Blue Moon Belgian White (branded as Belgian Moon in Canada) is a Belgian-style

witbier Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German ''Weizenbier'' and Belgian ''witbier''; other types include Lambic (made with wild ye ...

brewed by

MillerCoors MillerCoors was a beer brewing company in the United States. MillerCoors was formed in 2008 as a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors to combine their brewing, marketing and sales operations in the United States. The company was acqui ...

under the name the Blue Moon Brewing Co. It was launched in 1995, and was originally brewed in

Golden, Colorado Golden is a home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States Census. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountai ...

Background

Originally called Bellyslide Belgian White, the beer was created by Keith Villa, a

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer ...

at the Sandlot Brewery at

Coors Field Coors Field is a baseball stadium in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Opened in 1995, the park is located in Denver's Lower Downtown neighborhood, two blocks from Union Station. The ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Colorado (owned by the

Molson Coors Brewing Company The Molson Coors Beverage Company is an American-Canadian multinational drink and brewing company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Golden, Colorado and Montreal, Quebec. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 t ...

). Blue Moon, brewed at the Molson Brewery in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, Quebec, Canada, is sold in the US, as well as exported to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Blue Moon Brewing Co. is an entity of Tenth and Blake Beer Company, the craft and import division of

. The grain bill for Blue Moon includes

malted barley Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as "malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, whi ...

, white

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

, orange peel,

coriander Coriander (;

and

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human co ...

—and is usually served with a slice of orange, which its brewmasters claim accentuates the flavor of the brew. Available in cans, bottles and

keg A keg is a small barrel. Wooden kegs made by a cooper were used to transport nails, gunpowder, and a variety of liquids. A keg is normally now constructed of stainless steel, although aluminium can be used if it is coated with plastic on th ...

s, Blue Moon has 5.4%

alcohol by volume Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol ( ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) ...

. In

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

, the alcohol content of all Blue Moon beers bought in grocery or convenience stores is 3.2% alcohol by weight (approximately 4.0% alcohol by volume). Blue Moon Brews and seasonal brews sold in liquor stores are 5.4% by volume.

Variations of Blue Moon

In addition to their original Belgian White variety, Blue Moon Brewing Company offers Blue Moon Summer Ale, renamed Honey Moon in 2006. Honey Moon contains 5.2% alcohol by volume in a standard 12 fluid ounce bottle. The beer was renamed "Summer Honey Wheat" in 2011, and is still sold under that name. In autumn, Blue Moon markets Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale, renamed Harvest Moon in 2007. This variety contains the flavors of pumpkin and other seasonal spices. Harvest Moon is typically available in bottles from mid-September through December. It contains 5.7% alcohol by volume in a standard 12 fluid ounce bottle. The beer was later renamed "Harvest Pumpkin Ale", a name it is still marketed under. Blue Moon offers Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale during the winter season. Its name was changed to Full Moon with the subtitle "Blue Moon Winter Ale" in 2007. It is brewed with natural flavor and a caramel color. Full Moon contains 5.6% alcohol in a standard 12 fluid ounce bottle. The name was changed to "Mountain Abbey Ale" in 2012. In spring, Blue Moon provides Blue Moon Spring Blonde Ale, originally known as Rising Moon. In 2011 the recipe was changed removing the Kaffir lime leaves. The new recipe focuses more on orange and lemon peel to add the citrus flavors. In 2013 the beer was changed to "Valencia Grove Amber", an amber ale brewed with Valencia orange peel, roasted malts and a touch of wheat. It addition to its seasonal brews, Blue Moon released a

pale ale Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Dif ...

called Pale Moon in 2008, with filings commenced to create a Pale Moon Light. Pale Moon is now marketed as "Rounder". Blue Moon released a revamped and renamed set of seasonal beers starting with the Winter Abbey Ale, in 2010. In Canada, Blue Moon is marketed as "Belgian Moon" with packaging very similar to the Blue Moon labeling found in America.

Controversies

Craft beer

In 2012, Blue Moon had come under fire from the

Brewers Association The Brewers Association (BA) is an American trade group of over 5,400 brewers, breweries in planning, suppliers, distributors, craft beer retailers, and individuals particularly concerned with the promotion of craft beer and homebrewing. Two of ...

for not stating on the bottle that the beer is made by MillerCoors. The Brewers Association says that this omission allows the Blue Moon Brewing Company to masquerade as an independent craft brewer. Some other independent craft brewers agreed with the assessment. In May 2015, a California man filed suit against MillerCoors for the "Craft Beer" labeling; however, the lawsuit was dismissed by a judge in October.

Naming

In 1999, the Confédération des Brasseries de Belgique (The Confederation of Belgian Breweries) sued the then-named Coors Brewing Company over its use of the term "Belgian White". The CBB alleged Coors' advertising was misleading, and could confuse American consumers into believing Blue Moon was made in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. Coors at first responded by adding "Made in USA" and "Belgian-style" in small print to the bottle labels, but refused to change its advertising or packaging. Coors eventually settled out of court with the CBB, agreeing to change the labeling to "Belgian-style Wheat Ale". Additionally, the CBB distributes the beer to conglomerates in European countries. The

New Belgium Brewery New Belgium Brewing Company is a nationally distributed brewery in the United States. The brand produces Fat Tire Amber Ale, Voodoo Ranger IPA, Mural Agua Fresca Cerveza, and La Folie Sour Brown Ale, among other regular and seasonal beer varietie ...

, which makes Fat Tire Amber Ale, also complied with the CBB's request for name changes.Belgian brewers sue Coors
Realbeer.com, November 19, 1999

Awards

* 1995 World Beer Championship gold medalist, White Beer category * 1996 World Beer Championship silver medalist, White Beer category * 1997 World Beer Championship silver medalist, White Beer category * 2008 World Beer Cup gold medalist, Specialty Honey Lager or Ale category for Blue Moon's Honey Moon * 2008 World Beer Cup silver medalist, Fruit and Vegetable Beer category for Chardonnay Blonde * 2008 World Beer Cup Champion Brewery - Large Brewing Company *2012 World Beer Cup silver medalist - Blue Moon Vintage Blonde Ale, Fruit Wheat Beer Category *2016 World Beer Cup silver medalist - First Peach Ale, Fruit Wheat Beer Category

References

External links

Blue Moon Brewing Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Moon (Beer) Molson Coors brands Products introduced in 1995 American beer brands