“An evolution of the ‘single hop’ phenomenon. While Galaxy is featured on the label, the concept here is to showcase this headliner in it’s greatest form possible, and if you ask me every hop is better when supported by others. So accents of Centennial & Sterling to widen the frequency and crank up the volume of bright tangerine, grapefruit, and fresh grass.”
Served in a footed flute glass. The hazy straw yellow pour knocks up a healthy three finger crown that’s maintained well. It gradually deconstructs and settles to a thick blanket with a tonne of blotchy lace left clinging to the glass. The idea behind this pilsner is to showcase the Galaxy hop, hence the name “Mono”. And they’ve done a decent job too as bold fruity notes tantalize the olfactory’s instantly. We get bright citrus, pine resins, mild spice, passionfruit and a subtle herbal undertone coming through. Not a huge presence of malt on the nose, suggestions of rice crackers and grains are detected but that’s about it. Nice hop forward aroma, we like it. In the mouth it’s crisp and super clean with good carbonation. We’d say it’s medium in body with a mild dryness developing on the swallow. Like the aroma, the flavour also does a great job showcasing the fruity and herbal characters of the Galaxy hop. Upfront we get a fusion of citrus, herbs and a touch of resin. The slight shift from the aroma lies with a heavier grainy malt flavour that blends nicely with the gentle bitterness late in the mid. This beer finishes crisp with herbaceous notes, some citrus and a sweet splash of passion fruit to round it out. Length is pretty good, it certainly persists well between sips. So…Pilsner eh? Well if we didn’t know any better we’d have thought this was a light Pale Ale. Credit to the brewers though, it’s different, highly sessional, approachable and full flavoured. A reasonably good new world Pilsner.