Green Fiend

Ghost Town Brewing — Oakland, CA

4 Oct 2022 · Stephen

IPA Ghost Town Brewing

7.0% ABV

65 IBU

Deep golden Color

Contributing Factors

Presentation ✓

Character ✓

Experience ✓

Return ✓

4 / 4 I'd order another

Tasting Notes

Appearance Deep golden to light amber with a white head — wet hop IPAs often carry a slightly deeper color and more active appearance than their pellet-hopped counterparts, a natural result of the fresh plant matter in the kettle. Expect some haze and lively carbonation.

Aroma This is where wet Mosaic announces itself differently from anything else in the Ghost Town lineup. The berry and tropical fruit character is there — mango, blueberry, papaya, the familiar Mosaic signatures — but underneath and around them is something more raw and botanical: fresh cut green stems, a herbal grassiness, and a resinous dankness that's more pungent and alive than dried Mosaic can deliver.This is Mosaic in its most honest, unprocessed form.

Palate Medium-full body at 7%, smooth but assertive. The wet hop character carries through the middle in a way dried hops simply can't match — there's a juiciness and botanical freshness to the malt-hop interaction that feels seasonal and special. The berry and tropical fruit flavors from the Mosaic sit alongside that green, herbal freshness, creating a palate that's simultaneously familiar and unlike anything you'll drink outside of harvest season. At 65 IBU the bitterness is firm and West Coast in character — resinous, sustained, and clean.

Finish Long, resinous, and botanical. The wet Mosaic character lingers with a green herbal quality that dried hops simply don't produce — a faint grassiness alongside the berry and dankness that marks this as something caught at a specific moment in time. Moderately bitter at the back end, resolving cleanly but not quickly. The finish stays with you, which is appropriate for a beer you can only get once a year.

The Verdict

Green Fiend is Ghost Town's annual argument for why wet hop season matters. 100% wet Mosaic at 7% ABV and 65 IBU — rawer, greener, more alive than any pellet-hopped IPA can be. The highest-rated IPA in the Ghost Town lineup. When it's available, it's mandatory.

— Stephen · Contributing Factor Brewing · 4 Oct 2022