Today's beer review is a tale of good versus evil in which both turned out to be innately good. Earlier in the week a friend and I had picked up a growler of Great Lakes Holy Moses White Ale and then last night, the day I typically drink my review beer, I grabbed a bottle of Avery Brewing White Rascal White Ale out of the fridge. The devilish white figure on the label signaled to me that it was going to be a brew battle for my drinking soul.
I won't insult your intelligence by trying to suggest that either beer is very different from the other, given that they're both Belgian White Ales. One of the main differences that I found right off the bat is availability -- White Rascal is available year round where as Holy Moses is around only from April through July of each year; so if you're looking to try one I'd suggest finding the Holy Moses now before Red Sea washes it away. Other than that, both have a nice spicy Belgian flavor from the coriander and orange peel and are quite refreshing, easy drinking, beers.
Beeradvocate.com and Ratebeer.com both seem to agree with my assessment of comparing the two as well. Ratebeer gives the White Rascal and Holy Moses scores of 74 and 83 respectively with Beeradvocate chiming in with a B and a B+ respectively. I don't really have a good answer other than subjective preference, but I tend to agree with both websites that the Holy Moses is only the slightest bit better (Holier??). It seemed to have just a little something "extra" that I can't really describe.
If you're looking for two well-made, craft Belgian Whites then I would recommend both. I found the Holy Moses on tap at The Wine Rack on Frankfort Avenue and the White Rascal was a bottle from Old Town Wine & Spirits on Bardstown Road.
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