Mosaic IPA
Pirate Life Brewing

 

On-draught @ the brewery:

Fails to showcase the best Mosaic hops have to offer, instead trending generic and underpowered in terms of hop flavour.

Drinkable but forgettable. Another dud in terms of hoppy ales from Pirate Life.

C / AVERAGE

Mosaic has a very pale amber color, with a bountiful head that becomes pleasing frothy suds that stick to the side of your class. It has a strong aroma of hops, but flavor-wise the hops bitterness is not overwhelming and about right for an American style IPA: bright with hints of citrus. Overall, this is one of the better Australian beers I've had.

 

 

 

Unbalanced, one-note and harsh. Australian attempts at American IPAs are still a long way behind even the average stuff from the US.

500 ml can, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. Golden colour, white head. Aroma of citrus and tropical fruits, also pine. The slightly sweet flavour is citric and distinctly piney / resinous, with a bitter finish.

 

 

500ml can poured into a snifter.

Hazy bright orange amber in color, it tops with pretty thick foamy off-white head that well retains itself with pretty good retention before gradually subsiding to some bubble sheet atop and leaving some lacing on the glass-side.

Mosaic dominates the aroma with its tangerine, papaya, lemon, berries, sweet ripening fruit, pine, floral, earthy, and big peppery spice. Malt is there too with its light breadiness in the background.

Hop forwards in the taste with notes of tangerine, lemon, berries, sweet ripe fruit, pine, earth, grass, pepper, spice, and rather big bitterness. Again, malt is in the supporting with note of bread while Mosaic dominates all over the palate sensation.

Medium body with quite smooth mouthfeel and active carbonation, the feeling is lively crisp and very refreshing with a pleasantly dry finish. A very good showcase IPA for what Mosaic is all about.

Pours a clear golden to amber color with a spongy, huge head.

Smells of water melon and blueberries, topped off by a cake malt quality. There is a note of lime to be found underneath, which adds a nice zing to the nose.

Has a fuller, soft mouthfeel, very velvet and smooth with the right amount of carbonation to keep this refreshing during the finish.

Tastes of caramel from the beginning with a nice ice-bonbon gateway, introducing a pungent hoppiness. The hops produce a light lemon bite with ripe oranges and the watermelon from the nose, supported by white bread dough malts. Finishes with oranges and papaya, while the lemon prevails, exhibiting a powerfull bitterness.

Nice and well working old school ipa approach with a balancing malt backbone among a diverse, tasty hop profile.

 

L - copper color, almost crystal clear, no haze, nice big white fluffy head with ok retention

S - lots of tropical fruit, slightly floral

T - pretty strong flavor, continues the tropical Mosaic theme, black tea, sweet and bitter throughout, subdued malts, clean finish

F - medium plus thickness and carbonation

O - in the US we would call this an excellent example of the "west coast" style -- clear, bitter, dank, in your face hops

“Pirate Life, f**k yeah! Coming again to save the motherf**king day yeah!” - is, in lyric form, how I feel about cracking open this sexy 500ml can of goodness right now. You see dear reader - I had a complete dud for my last review (Sample ¾ IPA) which tasted like a big glass of grain-flavoured soda water. So it’s great to have a brewer like Pirate Life to lean on, as I know that despite their lacklustre Throwback (mid-strength) IPA there’s a talented crew on board that big old galleon singing sea shanties and searching for booty [no comment]. Not only is this an IPA brewed by my favourite Aussie IPA brewer, but it’s a single hop IPA showcasing my favourite hop: Mosaic. My taste buds are palpable with excitement.

Poured from a 500ml can into a nonic pint.

A: Hazed golden-yellow body with a rather boisterous (though I did hard pour it) one inch white head that leaves fancy lace scrawl as it recedes - top notch looking brew. My preference for cloudy IPAs is well known, but this is one handsome beer right here. 8/10.

S: Dirty and full of fresh Mosaic hops, as any brewer will tell you: this truly is a wonder hop that can take on so many different characters depending on how it is utilised (my own brewing experience always led to mango flavours/aromas). In this case the hops have an almost aggressive slant with: Spicy/herbal and cannabis characters upfront, hints of orange and pine notes in the background, with not much on the malt side, but it’s in there somewhere. 8/10.

T: This is a real winner of an Aussie IPA: Bold grassy/spicy/herbal and cannabis hops throughout, hints of pineapple, with a solid but yielding biscuit malt base that allows the hops to really shine. The remarkable thing is how they’ve managed to hop the absolute s**t out of this without having an assertive bitterness in the finish. This is smooth, drinkable hop slamming goodness. Bit like a New England IPA in that regard. I’m loving this Pirate Life! 10/10.

M: Medium bodied with extra viscosity from abundant hop oils - tasty s**t, carbonation is light but dense. 9/10.

D: There was a slight apprehension approaching this that Pirate Life might actually balls it up, but no - this is dead set my new favourite IPA [until it runs out]. Mosaic all the way motherF**KAS!!! I’m really impressed with the finish too - bitterness this mild is remarkable in a full Aussie IPA, great stuff! 9/10.

Food match: SE Asia is a dead cert, other cuisines like BBQ or German will work too.