Sunday Night Suds - Rising Moon Spring Ale with Purim Bonus Feature

Tonight's Sunday Night Suds review looks at the Blue Moon spring beer, Rising Moon Spring Ale.

While walking home from shul yesterday, I had an interesting conversation with a friend who was looking for a recommendation for a beer to have with his Purim seudah. The catch was, the guy is not a big fan of beer.

When making recommendations to non-beer drinkers as to which beer to experiment with, its important to know what their tastes are like. For example, someone who does not like the taste of alcohol will simply not like any beer you give him. For people like this, G-d created alcopops like Smirnoff Ice (most flavors under certification - click here http://www.crcweb.org/kosher/consumer/liquorList.html for a complete list).

Other people may like alcohol, but are not into the strong beer flavors found in stouts or even some macro lagers. For those people, it is important to find out whether their drinks of choice are wine or hard alcohol. For those who drink white wines (chardonnays, emerald rieslings, etc.), I would recommend a beer like the Rising Moon Spring Ale.

The Rising Moon Spring Ale is a flavored beer which does not contain fruit juices and does not seem to have a high sugar content (I have not verified that last observation, so diabetics should not view this as a green light). The beer itself draws its flavor from kieffer lime leaves and lime zest. As a result the amber wheat ale has a distinctive citrus flavor, but nowhere near as strong as sprite, diet sprite, 7-up or even Zima.

Rising Moon Spring Ale (like all other beers produced by Blue Moon/Coors) is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union. For the experts take on Pale Moon, please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/306/40528 .

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.

Finally, if you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

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BONUS FEATURE - PURIM BEER GUIDE

As a community service, Kosher Beers is proud to provide a Purim Beer Guide for those who choose brews for their seudah.

Please note that there is no mitzvah to get stone drunk on Purim. The mitzvah is "ad d'lo yadah" which can even be accomplished through sleep (since while one is sleeping they do not know the difference between Haman and Mordechai).

Still, for those who do utilize alcohol as part of their seudah, the following is a brief guide to beers:

Does beer require a hashgacha? The major kashruth organizations utilize the chazakah that unflavored beer does not require a hashgacha as unflavored beers are made only from four ingredients: malted barley, hops, water and yeast. For a great article by Rabbi Tzvi Rosen on kashruth in alcohol, including an in depth analysis of beer making please click here http://www.star-k.com/kashrus/kk-thirst-highspirits.htm .

Trying to make sense of the different styles of beer? Click here for the Beer Advocate beer style list which breaks down the beers both by their type and country of origin: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style .

Assuming that you are looking for a beer with a hashgacha, I have compiled a list of beers along with their certifying agency. Please note that the list below is not meant to be exhaustive as it only reflects the results of my individual research. Finally, to my friends, I have not tried every beer on this kosher beer list and merely because I list them here does not mean I recommend them for your Purim seudah. If you find a beer which looks interesting to you, please feel free to search the archive on my main page to see if I have reviewed it.

Samuel Adams - as per Star-K, the following varieties are kosher even without a certification on the label. Please note that not every variety of Sam is on this approved list. To see the Star-K LOC for Samuel Adams, please click here - http://www.star-k.org/loc/kosher_letter_6635_bostonbeercompany.pdf .

Black Lager; Boston Ale; Boston Lager; Brown Ale; Cherry Wheat; Cranberry Lambic; Cream Stout; Double Bock; Hefeweizen; Holiday Porter; Honey Porter; Irish Red Ale; Light, Octoberfest; Old Fezziwig; Pale Ale; Summer Ale; White Ale; Winter Lager.

Brick Brewery: This Canadian Brewery only sells its fine product in Ontario. However, should you be lucky enough to find some where you are located, the following varieties are approved by the COR on their website - http://www.cor.ca/en/20177 :

Brick - Amber Dry; Anniversary Bock; Premium.
Laker - Honey; Ice; Premium Lager; Premium Light; Red; Strong.
Waterloo - Dark Lager.

Brooklyn Brewery: This beer company brews in multiple locations including Brooklyn, New York and Utica, New York. The following beers which are brewed in Utica and sold in 12 oz bottles were listed on an LOC which I received from the Va'ad of Detroit. The LOC indicated that it was subject to renewal on March 10, 2010.

Brooklyn - American Ale; Black Chocolate Stout; Brown Ale; East India Pale Ale; Lager; Monster Ale; Oktoberfest; Pennant Ale; Pilsner; Summer Ale; Weiss Beer; Winter Ale.
Post Road - Pumpkin Ale.

Coopers Brewery (Australia): The following beers are listed on the LOC from Kosher Australia which can be found by clicking here http://www.coopers.com.au/media/files/2506.pdf :

Coopers - Best Extra Stout; Dark Ale; Extra Strong Vintage Ale; Mild Ale; Original Pale Ale; Premium Ale; Premium Light Beer; Sparkling Ale; Special Old Stout.

Coors (including Blue Moon): To my knowledge, all beers produced by the Coors Brewing Company (including its Blue Moon subsidiary) are under the Orthodox Union. The beers generally have an OU on the label. The following are the varieties which I have seen with an OU.

Coors Golden Ale (aka banquet beer); Coors Light; Blue Moon; Full Moon Winter Ale; Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale; Honey Moon Summer Ale; Pale Moon Pale Ale; Rising Moon Spring Ale;

Lakefront Brewery - also certified by the Star-K. Very difficult to find outside of the Midwest, although some are available in Brooklyn at American Beverage on Court Street in Cobble Hill. The following varieties are found on the Star- K LOC which can be viewed here - http://www.star-k.org/loc/kosher_letter_8197_lakefrontbreweryinc.pdf .

Big Easy Lager; Bock dark Lager; Cattail Ale; Cherry Lager; Cream City Pale Ale; East Side Dark Lager; Fuel Coffee Stout; Holiday Spice Lager; Klisch Pilsner; New Grist Beer; Oktoberfest; Organic Barleywine; Organic ESB; Pumpkin Lager; Riverwest Stein; Snake Chaser Stout; White Beer.

FX Matt Brewing - this company brews many different brands of beer at its Utica factory. The following beers were listed on an LOC which I received from the Va'ad of Detroit by fax. The LOC indicated that it was subject to renewal on March 10, 2010.

Lake Placid: Ubu Ale; IPA; 46'er Ale.
Saranac: Adirondack Lager; Amber Wheat; Belgian Ale; Belgian White; Black Diamond Bock; Black Forest; Black & Tan; Bock; Brown Ale; Caramel Porter; Chocolate Amber; Dunkel; ESB; Golden Pilsner; Hefewiezen; Helles; High Peaks Imperial IPA; Imperial Stout; India Pale; Irish Red Ale; Kolsch; Light; Marzenbier; Mocha Stout; Mountain Ale; Oatmeal Stout; Oktoberfest; Pale Ale; Pomegranate Wheat; Pumpkin Ale; Rauchbier; Roggen Bock; Season's Best; Scotch Ale; Single Malt; Stout; Summer Ale; Summer Brew; Traditional Lager; Winter Wassail; Nut Brown Ale.
Utica Club : Light, Pilsner.

Pete's Brewing Company:The following beers were listed on an LOC which I received from the Va'ad of Detroit. The LOC indicated that it was subject to renewal on March 10, 2010.

Pete's Wicked Ale; Rally Cap Ale; Strawberry Blonde; Wanderlust.

Redhook Brewery: This brewery produces beer on both the East Coast (New Hampshire) and West Coast (Woodinville, Washington). Both breweries produce beers which are under the kashruth supervision of the OU (all Redhook bottles which I have seen have the OU on the label) including:

Blonde, Copperhook Spring Ale, ESB, Longhammer IPA, Winterhook Winter Ale.

Spoetzel Brewery: This small town Texas brewery has a cult like following among those who have tried its product. The following beers were listed on an LOC which I received from the Va'ad of Detroit by fax. The LOC indicated that it was subject to renewal on December 31, 2009.

Shiner : Blonde; Bock; Bohemian Black Lager; Hefeweizen; Holiday Cheer; Kolsch; Kosmos Reserve; Light; 99 Helles; 100 Commemorator; Spezial Leicht.

I cannot stress enough, if you have been drinking on Purim (or any other day) please do not get behind the wheel of a car. Its a day of simcha and should never be marred by the tragedy of DWI.

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