Head Full of Fresh Hops (2022): Mosaic and HBC 586
Fremont Brewing Company

16oz can from Hops & Bottles. Hazy golden pour, foamy white head. Aroma is citrusy, grapefruit, lemon, pineapple with a dank edge. Taste starts fruity before giving way to sharp, dank hoppiness. Hops last through to the finish, and continue to linger.

 

Poured from a 16 ounce can dated 9/29/22 into a tulip glass.

Look- Pale gold, very hazy, plentiful visible particulate, white frothy head, above average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Clementine, pine, pineapple, grassy, between medium and high strength of scent.

Taste- Clementine, pine, high strength of flavor.

Feel- Between medium and full body, moderately bitter, prickly, moderately creamy, average carbonation, zero astringency, mildly mouth warming.

Overall- The look was an awesome pale gold with an abundance of visible particulate. Bouquet was great with nice balance and appealing fragrances. Taste was really just a combo of two flavors, but they had nice balance. Feel was great with moderate bitterness and zero astringency. This was a wonderful fresh hop beer!

 

Can Date: 9/29/22
Palate Contaminants: other beer

Light orange, almost straw color. Opaque, as usual. An okay amount of medium-fine head.

Initial smell is candied fruit. A little general citrus, a little tropical fruit. Sugary and nondescript on the latter. Lemongrass is in there. Maybe a little herbal, like cilantro.

The taste is very vegetative, with lots of freshly cut grass and greenchop. It sweet, yet that sweetness doesn't really connect with fruit. There's a little bit of white grapefruit, if anything, but the flavors aren't particularly intense. Bitterness is medium-light. The malt seems to make it through because the hops aren't all that strong.

Alcohol is detectable for a six-percenter, which isn't the norm. Aftertaste is actually somewhat juicy, along with the grass, which is an odd combination. Carbonation is medium-coarse, although not prickly. Grapefruit in the aftertaste really comes on as it warms up.

 

Poured from a 16 oz can into a Willi Becher pint glass.
L - Pours a hazy yellow color with a nice white head.
S - Smells of citrus.
T - Tastes of citrus, hops and bitter dankness.
F - Medium body and carbonation, with a nice stickiness.
O - From my limited fresh hop beer availability, this was just an outstanding IPA.

To me, one of the better (if not best) HfoD offerings I've had in the last couple years - glowing golden body shows a bit more haze than other recent variants, frothy off-white head. The hop profile leans into the fruitiness of Mosaic with plenty of orange/tangerine and grapefruit pith, pretty sticky and a touch resinous with a flash of green/vegetal earthiness. Moderate bitterness for a modern hazy, which I like. All around it works for me, it feels very fresh and vibrant.

 

 

Pours a hazy yellowish brew with modest foam in the Troubadour tulip. Mouthfeel is lush and sudsy. After a few sips it becomes quite acidic. Quite aromatic with melon, orange, and grapefruit. It only takes a few sips, however for the underlying bitterness to rear up and take over any possibility of tasting the fruit. Grapefruit pith in the finish and a massive astringent and bitter aftertaste long after I have run up the white flag. From the 16 oz can purchased at the beer store. Dated 09/29/2022.