Score: 92
750 ml growler with a "best buy" date of 04/22/15. Served in a Revolution Brewing Company snifter/tulip hybrid glass and enjoyed on 04/22/15.
Appearance: Pours a clean, translucent golden color with two fingers of white head that settles to a thin layer. Good lacing and retention. 4/5
Smell: The nose is a panoply of sweet, tropical citrus: lemon, mango, tangerine, kiwi, papaya, and guava. Herbal notes and pine too. Lovely mix. 4.5/5
Taste: For me, mosaic hops tend to lack the bite I am looking for in a hoppy beer, trading off bitterness for sweetness/fruitiness. This tends to be more pronounced in single-hop brews (obviously). That said, something about Hill Farmstead's base pale ale and Shaun's mastery of the hoppy brew that elevates this well above what I was expecting. The tropical fruit mix upfront is complex and tasty enough to make up for an otherwise mild bitterness on the finish. Sweet fruity malt hits the tongue first followed by papaya, melon, pineapple, and a little lemon/grapefruit. Very mild bitterness on the finish with a long linger of dull orange peel and a hint of bready malt. Quite tasty. 4.25/5
Mouthfeel: Medium-light bodied, spot on carbonation for the profile. Sweet-leaning, fruity malt profile with a mild bitterness, but a far cry from a "malt bomb." 4.25/5
Overall: One of the better mosaic hop beers I have had, and well above expectations. Kudos to Shaun Hill on another well-done hoppy brew; one that is more nuanced and complex than extreme.
Cost: $7 for a 750 ml growler fill.
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