Why We Picked It: I used to be pretty cool on Manor Hill (not a fan of the Grisette), but Jeremy and Bill had me give them a second look this summer with the blonde ale and then I finally visited the farm this summer. I've completely flipped and my favorite brewery to visit around here (except maybe Red Shedman).
What Manor Hill Says About It: The next in our Splendor Series, Mosaic Splendor pours a hazy gold color with a big white head. With an abundance of sweet tropical papaya, guava, and mango fruit flavors, this beer packs a punchy bitterness combined with tropical citrus aromas and a lingering fruity finish.
Style: Double IPA
ABV: 8.3%
IBU: N/A
Website: https://www.manorhillbrewing.com/
To Better Know A Brewery: Located on the Marriner Family’s 54-acre working farm in Ellicott City, Manor Hill Farm is home to Manor Hill Brewing… Howard County’s first, and Maryland’s largest, farm brewery. Our head brewer uses high quality seasonal ingredients to craft hand-made beers from original and unique recipes. The result is aromatic, hop forward farmhouse style beers.
Not a fan of this one. There’s a sour taste that I just don’t care for. Maybe that’s the tropical fruit but it doesn’t taste sweet like the description. No haziness either. It’s too bad because I was looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteLike Homer Jay said, the tart/sour thing is odd. I love a lot of sour beers, but that’s not something I’m looking for in an ipa. The aroma was great on this one though.
ReplyDeleteThis one was odd, but in kind of a good way. Not a hazy, not a true double IPA. I didn't dislike the flavor but it didn't particularly age well as I worked my way through it. I would probably have another, but not sure I would go out of my way for it.
ReplyDeleteIt does strengthen like for Manor Hill as it reinforces the creativity I have seen from them and creating beers that challenging my expectations a bit. I do recommend a trip out there for those who haven't been. Maybe a 24 days of beer summer event for the post-pandemic days.
I give it 3.62 out of 5 hope farmers
Why for manor hill do I accept weird beers as “they are trying something new good for them!” The for other places I get all crabby about it as a “bad beer”. Is it because I have met the owners a few times. Or been to their restaurants several times? I agree I like them taking chances and some of them are going to hit.
DeleteTo piggy back off Scott a trip to Manor Hill is a fun trip.
ReplyDeleteThis beer as a first sip was slightly confusing yet exciting. Like that time in college when my roommate and I got a a little drunk on that 99 bananas stuff and well .... never mind.
Actually much like that experience the longer it went the weirder it got. I think if I poured this into a frosted mug to keep it super chilled it would have reminded a great beer. But much like that time in college it just turned slightly weird and smelled a little spoiled.
3.5 #NoRegrets out of 5.
Remained a great beer not reminded.
DeleteOh no, what have they created?! Proof that more is not always equal to good as in this case where it turned into a bouquet of turds.
ReplyDeleteI love Manor Hill, I love all the ingredients (has anyone had fugli from Oskar Blues, love it), but this is a severe miss.
I keep taking swigs of it hoping I'll discover something positive...nope. It just doesn't work for me.
2/5 WTFIT?
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ReplyDeleteP.S. turd is a great word and definitely under appreciated in modern english. Four score and 7 years ago Turd was a literary staple in english writing
DeleteNot my favorite. The fruit is too strong and the finish Is not particularly smooth. 2/4.
ReplyDeleteBit sour and not overly tasty as others above have said. Still fun to try for sure. You can never go wrong trying a new beer I think.
ReplyDeleteTru dat
DeleteNot a fan. The sourness is overwhelming. Was expecting a hoppy flavor.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I admit I had a couple of beers before this watching the Hawks suck it up against the Giants, but this is pretty dreadful. I really love all Manor Hill beers except those with Splendor in the title. Two years ago, my local beer guy really talked up the Citra Splendor and convinced me it was the best IPA in Maryland. I spent what I thought was a hefty price for a sixer and was very underwhelmed. This is also not working. Whenever a beer is listed as tropical, I have found that it usually doesn't work for me. I don't need coconuts and guava in my beer. I'll save that for my Hawaiian breakfast juice. This has the coconuts but as others have mentioned, it's sour. So we end up with a glass of coconut juice that has been left in the sun for a few days. Not what I am looking for in a beer. But since it is 8.3%, I'll finish it. And I may even like it by the end. But probably not.
ReplyDeleteRandom 2020 sidebar. I'm justifying my slightly intoxicated state on a Sunday night by realizing that a year ago tonight I was on a celebratory bender drinking my way through SacTown after running the race of my life. Which is pretty much all I have to go on now. Virtual running, virtual drinking, virtual concerts, virtual work, virtual school. Make it stop. These rotting coconuts are not helping my mood. 2 out of 5 Sleep Train Arenas.
Like Citra Splendor, I found this delightful. I found it a good balance between flavor and ABV I think. A good porch drinking beer when the inside of the house is making the nose stuffy from dust. I’ll take everyone else’s if they still got it.
ReplyDeleteThis packs a citrus punch. Too much for me. Not a fan. A shame. I enjoy most of their beers.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think this was all that bad when I first started drinking it, but by about halfway through, I realized it was just way too sweet. Skimming the comments, I seem to be in the majority.
ReplyDeleteWon't rehash what most others said here but I'm with the majority that this wasn't my favorite.
ReplyDeleteEvery sip was different. Not sure what I was drinking. I did not really like this very much, but for some reason, when It was gone, I wanted more. Like I needed more to figure out what it was.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that a trip to Manor Hill is well worth your time.
Greg -- I rated it as a "Meh" beer. It was okay, and I like the sweetness at first, but by the end, I was just happen to take larger gulps and move on to whatever followed (in this case, an RAR Herb, which I highly recommend!). This beer also has me questioning whether I actually like beers featuring mosaic hops: I would have claimed "yes" as of yesterday morning, but now I'm seeking more evidence... perhaps another beer in my Advent Calendar here will weigh-in and sway this "Shy Mosaic Voter."
ReplyDeleteI think this one would be better on a warm day. Or when I am in the right mood. Their description is absolutely perfect. Not my favorite, though. I like the fruit notes but the hazy hop flavoring doesn't settle well. I could see how someone would want that bitterness mixed in, it's just not for me.
ReplyDeleteI really want to like Manor Hill Brewery, as I am a big fan of at least one of their restaurants (Victoria's), and I was so happy that they brought a tasting room to historic Ellicott City (although I have never actually made it there.) This beer reminds me a of a few of their menu items at Victoria's that I find too clever by half, and well just weird and not that good. I really wanted to like this one, but I just could not dig that sour/citrusy thing and just could not fine the DIPA DNA in the beer.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I don't love some menu items at Victoria's, some are awesome. Their duck fat fries are amazing, as are most of their menu items. Here's hoping that one of these days I will run across a Manor Hill beer that I can really like. Maybe I need to check out the farm brewery location and see if taste improves with the environment. Until then, 2/5 bales of hay from me.
was really unsure after the first few tastes: reminded me of a poignant childhood [fruit drink] flavor that I couldn't quite place. Citrus obviously strong and lots of fruit. But after a few tastes I actually found I liked the balance. Its too strong and too heavy fruit to drink more than a couple at a time, but I have to say it grew on me in a surprising way. Maybe its because I'm just finishing it now while watching Ravens in real time redeem themselves. But because its so strong and heavy and if I were at the farm I'd fall off the bench after 3 of these I cant give it more than 3/5
ReplyDelete