Those of you who are regular readers of the blog or who know me, will know how much of a huge fan I am of Moor Beer. Justin makes some absolutely brilliant beers and is a really nice guy to boot. I’ve been lucky enough to try alot of Moor beer both in bottle and from cask (mainly thanks to being able to buy them from Beer Merchants and also hitting it lucky in the Sheffield Tap one Sunday afternoon.)
Bitter at it's Best
I was prompted to write this after finding a bottle of Merlin’s Magic at the back of the beer cupboard, how I missed it I really don’t know as the label stands out a mile, as with all the Moor Beers it’s label is great and it’s printed on the same lovely paper, this time in bright orange which really does catch the eye.
Merlin’s Magic is Moor’s take on the classic English bitter only not bland and boring like a lot of the bitters out there. It pours a lovely amber colour with a big head with lots of fine bubbles. The nose is malty, fresh, caramel and lightly spicy with the faintest hint of some hops.
The flavour is light, malty and quite sweet then spicy followed by a lovely hoppy bitterness that has the slightest hints of peaches and fruit, This really is a top notch bitter.
Merlin’s Magic comes in at 4.5% ABV and is one of the best bitter’s I’ve had in a long while, It’s certainly well balanced and much more interesting and packed full of flavour than nearly all of the regular beers in my local, it would make a great session beer I just wish casks of it made their way up here.
Hat’s off to Justin and the guys at Moor, you can follow them on twitter here or visit their website here. You can also view my other Moor beer reviews here or read Justin’s Meet the Brewer here.
