Castle Danger Mosaic Fresh Hop IPA Review

Name: Castle Danger Mosaic Fresh Hop IPA
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 6.8%
IBUs: N/A

Last week, Castle Danger Brewing released their very highly anticipated Moasic Fresh Hop IPA. At the time of the release, I was at work and unable to make it out to grab some. When I finally did get out of work, I was met by disappointment as all of my regular haunts had sold out of them in just a few short hours. Defeated, I figured that I would probably find it on tap somewhere down the road and savor that Mosaic goodness. Sure, I have access to other great Mosaic IPAs like Fulton's 300, but it just isn't the same as having it fresh.

Then today, as I was browsing the store shelves at one of my other regular places, there it was sitting in the cooler! Apparently, not all of it was sold last Friday and I had, for lack of a better term, lucked out. In any case, I'm very eager to try this out. Also, I did a review of their Local Fresh Hop IPA back when this blog was fairly new, but that beer was made with Brewer's Gold & Cascade Hops; So in case you were wondering if these two beers are the same, they're not.

Appearance - Mildly hazy orange color with a light amount of visible carbonation. The head starts out foamy and eventually settles down the a thin film, but the lacing is abundant and sticky.

Aroma - Rich Mosaic hop and tangerine notes mixed in with a toffee malt sweetness and just a hint of yeasts.

Taste - Once again, the Mosaic hops dominate the palate throughout and they are quite potent to put it mildly, while that toffee maltiness shows up primarily in the middle. I'm also getting some mild bitterness shows up in the back end of the palate. The aftertaste is more Mosaic hops mixed in with light tangerine notes and just a touch of bitterness.

Maybe it's my own bias for loving Mosaic hops, but this is one of those beers that I could drink for days on end and not get tired of it. With that said, it's by no means the most complex tasting beer out there, but it's a very robust one at that and one of the best Fresh Hop IPAs I've had in recent memory. I'm not sure what availability is like at this point, but you definitely need to grab this one should you so happen to see it!

Castle Danger Mosaic Fresh Hop IPA - 9.5/10