Moon Dog Craft Brewery

This is my favourite craft beer venue in Melbourne, if you visit Melbourne and wish to catch up for a drink, we'll do so at Moon Dog. It is a relaxed brewery with a bar in a small industrial street in Abbotsford (neighbouring one of Australia's biggest breweries CUB).

Moon Dog Brewery Bar Abbotsford.

The brewery has tonnes of personality, largely built on the interesting decor (second hand lounge chairs) and decorations (random posters and stuff), the names of the pizzas and beers and the eclectic soundtrack.

The staff are incredible, they add to the friendly relaxed atmosphere of the place. They know their beers and will offer you a taster to help with your choice.

You will see all kinds of people enjoying the bar - craft beer fans (from across the globe), brewery tours, families with young kids, passing cyclists, locals and even the CUB boys enjoy an after work ale here.

Interior view

Moon Dog also has the pizza van out the front producing what I regard as Melbourne's finest pizza. They use the beer yeast in the pizza dough and offer up great choices (see below), they usually have weekly special Pizzas also on the menu. The bar also serves up cups of free popcorn; a great beer snack.

My favourite Pizzas here are the "Pimp my Marg" and "Don't Hide the Salami".

Melbourne's best Pizzas

The brewery produces some of the most amazing beers you will ever taste. They are often producing weekly one-off kegs testing the brewers' ideas - one example is the recent "Black Cupcake" an insane Nitro Stout made with Marshmallows, Bounty Bars, Maltesers, Milo and Caramel. These tend to sell out very quickly so if you would like to be in the know just follow Moon Dog on Facebook.

The beer list is constantly turning over so expect something different every visit. There are a few staples - Love Tap Lager, Old Mate Pale Ale, and Mack Daddy Dark Ale.

Recent Beer Menu (excluding the Stout menu).

You can buy Moon Dog beers in most good bottle shops in Melbourne and it is on tap at most good pubs in Melbourne. If you can get hold of one of their special beers in a bottle at your local then do so.

Some of the Moon Dog offerings

Note: I am a big fan and have recently made a small investment in Moon Dog to help them with their  longer term plans.

My family on a recent visit to Moon Dog.

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace - USA (ABV 7.6%)

Another refreshing Saison to taste, lucky me!

This Saison was brewed by Brooklyn Brewery (yes that is Brooklyn New York) is special largely because of the hop variety used. This was brewed with the Japanese "Sorachi Ace" hop, best known for imparting a lemongrass like flavouring.

This Saison poured a pale, cloudy amber colour with the expected fluffy white Saison head. It doesn't have the usual yeasty earthy aroma of most Saisons but the lemongrass aroma is definitely there. It has the pleasant mouth feel, and crisp refreshing finish of most Saisons.

The "Sorachi Ace" hop is obviously well suited to the Saison style. This is a very refreshing, tasty Saison.

Brooklyn Brewery website

Croce di Malto Temporis - Italy (ABV 6.8%)

This Saison style beer was brewed in Trecate, Novara, Italy (just west of Milan). It is one of the first Italian craft beers I have tasted.

I am a fan of the refreshing, yet flavour packed nature of the Saison style, so was looking forward to tasting this beer. It poured a delightful orange amber (slightly cloudy) colour, with a fluffy white typical Saison head. A beautiful spicy & citrus hop aroma with typical Saison yeast esters. It has a wonderful mouth feel, a  citrus and herbaceous hop taste and a nice crisp dryish finish.

This is an excellent Saison, craft brewing is obviously alive and well in Italy!

Croce di Malto website

Saison Dupont (Belgium) ABV6.5%

This tasty Belgian Saison pours a hazy pale amber with a soft creamy head. This beer has been top fermented then re-fermented in the bottle. A quite aromatic beer with the yeast esters dominating both aroma and flavour. This Saison has very typical "Belgian" yeast aroma. It has a crisp bitter finish with touch of sourness, it is quite refreshing.

This excellent beer is considered an archetypal Saison. I enjoyed it as a late evening refreshing palate cleanser!

Growlers & Squealers- Fresh Beer!

Growler -"Bridge Rd Chevalier Saison" (Australia) ABV 6%
I was really looking forward to trying this beer and in particular getting hold of a "fresh" 2L growler to sample.

The concept of the "Growler" is a good one. Your shop can get in fresh kegs of a variety of different beers, when they tap the variety you want you pop in and get a 2L Growler (or 1L Squealer) filled with that beer. You then take it home and enjoy it.

As my first experience of beer from a Growler this one was a little disappointing. The Chevalier lacked a little carbonation and a little freshness. This beer has a reputation for forming a big soft creamy head, you can see in the photo a very slight head. The taste was unmistakably Saison, yeasty esters, some grassy hop and a noticeable acidity. A good beer but not great, I think this may have been a dud batch!

Squealer- "Beer Hear Lupulus APA" (Denmark) ABV 4.7%
This American Pale Ale is brewed at the Søgaards Bryghus in Copenhagen. The name is derived from the Latin "Humulus Lupulus" for Hops and further plays on the Latin "Lupulus" for Wolf. The brewery describes this beer as a wolf in sheep's clothing!

This excellent American Pale Ale is brewed with a variety of different malts and packed with NZ Green Bullet, Simcoe and Chinook hops. The malts give this beer a lovely coppery orange colour and a slightly caramel sweetness to balance the  bitterness of the hops. The hops used give this a super resinous hoppy aroma with the finish crisp to dry rather than bitter.

A beautifully balanced beer tasting super fresh out of the squealer!

Ovila Abbey Saison- USA (7% ABV)

Part of a small range brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing in collaboration with the monks of the Abbey of New Clairvaux.

Beautifully presented in a classy pint bottle with a very "Belgian" looking label. Pours a light coppery amber with a big chunky head.

Has a very Belgian aroma (possibly brewed with a Belgian yeast), also  hints of spice and citrus. A light crisp Saison, easy drinking but with subtle flavours including a slightly bitter (crisp) finish.

A refreshing well made Saison.

Bridge Road (Australia) & Nøgne Ø (Norway) India Saison (7.5%ABV)- Comparitive tasting

A collaborative brewing by Bridge Rd & Nøgne Ø, a part Saison (using Belgian Ale Yeast, Pilsener & Wheat Malt) and part IPA (Australian Stella & Galaxy Hops). Both breweries brewed the same beer using essentially the same ingredients.


Both beers have a very similar hop aroma (both are brewed with Stella & Galaxy Hops) but a quite different appearance. The Nøgne Ø pours a darker colour with a much bigger head than the Bridge Rd version, both are similarly hazy in the glass (similar quantity of yeast in the bottle). The Bridge Rd, to my palate, is closer to a true Saison with the Nøgne Ø closer to a true IPA.


Both very tasty, very well made, beautifully balanced beers. I preferred the Nøgne Ø but only just.

8 Wired "Saison Sauvin" - New Zealand (7%ABV)

I bought two of these just to make sure I really did like it, I did!

This has not really been brewed as a traditional Saison, it has extra malt (more alcohol) and a fabulous loading of Nelson Sauvin hops. It pours a hazy (bottle conditioned) darkish amber colour with a healthy head. The head has a true "Saison" character with loads of little champagne like bubbles. I think these have been helped along by the traditional French Saison yeast and a bit of bottle conditioning.

This beer has an enticing Nelson Sauvin hop aroma with a hint of funky yeast and a lovely hop flavour. Refreshing and quite easy to drink, I would not guess this had a 7% alcohol content.

St Feuillien Saison- Belgium (6.5%ABV)

How good would it have been to be given this stuff as a farm worker to quench your thirst?

This was a seriously refreshing Saison and was very easy to drink. It pours a slightly cloudy golden blonde colour with a medium head. The saison has been top fermented and further bottle conditioned, it has a slightly hoppier aroma than a Belgian blonde and has a little less yeasty aroma and taste. A beautifully balanced refreshing "Belgian Farmhouse Ale". You could easily drink this a session ale but it does have a fairly hefty 6.5% ABV!

 I tasted this back to back with Murray's "The Natural" French Farmhouse Ale. The St Feuillien Saison is not as acidic as "The Natural" and has a slightly hoppier flavour.

Murray's "The Natural" - Australia (ABV 5%)

The Natural was inspired by Cadel Evans efforts in winning the 2011 Tour de France. Watching his inspirational race through the French countryside prompted the brewers at Murray's to produce this French Country style Ale .

Better still, all proceeds from this beer go towards supporting the Amy Gillett Foundation, a cause close to my heart. Pretty neat being able to indulge both my hobbies in the one bottle!

This  interesting, bottle conditioned, "session" beer is brewed using a French Ale Yeast.  It pours a cloudy (yeast in the bottle) pale straw with an Champagne like head. It looks like a "Hefe Weizen" but has a slight acid profile with a nice crisp dry finish. It has that yeast presence that you find in some Belgian beers, apparently this is a characteristic of traditional French country ales.

Yeasty, refreshing, crisp dry session beer. Great to see an Aussie brewer doing something a little bit different and for the right reasons.

Order some online HERE