The photo on this Stone Fruit Sour made me grin: it’s a kitsch kitchen with an orange-upon-orange aesthetic. If someone in your extended family doesn’t have a kitchen this heavily themed with a single colour, you’re missing out.
As you pour the Stone Fruit Sour into the glass, with the bubbles blending seamlessly into the liquid, it looks like an apricot milkshake. (Have you had one of those before? They’re delightful.) Once the head settles and dissipates shortly after, the appearance is more of nectar, and this is what comes through when you start to drink. The peach, mango and apricot purée used to make this brew gives a thick feel in the mouth and a full rowing team of Goulburn Valley fruit flavours, alongside a splash of straightforward sourness.
A satisfyingly big belch may be uncouth, but it’s certainly not unpleasant after drinking this Oarsome Foursome of peach, mango, apricot and sourness. (Do references to 90s TV commercials still work?)
When you come to the Mosaic Cryo Oat Cream, the orange and orange kitchen on the label is swapped out for a beige and brown sewing room, and the sour in the liquid is swapped out for sweet. Not too sweet, mind you, but the lactose brings a touch of dessert-like creaminess and amps up the fruit characters of the hops.
Orange, pawpaw and apricot notes dance across the tongue up front, with some late strawberry and pine showing up at the encore. Since Mosaic Cryo is the hero here (with Strata as a sidekick), I expected this beer to be more familiar or predictable, but it kept me guessing til the end.
Mick Wust
Published December 15, 2021 2021-12-15 00:00:00