Mosaic Rewind
Grimm Artisanal Ales

The pour is cloudy and almost orange in color. Though labeled a West Coast IPA, this one really does meet in the middle between east and west coasts. There are tropical fruit and melon flavors living side by side with a nice understated pine resin. Best of both worlds!

 

 

 

Packaged on 12/1/2021 - consumed on 1/25/2022. Poured from a tall-boy can into my Dogfish Head shaped pint glass.

Bumblebee orange liquid, not quite clear, with a low delicately soapy cap; vague lacing, below average retention.

Gentle aromatics - low citrus and spice notes - not really getting the characteristic blueberry/tropical notes you might expect from this hop varietal.

Dry, pine-kissed palate entry with green papaya and tangerine coming through. Moderate bitterness throughout. Grapefruit juice, lime soda, and saltines lead into an earthy, slightly resinous, medium-dry finish. Slight grainy/astringent note perhaps.

A little thin, and somewhat warming, though the carbonation is OK.

Not a terrible beer, but not a great example of the style. Sorry GRIMM, maybe leave the "West Coast IPAs" to West Coast breweries?

A: The beer is slightly hazy yellow in color and has a light amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high white head that quickly died down, leaving a thin collar around the edge and some streaks of bubbles down the sides of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of mango are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has tropical flavors of mangos. A light amount of bitterness is perceptible.
M: It feels medium-bodied and a bit juicy on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This IPA does a very good job at showcasing the aromas and flavors of the Mosaic hops in the smell and taste.

Serving type: can

Pours into an impy pint glass a dull fuller golden with a near full finger white head that settles into a frothy mass leaving no lacing behind.Aromas are a little more muted than expected but nice enough,mown grass and light pine resin mainly.The palate hop profile is more assertive with a good amount of pine and grapefruit bitterness,there is a citrus element underneath gives off some juiciness.A medium to full feel that's lightly carbonated,a nice mix of west and east here with the left coast winning out,really nice ipa here.

 

 

 

Grimm finally distributing IPAs to my neck of the woods is really, really satisfying, so finding a WC IPA featuring Mosaic is even cooler considering I've already gotten a taste of Lambo Door (Grimm's awesome pre-trend NEIPA) in the wild. This promises to be another beast entirely, and I'm here for it.

The pour is a cloudy but not opaque (semi-translucent?) burnished copper color with a one-finger, retentive head of off-white foam. Consistent legs and decent lace with a mostly-cloudy surface make this beer appear quite consistent and well-structured in my glass. It's definitely not as clear as it could be considering it markets itself as a "West Coast" IPA, but not all of those are (or were) perfectly clear anyway, and the stylistic denotation could have more to do with the way the hops play out in the recipe. Guess we'll find out.

The nose is heavy on pine sap and resin with a nice backing note of papaya and catty guava-like notes. I appreciate the heavy-handed use of Mosaic here, and the ABV is restrained enough that it doesn't get into insane territory like some bigger Mosaic-focused pales tend to get. That said, the sweaty/musky tropical fruit element here might turn some people off, as it doesn't feel like there's much here in the way of the usual berry or citrus balance Mosaic can sometimes provide.

The flavor profile throws me off of those findings though, because the berry (especially blackberry) aspect of Mosaic is quite present. Jammy and currant-like, these flavors really coat the entire palate and last for the entirety of each sip. Some of the pine needle resinous aspects peek through, sure, but this really flexes the darker berry and lightly-citrusy fruity notes of Mosaic in a specific way. I guess it's not what I expected, but Mosaic being what it is, I'm not upset by it. The malt balance here is pretty well dialed-in, with a neutral but crackery mid-palate helping to solidify the hoppiness while preparing me for the dry and flavorful finish. Grassy and lightly herbal with some light stone fruit notes, the finish is quite satisfying and brings me back for more each time. A very good Mosaic focused IPA. I would definitely recommend this one!