Boss Tweed - Mango
Old Nation Brewing Co.

Can from Canton St 2020

 

16 ounce can into tulip glass, canned on 10/7/2019. Pours opaquely hazy/cloudy deep golden/orange/amber color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky off white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a large cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of huge lightly tart/tangy mangoes, melon, fruit skin, mandarin orange juice, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, guava, blueberry, gooseberry, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, onion, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, toasted biscuit/dough, light honey/caramel, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Amazing aromas with incredible complexity and balance of mangoes, citrus/fruity/tropical/fairly earthy hops and bready malt notes; with big strength. Taste of huge lightly tart/tangy mangoes, melon, fruit skin, mandarin orange juice, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, guava, blueberry, gooseberry, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, onion, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, toasted biscuit/dough, light honey/caramel, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness; and fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of tart/tangy mangoes, melon, fruit skin, mandarin orange juice, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, guava, blueberry, gooseberry, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, onion, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, toasted biscuit/dough, light honey/caramel, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Amazing complexity, robustness, and balance of mangoes, citrus/fruity/tropical/fairly earthy hops and bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/bitterness and tart/tangy fruit balance; with no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness and tart/tangy fruit. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready/grainy, and fairly sticky/resinous/rindy mouthfeel that is great. Mild increasing warmth of 9.3%, with minimal lingering hop burn after the finish. Overall this is an amazing fruited NEDIPA. All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of mangoes, citrus/fruity/tropical/fairly earthy hops and bready malt flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the big ABV, with the mellowly bitter/resinous/tart/tangy/drying finish. Awesome soft feel, and not aggressive. Amazing Simcoe, Citra, Mosaic, Azacca profile. Super juicy/vibrant hops/fruit, with some dank/earthy notes; and a nice sized wheat/oat/Vienna malt backbone. Light residual sweetness with lingering resin dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazing spot on style example as expected. Not as impressive as the base beer, but still top tier stuff. Not overwhelming on any aspect.

This pours a very hazy golden orange color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like that burning hop sensation that you often get with hoppy beers with mango, unfortunately. It stings the nostril. There's no overt mango sweetness here, just piney astringent.

That burning sensation might fall out at some point, but right now, this beer is an absolute mess. The mango doesn't add anything good to this, other than a super green and almost rubbery burning character. It's chalky, too, with none of the soft flavors you want out of the style. It's hard to find anything to enjoy here.

The burn lingers on the lips for a long time after each sip, kind of ruining the whole experience. It's overall not drinkable, really at all. It's got a good creaminess that would otherwise be appealing, but the finish is just a trainwreck.

I wanted to like this a whole lot more. There's nothing to recommend here.

 

Pours a hazy orange with a white foamy head that lasts quite a while. Citrus aroma. Tastes of mango and pineapple with some bitterness. Not as bitter as you would expect for the IBUs in the beer. Good mouth feel.

Note: I reviewed this beer blind alongside another Mango IPA and wrote my reviews together. The Mango Boss Tweed is #1 in the review.

Look:

1. Off white, two finger head that settles to a thin ring around the edge of the glass. Some spots of foam stick to the side of the glass, but no meaningful lacing. No visible carbonation. The color of this beer is a medium to deep amber. It is opaque and murky. In the end, no lacing.

2. A small gush from the can upon opening. A gentle pour yields a ton of foam. It looks overcarbonated. The off white head eventually settles to a thin ring around the edge of the glass. No visible carbonation. The color of this beer is a bright, deep gold color. It is also opaque and murky, but the lighter color presents much more attractively to me than the other. In the end, no lacing.

Smell:

1. A very mild aroma. I’m struggling to pick up much of any fruit, hops or malt in this beer. I would describe it as heavily under ripened mango. That’s even a stretch. Vegetal. No apparent alcohol aroma.

2. The nose on this beer “pops” and entices. Ripe mango sweetness. A lot of juicy apricot. Some orange citrus too. I get a lot of fruit here. I would not be surprised if this beer included guava, passionfruit, or some other fruit in addition to mango. Some Dole pineapple syrup too. It is hard for me to decipher between fruit and hops. Any hops lean toward tropical fruit, stone fruit and citrus. No dank, piney or catty hops. Sabro or Motueka would not surprise me. Some deeper sweet and earthy fruit notes. I do get a crackery malt aroma. No apparent alcohol aroma. The mango is very much sorbet or smoothie.

At this point, #2 is strongly preferred. I believe both are IPA with mango, assuming both labels are true!

Taste:

1. Upon first sip I still believe this beer is an IPA. The flavor follows the smell. It’s mild and rather bland. Some generic tropical and stone fruit flavors, and rough on the finish with some dry bitterness and mango or hop burn. Some sweetness to it which could be malt and/or lactose. This beer leaves a lot to be desired. No alcohol flavor.

2. This beer has more flavor and drinks more smoothly. A big, ripe mango flavor profile. Very ripe. Once again, apricot. More complexity with a brighter citrus profile like very sweet tangerine or clementine that just stops short of lemon or lime tartness. Some light colored fruit bread malt sweetness. No alcohol flavor.

Feel:

1. Medium level of carbonation, but an overall offputting feel that has abrasive qualities of dryness, bitterness and burn.

2. Medium level of carbonation. Semi-sweet beer. A bit dry, a faint burn but stops way short of the unpleasant nature of beer #1. At this point it’s hard for me to tell if any of the burn is carrying over from the other beer. I think it is.

Overall: There is a clear winner here for me: Mango Beer #2. Which is interesting, because my first impression of the pour was concerning due to the slight gush and initial thought of overcarbonation that did not pan out. I would not drink #1 again. It’s not the worst mango IPA I’ve had, but that doesn’t really say much to be completely honest. I would drink #2 again and consider it one of the better Mango IPA’s that I’ve had. It highlights the key fruit, offers some malt, and additional fruit notes for some added complexity. It generally avoids the pitfalls associated with mango IPA. But for a hint of dryness and faint burn.

A - Pours a cloudy burnt orange with a one finger creamy whtie head. Decent amount of soapy lacing.

S - Aroma is mango, orange and light piney hops.

T - The taste orange, pineapple, grapefruit rind, light mango and bitter piney hops.

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

O - Nice and sweet upfront with some serious hop burn in the finish. This may need some time to settle. Definetly prefer the OG version.

L - thick and hazy orange with a white frothy head.
S - mango and sweet bready malt
T - mango and pineapple with a bitter hop finish
F - soft and full bodied. Moderately carbonated.
O - pretty good. Seems sweeter up front with a more bitter finish than the original. I prefer the original.