Beer Australian Brewery Mosaic Single Hop IPA

While the previous couple of entries in Australian Brewery’s single hop series were pale ales, it seems Mosaic beckoned for the brewers to make it the star of an old school IPA.

The aromatics are multifaceted, like you’ve tripped and landed face first in a fruit platter. You can’t quite recognise all the sticky orange fruits smooshed on your face, but you think there’s a blueberry stuck up your left nostril.

Yet the fruit salad subs out for malty dankness in the mouth. This IPA isn’t quite chewy, but is held together by solid malt brawn. Imagine an MMA fighter who’s wiry and agile and built for speed but still staunch enough to have you hoping you don’t encounter them in bad traffic. The malt brings body but holds back on the sweetness, supporting a dry and earthy character that stretches out into a long resinous bitterness. Single hop maybe, but far from simple.

Mick Wust