Hop Continuum No. 2 - Mosaic Red IPA
DuClaw Brewing Co.

 

**
08/13/15

Bottle to pilsner glass.

Clear Brownish red color. Small white head. Aroma is hops, fruit. Taste is hops, pine and kind of a metallic aftertaste, though it’s not as unpleasant as that sounds. I think I really like mosaic hops. Gives it a unique flavor. Above avg. Carbonation.

**

 

 

Pours a nice opaque red with a thin head. Smells very grainy with a light hint of hops and some grassy notes. Taste is vey grainy as well. Very unique. Feels thin with a medium amount of carbonation. Not a bad beer by any standards, just unique and different. I like it.

12oz bottle poured into a pint glass, served at The Asylum, Lewisburg WV

A- deep amber color with a creamy off-white head that has good retention

S- floral, herbal & fruity citrus hop aroma, balanced by a caramel malt sweetness

T- fruity red hops with some citrus peel notes, caramel malt mid-palate with underlying notes of chocolate, more citrus on the finish

M- medium body and carbonation leads to a creamy mouthful that continues through to the finish

O- nice us of mosaic, actually drinks almost like an amber ale

 

 

Bottle dated 5/2015 (so yes, a little old, consider that):
First off, like others have mentioned, at the end of the pour, it turned darker as sediment that generated a large amount of "floaties" entered the pour. A deep, rusted amber - maybe a tad darker due to sediment - with actually a decent light red-tan head that lasts decently.

Nose seems a tad old, but I tried to ignore that. A hint of the malty side characteristics with light candy/bready notes, but a little stronger thick meadow grassy notes. There's almost a bit of rye notes in there as well. Nose is decent in strength, but again seems a tad off with age.

Taste has some classic amber undertones, but fairly quickly hits with the bitterness. Hop forward in timing, and slightly to that side in taste, but the malts fight to hold their own. Caramel malt, and hops that seem very pithy originally do have some tropical tones open up with some warmth. Definitely a little resemblance to a rye beer at this age as well.

Feel is actually fine, decent carbonation, maybe a little fuller in body than I'd like in an IPA (don't think the sediment is affecting that).

I have another beer, and I will adjust this review on a pour that I decant better. This beer didn't age overly gracefully - even if it might not be expected to. Going to guess I'd increase it not much more maybe .1 - .15 based on reading what others have said about is.

 

 

 

 

Undated bottle into a pint glass. Reddish amber, with a lot of sediment floating around (possibly an overenthusiastic pour on my part). Thin off white head. Taste is predominately pine resin, with some citrus undertones. Reasonably light and refreshing - not quite sticky, but it has some substance to it. No alcohol burn. Noticeable but not overwhelming bitterness. Not a terribly complex IPA. I wouldn't try again.

 

I'm assuming there was something wrong with the bottle I had. Poured a dark red ale color, which looked good, but was full of floaties. Smell and taste were very bitter pine/earthy tones. I love mosaic hops this was not that. Overall, based on the other ratings, I'm assuming my bottle was off.

 

Had this at the DuClaw brewpub in Arundel Mills, MD. Nice deep red-amber color, not overly thick head that vanished pretty quickly. Smells more like a red than an IPA, hops are more aggressive in the taste than the smell. Hints of citrus dominated by a bitter hoppy overtone throughout. Definitely a fan of the mosaic hop, good woody flavors. Fans of reds will not be disappointed.

Pours clear amber with 1/4 inch head. Taste is toffee, dark chocolate, with some earthy and barky hops. Interesting and hoppy take on this IPA/red ale. This is one I will pick up this one again.