Mosaic & Eureka IPA
The Hop Concept Brewing

22oz bomber poured heavily into a standard pint glass. no bottling date detected.

Appearance- a slight hazy straw color with a frothy off white head. leaves thick lacing.

Aroma- biscuit malt with some orange citrusy hop action.

Taste- like the aroma but with some dank (weed) flavored hops! really nice. abv is well hidden and the bitterness isn't anything crazy.

Mouthfeel- solid medium body. good carbonation. slick and oily.

Drinkability- easily gonna crush this and I hope I find more soon.

Overall- this is a great American imperial/ double ipa. it's super hop forward. if you're looking for more of a malt profile go look elsewhere. has a bit of a herbal hop presence in the taste also. super solid.

 

 

 

I picked up a bottle of The Hop Concept Brewing's Mosaic & Eureka IPA last week for $6.99 at The Lager Mill. I've never heard of this brewery before and I thought I should just take a chance on them and see what this beer is all about, so lets see how it goes. 2017 Vintage. Poured from a brown 22oz bottle into an IPA glass.

A- The label looks ok, it's got a nice and clean design, but it isn't the most eye catching. It poured an amber and golden color that was pretty hazy and it took on more of an amber color when held to the light and it had two fingers worth of slightly creamy and slightly chunky off white head that died down to a thick ring that stayed till the end and it left some nice patchy rings of lacing behind. This is a very nice looking beer, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the hops being the first to show up and the impart a mix of citrus rind, light tropical fruit, green hop, piney and dank hop aromas with the fruity hops and green hops sticking out the most. Up next comes a little bit doughy yeast that leads into the malts which impart some pale malt, light caramel malt, bread crust. bready and sweet malt like aroma. This beer has a good aroma, I like the hop profile and it has good balance.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it starts of with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the hops still being the first to show up and they impart all the same aspects that they did in the aroma, but this time it's not as fruity with the green hops and dank hops showing up a little more. Up next comes a slight bit of doughy yeast that leads into the malts which impart all the same aspects that they did in the aroma and they show up just as much to make the taste nicely balanced. This is a pretty nice tasting beer, the hop profile is nice and dank and the balance is good.

M- Fairly smooth, a little crisp, a little creamy, on the thicker side of being medium bodied with a slightly higher amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is good and it woks well with this beer.

Overall I thought this was a pretty nice and beer and nice example of the style, it had pretty much all the aspects that I look for in a nice IPA and I thought the hop profile was solid and the balance was pretty good. This beer had nice drinkability, a couple glasses would be the perfect amount for me. What I like the most about this beer is the appearance and the balance, to me those are the highlights of this beer. What I like the least about this beer is that the hop profile wasn't a little more like the aroma in the taste. I would buy this beer again and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice IPA. All in all I liked this beer, but I didn't love it and I think all it needs it a little work on the hop profile and this could be a very nice beer. It made for a good first impression for me and I'm interested in trying more of their beers and it's a nice example of the style. Nice job guys, this is a nice and well balanced IPA, keep it up.

 

 

A - Pours a lightly hazed golden orange with a two finger creamy white head. Heavy amount of soapy lacing.

S - Aroma is pineapple, tangerine and earthy hops.

T - The taste is tangerine, pineapple, grapefruit and caramel malts finishing with bitter grassy hops.

M - Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel with a crisp dry finish.

O - Super solid west coast IPA. Nice mix of citrus and earthy hops. Definetly worth checking out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass; no bottle dating, but was just released to my area. Pours fairly crystal clear medium golden/yellow color with a 2 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Nice dense soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big tangerine, grapefruit, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, mango, melon, guava, berry, lemon zest, orange peel, pepper, pine, cracker, biscuit, light honey/toast, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate pale malt notes; with great strength. Taste of huge tangerine, grapefruit, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, mango, melon, guava, berry, lemon zest, orange peel, pepper, pine, cracker, biscuit, light honey/toast, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Moderate pine, citrus rind, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, grapefruit, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, mango, melon, guava, berry, lemon/orange rind, pepper, pine, cracker, biscuit, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate pale malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and minimal lingering hop astringency after the finish. Moderate increasing dryness from bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy, sticky/resinous/rindy, and fairly crisp balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 8%. Overall this is a fantastic DIPA! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate pale malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, and easy to drink; despite the increasingly bitter/resinous/drying finish. Fairly aggressive, but not overwhelming on bitterness. Super vibrant/dank and a bit juicy on hops; nice pale malt backbone, with no residual sweetness. Very well attenuated for the ABV, never heavy feeling. Really great mix of balanced hop complexity all around. The earthy/resiny Eureka compliments the citrus/fruity/tropical Mosaic really well. A highly enjoyable offering.

9-13-17 - On tap at The Confessional.