Death and Taxes by Moonlight Brewing

The famous statesman and historical brewer Ben Franklin once stated that "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes".  I'm pretty certain that you can count on at least one other thing and that is that any beer produced by Moonlight Brewing is worth going out of your way to find.  Which leads us to this post about Moonlight's "Death and Taxes Black Beer".

During our last trip up what I like to call "Beer Valley" we had hoped to stop by Moonlight Brewing but soon discovered that it wasn't quite as easy as visiting Lagunitas, Bear Republic, Russian River or any of the other great ale purveyors in the area.  According to their website "We are too small to be open for tours or tasting". So without personally knowing the brewer Brian Hunt or having a press pass you probably are going to have to do a little searching to find and taste their beers.

Luckily we were able to track down Moonlight's most popular beer Death and Taxes on tap at a Ft. Bragg  local pizzeria, Piaci's. This quaint little pizzeria tucked away at the northwestern end of town boasts one of the better tap lists I have ever come across in a place of this size.  Since I am quoting historical figures in this post; Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and columnist Dave Barry once said  “Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.”  Piaci's marries their extensive and high quality beer menu with some of the best pizza on the north coast.

Death and Taxes is a black beer with a sturdy and creamy head. The beer has notes of coffee and chocolate but isn't overly sweet.  The color is as black as a moonless night but the beer has a light finish and is easy to drink.  It's the kind of beer that would make a light beer drinker say "Wow that's a lot better than I thought it would be".

Where ever you are able to find Death and Taxes or any of Moonlight's other brews I highly suggest taking the opportunity to enjoy them. Moonlight's additional labels include: Homegrown Fresh Hop Ale, Lunatic Lager, Bony Finger Black Lager, 20 to Life Tart Ale, Twist of Fate Bitter Ale, Reality Czeck Style Pils, Toast (slightly burnt) Toasted Lager, Moonlight Special Beer.  I was lucky enough to stumble across Toast in Ukiah at another great pizza joint named Saucy. I will be keeping my eyes peeled as I search for the rest of the brews which rarely make it more that 60 miles from the brewery.