Moss
Finback Brewery - Glendale

 

 

 

Pours a pale, straw yellow color with a generous two finger head of white foam. Leaves some lacing.

Aroma of candied pineapple and coconut cream with a touch of spicy pine and fresh apricot skins.

Flavor is delicious. Juicy upfront yet refreshingly dry and bitter on the finish, the predominant flavors follow the nose with rich flavors of pina colada and peaches and cream. Dry, minty spruce resin on the finish, with some really dry notes of grapefruit rind balancing out the initial sweetness.

Full bodied and very creamy. Slightly below average carbonation. Very quaffable and hearty.

Really nice stuff.

The yellow- orange can pour is opaquely cloudy. A thin foam cap dissipates quickly.
The aroma is dense with tropical hop esters. Grapefruit, orange and pineapple are noted. The flavor is rich with citrus and tropical aspects. There is a bit of hop burn, but it is welcome.
The mouthfeel is full and very smooth.
This is a fully flavored and soft brew.

 

 

 

So I guess this is an "ascended Oscillation" beer from Finback... one of their Oscillation (experimental hop combo IPA) beers that reached named status. Moss features Citra, Mosaic, and El Dorado, which gives it the same hop bill as the infamous Juicy Bits by Weldwerks. I'm surprised this is the first time I've seen this one while out and about, as it has apparently been around for a few years, but I'm glad to finally see it in my glass anyway.

The pour here is a pretty typical Finback "healthy NEIPA" pour with a huge, dense looking body topped off with a thin, somewhat-retentive head of eggshell-white foam that sticks around somewhat-lazily as it dissipates, leaving behind some decent lace and legs. The surface is cloudy and hazed over as well, meaning just about every aspect of this beer lacks any kind of clarity. It looks like juice. I'm excited.

The nose is juicy, too, as expected. Dense mango, papaya, and passion fruit combined with a hit of stone fruit and some dankness. Mosaic is really doing work here, and I'm impressed. It's not as resinous as some other Mosaic beers, but the way it's weaving the complexities of tropical fruit in with subtler grassy elements and apricot from the El Dorado makes it a star in this recipe.

On the palate, Moss has so much going on that it's almost incredible to me. This is a really juicy, well-defined, intensely-flavored DIPA, and it does all of that without going too far in any particular direction. My first sip is dank and orange-y with a very bitter and intense disposition, but some subsequent sips point more towards papaya and guava flavors with passion fruit as a secondary aspect. Orchard fruit and pineapple come out here and there as well, with some peach and apple-like notes making themselves known. Some melon and dry white wine/tropical notes as it warms even more... man, this is delicious! I really enjoy big, intense IPAs like this, especially when they're hazy as this is. Creamy feel with some dense carbonation and a rather larger feel than some other similarly-strong IPAs I've had. I would buy this again.

 

 

A: Poured from the can into a Piraat tulip/snifter-type glass. Body is hazy orangey-amber with a wisp of whitish head.

S: Nice nose of ripe peach, apricot, some sweeter tropical fruit, and a hint of orange peel.

T: Smooth, juicy hops over caramel malt. Taste follows the nose, with ripe peaches, apricots, candied oranges, papaya and ripe melon. ABV is noted as a bit of a spicy bite at the finish, and as heat in the belly.

M: Juicy and smooth, though not quite slick.

O: I'm liking this one. It's definitely on the sweeter side, but tasty. Reminds me of the old DIPAs I used to drink about 6-8 years ago, when they were new and all the rage (think Stoudt's DIPA, even Goose Island Imperial).

 

 

Canned 06 March, picked up at Bridge Liquors in Newport.

A clear copper with a dense, off-white head with good retention and lacing, this looks solid. The nose has a nice blend of candied citrus peel, pungent pine, peach juice, some nectarine, some kiwi and just a little papaya. Malt character is mild and is present as a caramel sweetness that complements the fruitiness. The palate opens with a big dose of fruit juice, clean and pulp free, with a nice blend of citrus, citrus peel, peach and a little melon. A little floral as well. Sweetness is perceptible, as is a mild alcohol bite, both of which do complement the hop palate. Medium in body and with creamy carbonation, this beer finishes long and mildly bitter with quite a bit of fruit. The juicy hop character does make the oily pine come across as a little unctuous as opposed to a clean and focused pungent bitterness.

 

Poured from a 16 oz can into a teku glass.

Pours a mostly clear amber color with a finger of soapy white head. The head refuses to go away, leaving very little in the way of lacing.

The aroma is piney and grassy with some mild notes of melon and strawberries.

The flavor brings a ton of pineapple and caramel malt. Finishes piney and bitter.

The feel is relatively light bodied with moderate carbonation. A bit watery with an endless lingering bitterness. Dryer than meemaw's panties.

Overall, a pretty good DIPA with a horrible mouthfeel. Lots of malt presence and a fair bit of balance. Not bad, but not really impressive either.