Thus Let Us Drink Brew - Moo Brew
Yes, we have covered MONA, i.e. the Museum of Old and New Art, based in Hobart, Tasmania and have sung its praises many a time. Ditto for its founder David Walsh, the founder and visionary behind what is one of the most brilliant and unique entities on the firmament of museums.
Now, David Walsh’s endeavours do no merely stop at entrepreneurship and the collecting of art, au contraire, his interests are manifold and luckily for us, he is not only invested in mental constructs but also aligned with the pursuit of sensual self-indulgence and the organisation of unceasing, merrymaking bacchanals.
We have covered his vino emissions and the excellent drops he produces with Moorilla and Domaine A and it was only a matter of time until we were going to cover his brews made from malted grain.
Moo Brew is the name of the etablissement and no matter if you savour a cold one, the sexiness of the bottles and design of the cans the beer comes in, is hard to dispute. Featuring reduced, idiosyncratic artwork of Australian artist John Kelly, the idea for which came from Leigh Carmichael, the brain behind the Dark Lab, the sum of the total that is created constitutes much more than the mere sum of great beer, attention to detail and artistic flair.
What I have always liked about both Moo Brew’s core range as well as the limited edition brews is the fact that they channel an authentic appreciation of the DNA of the beers they are producing: The Hefe comes very close to what you would be served in some of the better Bierkellers in Munich and the Pilsner would make the palate of any Czech beer aficionado salivate. The fact that they even nailed their own equivalent to a Belgian Pale Ale speaks volumes about their craft.
I specifically like their special editions and geschmaecklerische releases like their Dark Ale, which proved to be a great companion at the wee hours at the Odeon Theatre at last year’s incarnation of Dark Mofo as well as their Stouts, some of which are veritable beasts of beer.
Now that things were ever uninteresting with Moo Brew, but being very appreciative of whisky, the announcement of the collaboration between Moo Brew and Sydney’s Archie Rose Distilling Co. have instantly caught my imagination.
What emerged is a two months whisky barrel-aged tar black imperial stout, which with its 10.8% ABV packs a punch or two.
Coming in a sleek, black all wax sealed bottle, it radiates everything that MONA stands for – sophistication, hedonism, artistic flair, a total dedication to craft and a presentation that in a subtle manner highlights and lets the relevant things shine – even more so if they are black.
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Image from company website