Mosaic Mansion (Fresh Hop)
Amalgam Brewing

i have had some truly elite fresh hop beers this year, but this one might take the cake, its as good as it gets, perhaps the best expression of mosaic anywhere right now, blown way by the pungency, the purity, and the overall quality. brewed at bierstadt. this is really light on the grain side, seems like quality pils malt leading the way, maybe thats it, it has some character to it, a little european, not neutral, but also minimally malty in the conventional sense, this is very much the new west coast style, yellow and clear, nothing richer than a pils type, fresh there, a fine foundation for this, but this beer is most certainly not about the grain, nice as it is here. this is brimming with mosaic goodness, crushed fresh pineapple, shredded white coconut, green table grape, heady sativa nuggets, green plantain, and waxy raw honey as well, and this does carry a little sweetness which accentuates some of those elements, decidedly fruity, insanely pungent, almost hop product intense with the early start and the high saturation, they have gotten a lot more from these fresh cones than many do, perhaps there are some supporting hop elements here as well driving those deeper, but this really is impressive from a power standpoint, yet its also so clean, so bright, so tidy, almost lager level crispness, and it actually has some bitterness, which less and less of the fresh hop ones seem to every year. it warms to yellow florals, ripe red berries, and overripe mango, really distinctive, so obviously fresh, a little danky punch too, decent late bite, very quick finishing overall, and with rushing carbonation lightening it still further. a gorgeous showcase of this hop in a clean and contemporary ipa, i could drink this one indefinitely, and it kind of makes me realize i have not had anywhere near enough beer from amalgam, i hope to fix that in the near future. this one was borderline life changing, a total triumph!