Karl Strauss Mosaic Session Ale
San Diego, California
Session Ale
ABV: 5.5%
The refreshing aroma of grapefruit and mango instantly draws you in, then one taste and it’s obvious why this beer won a GABF bronze in the session ale category—it’s trim and tight, well-attenuated with an incredibly clean yeast profile that provides a perfect stage for the hops. Those hops? Signature Mosaic—a touch woody, a hint of floral, slight bitterness, then more mango and citrus for days. At 5.5%, it’s a bit bigger than we typically like our “session” beers, but even as a single-hops pale ale, it’s deliciously deep and satisfying. —Jamie Bogner
Stone Pale Ale 2.0
Escondido, California
West-Coast Pale Ale
ABV: 6%
A chameleon-like beer, Stone Pale Ale 2.0 provided a different experience each time we sampled it, depending on what we drank with it. On its own, it tasted brighter and more aroma hops-forward than we remembered of the 1.0 version (which our blind-panel tasted and reviewed in our February-March 2015 issue), with the German hops providing enjoyable citrus notes. When we sampled it after the Karl Strauss Mosaic Session Ale, the experience was entirely different—the English ale yeast esters pushed forward and masked the floral and citrus hops flavors, and the bitterness lingered. Kudos to Stone for rethinking the recipe of this aging classic. Just be careful what you drink before it. —Austin Grippin
Terrapin Maggie’s Peach Farmhouse
Athens, Georgia
Farmhouse Ale
ABV: 5.3%
Fruited wheat beers are a summer staple for most craft brewers, but Terrapin’s twist (using a farmhouse ale for the base) complements the pop of sweet, refreshing peach flavor in every sip. Typical of the farmhouse style, it has a lightly phenolic nose with enough peach and banana sweetness to pull you in. The beer is filtered and clear with a supportive mouthfeel and clean close but finishes on a very slight lingering solvent note that (thankfully) doesn’t take much away from the pleasant flavor. All-in-all, a good beer for a warm summer evening. —Haydn Strauss
Crooked Stave Progenitor
Denver, Colorado
American Wild Ale
ABV: 6.2%
Dry-hopped sours are the perfect gateway to wild beers for IPA-loving hopheads, and the light golden body of Crooked Stave’s Progenitor is well crafted to present those beautiful modern aroma and flavor hops. It’s reasonably crisp—zippy, even—with juicy citrus notes (driven by both yeast and hops) dominating the flavor. And as with most Crooked Stave beers, the more you drink, the more flavor nuances you discover. The hoppy sour movement is in full swing with fantastic examples such as New Belgium Le Terroir, Wicked Weed Amorous, Prairie Funky Gold Mosaic, and others, and Crooked Stave Progenitor is right up there among the best! _—John Bolton _
Great Divide Chocolate Oak-Aged Yeti
Denver, Colorado
Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.5%
Great Divide routinely delivers fantastic beers under its Yeti brand, and the Chocolate Oak-Aged Yeti is no exception. As part of the nascent “Mexican Chocolate Stout” mini-trend, it differentiates itself from others in the category (Perennial Abraxas, Copper Kettle Mexican Chocolate Stout, Westbrook Mexican Cake) with its richly spiced flavor but restrained chile heat. The result is a “drinkable” imperial stout with enough spice to support and accentuate the chocolate without pushing into the full-on chile beer realm, a supportive malt bill with a mouthfeel that isn’t as heavy as one might expect, and a touch of vanilla from the wood that pulls it all together. —Jamie Bogner