Sosus
Toppling Goliath Brewing Company

04/14/25 can @ home

 

 

 

PKG 01/22/2025. Poured into a tapered glass mug.

A: Hazy gold with 1-2 finger frothy off-white head with good retention and bands of lacing.

S: Pineapple, berry, and guava dominate the nose with softly sweet pale malt

T: Flavor is excellent with moderate-intensity tropical fruit pineapple, guava, mango, and light berry with light herbal, dank quality. Pale malt is lightly sweet and complimentary. Bitterness is low-medium.

M: Highly drinkable with medium body, high carbonation, and dry finish.

O: Sosus is an exceptional DIPA with a blend of hazy and west-coast IPA character. Super enjoyable beer.

 

Brief Review:

O: Interested to see this is still a Top 250 beer. Pretty crazy to pull this off the shelf in Michigan (probably couldn't say that 10 years ago). Nothing super special here now though. Middle of the road DIPA for me. Little too bitter on the finish. Lacks some punch and sweetness.

Recommendation: Never had peak Sosus, but this one is just okay. Unless you absolutely need to tick it, there's probably better stuff out there in this style.

 

A delicious expression of Mosaic. Balanced profile, easy drinking but with a floral, berry nose and flavor that makes you feel wrapped in the blanket of old school IPAs and sneaking your face into the new school breeze.

On tap:
Nice looking slightly orange-hued golden with a little bit of haze. The white head sustains well and provides a decent amount of lacing.

The nose has a slight cattiness to the tropical hop notes and honey malt aromas. Opening malt sweetness is a bit less than medium and seems the proper amount fur the following hoppiness. Tropical fruit skin bitterness with less cattiness than the nose, but still a little. Overripe fruits come out late, with a somewhat woodsy finishing bitterness. Pretty soft and not too heavy for the ABV.

Poured chilled from a can into a 16oz pint glass. Appearance is pale gold color with a very slight chill haze. Dense white head that lasts and clings aggressively to the glass.
Aroma is fruity and pine, some faint malt. Very earthy and tropical....typical of the mosaic hop. There is a slight 'dank'aroma to this one.
Taste is hoppy, malty, and tropical fruitiness....a bit of earthy dankness.
Mouthfeel is medium with a fair amount of smooth carbonation. Good amount of bittering hoppiness and earthy tones with less of a sweet profile.
Overall, this is a decent Imperial IPA. Seems to fit the style....which isn't my favorite, admittedly. Still a very enjoyable craft beer, quite tasty.

I guess I'm a heretic. This one didn't hit for me.

 

 

 

 

Canned 1/22/25 (Twelve days ago)

Appearance: Pours a mostly hazy (40% clarity) medium orange color with a strong white head. SRM of 8. (4.00)

Aroma: Strong aromas of tropical orange, berries, melon, grapes, with some sweet berry nectar and flower.

Flavor: Strong flavors of tropical orange, sweet berries, melon, and nectar with some bright berry flower underneath. Juicy, tropical and slightly sweet.

Feel: Medium bodied, appropriate carbonation. Finish is sweet, but bright and clean.

Compared to Toppling Goliath Fire, Skulls, & Money 2/25: Pours darker, clearer. Milder aromas. More tropical orange, blueberries, grape, melon, pine. Less white grape, and citrus flower. More sweet nectar.

Compared to Phase Three Snow Pants 2/25: Pours darker, stronger head. Milder aromas. Less apricot, lime, melon, dank pine. More berry flower, citrus flower. Drier.

Compared to Barrel Theory Rain Drops 2/25: Pours darker, similar aromas. Less citrus, tangerine. More berry and flower. Similar.
3/25: More pine, tangerine. Less tropical berry flower and melon. Winner: Barrel Theory

to Phase Three Linear Gradient 3/25: Pours clearer, milder aromas. Less orange, tangelo, lime. More dank berries and pine.

to Hop Butcher Mellotron 3/25: Pours clearer, milder aromas. More orange, berries, dank pine. Less smooth melon and lime. More of a bite.

to Hop Butcher Cosmic Glow 3/25: More dank grapefruit, berries and pine. Less smooth tropical notes. More of a bite.

to Hop Butcher Orange Moss 3/25: Pours clearer, stronger aromas. Less smooth orange and apricot, More dank pine and citrus. More bitter.

to Phase Three Be Cappy 4/25: Pours clearer, milder aromas. More dank pine and berries. Less orange flower and juice. More bitter.

Overall: Twelve days fresh and my first try at it. All Mosaic here. A single hop, but Mosaic can do some complex and wonderful things. Lots of tropical orange, blueberry, grape and melon notes. Even some sweet nectar but still with enough berry flower and floral notes to brighten it.
Sosus is good, but I hate to say it, seems sort of below standard for Toppling Goliath in 2025. It's an older beer so for it's time it is still a World-Class IPA. But I can tell it's from a decade ago. (Rating: 4.05+)