Highland Brewing Company | Mosaic Rye India Pale Lager
As a general rule, I’m a bit skeptical of the India Pale Lager (IPL) style. I find that they woo me in with wonderful scents and even some excellent first sips. Then, after about half the beer and probably 10 degrees of warmth, all of that is gone – or at least muted. Highland has been doing pretty well recently in this snob’s book so I’m approaching this with an open mind.
If we could give a score for just the pour/presentation and the head, this beer is already a winner out of the gate – perfect pour. Clarity is excellent, color is more of a pale amber. On the nose the Mosaic hops announce their presence in an almost obnoxious way – certainly welcome in my book but wow! A lot of fruit in the nose, some floral but I’m getting tangerine. On the tongue the scent carries through with citrus notes. There is some spice here too that I wasn’t anticipating but I think we can give credit to the rye malt on that, nicely done. The body is medium as it coats the mouth well and leave a lingering bitterness. Head retention is great with perfect lacing and a head that lingers thick at the edges and then thins as it gets to the center of the beer.
Final snobs: I’ve let this beer warm up – purposely. While some of the initial scents are a little muted, perhaps, there’s still a lot going on with this beer. At 8% ABV this beer drinks easier than I would have expected. Yes, I shouldn’t be letting a beer linger so long that it warms up but when you’ve got small kiddos, setting your beer down and finding it later is part of the gig. This one though, wow, I believe Highland may have set a new bar for this style.
Cheers!