Friday’s Beer Store trek left me browsing the beer shelves for a good ten minutes or so. After a while, the Assistant Beer Store Maven (Gail wasn’t there this time) announced one of their freshly acquired brews. I asked as to the price and thankfully it was within expected parameters (8 bucks.) I decided to try it for this week’s review. Then the young lady disappeared and then suddenly reappeared (how do they do that here?) with a cold sixpack of Honey Moon Summer Ale, made by the same brewers of Blue Moon Belgian White Ale. According to the label, “It’s a classic summer ale made even better with real clover honey. Then we add our trademark twist: fresh orange peel and the perfect blend of pale and white wheat malts.” How could I go wrong?

When Saturday night finally came, there I was, out in the Manly Garage, MacBook all fired up ready to go, a nice fire going to town in the Sotz and my beer mug at the ready. I grabbed the first Honey Moon and started.

The top came off and I decanted the brew into the mug. The foam came up nice and thick with big and little suds bubbles mixed together. The liquid had those micro-bubbles, although not that many by comparison and it had a slight tinge of cloudiness but I’m not going to let that stop me. The aroma is mild and slightly beery.

The first sip proved very interesting. It had a wealth of flavor but it was quite mild. I’d truly say that the taste of this beer is unique in and of itself. Slightly sweet with no bitterness. The sides of my mouth had the best time with this flavor. The more sips I took, the more the sweetness came to the front. Yeah, sweet. And mild. And smooth. And very good. The head somewhat dissipated by the bottom of the mug, but by that time, it was time for another.

This is a perfect beer for slaking your thirst after cutting the grass or cleaning the gutters (“eave troughs” for you hicks out there). It’s a man’s lemonade. Picture yourself all hot and sweaty after the task at hand. You plop down in the chair under the patio umbrella and take a sip of Honey Moon. It’s so good that you gulp half the bottle with the next swig.

When the weather gets hot, treat yourself and your babe with at least a twelve pack of this beer. It’s that good.

The SixPackTech ratings for Honey Moon Summer Ale are:

Taste: A > sweet and smooth and beery.
Smoothness: A- > like silk footie pajamas.
Drinkability: A > better get enough first time out.
Bang for the buck: B- > a buck and change per bottle; but worth every cent.
Wife’s all encompassing opinion: “It’s kinda… it tastes lemon-limey. It’s real good.” (Sweet, hot lemon-limey kisses for later.)

Here’s a video of a guy (not me) who pretty much has the same opinion of Honey Moon.