Your homework last week was to investigate the Citra hop, courtesy of some single hopped beers that focus on this well known variety. How did you go? Can you now spot Citra’s profile with your eyes shut and your hands tied behind your back (I’ve spilled a few beers trying this)? Great! If not, just keep plugging away.

Today let’s take a look at Mosaic - another massively popular hop that pops up all over the place.

Mosaic is a newish hop which was bred in 2012 as the love child of Simcoe and Nugget. One of the main reasons for its surging popularity and general uptake is its versatility thanks to its triple use profile which encompasses bittering, flavour and aroma. It has decent alpha acids at around 12% (i.e.12 percent of the total weight of the hop) but with low levels of cohumulone, one of the main alpha acids but which can produce harshly bitter notes.

The hop has comically been called Citra on steroids and boasts a broad flavour spectrum that spans floral, herbal and piney to tropical mangos and stone fruit. To sum it up, I guess we could say it’s clean and complex with juicy bitterness - which is why it works well in hazies and East Coast styles.

So here’s your homework for the week - courtesy of Lost Coast’s Mosaic Single Hop Hazy IPA…

Lost Coast Mosaic Hazy IPA 473ml
$10.50
"A juicy paradise of tropical pineapple, mango and passion fruit with occasional hints of citrus and very low bitterness. 6.5% ABV"

Sounds good right! Grab a can or two - I want a thousand words on Mosaic on my desk by the end of next week!

Bah, who am I kidding - just give the beer a go and think about all those yummy aromas and flavours.

Enjoy.