is a Belgian style wheat ale, although Belgian ales typically don’t have fruit in them like Belgian Moon does.
A wheat beer, a wheat ale, Belgian US Canadian big brewery craft beer. All of the above. The can says brewed in North America, I guess that doesn’t rule out Mexico either. So the research of this particular brew was more work than I signed up for. I thought I was just here to drink and report?
So you’re wondering how it tastes. It’s too light and thin for me, I usually like a little more flavor to savour. According to the can you have to serve it in a wheat beer glass with an orange slice to bring out the flavour. I didn’t try it with an orange slice so I guess my tasting was fruitless. This Belgian Style North American Big Brewery Craft Wheat Beer Ale is not on my list of favourites. This is the type of beer you either love or you don’t. Lots of people are buying it so somebody must love it. I may drink one once in a blue moon but that will be enough for me.
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