Bootlegger’s FOMO

Product description: FOMO is a once a year special IPA brewed with an allotment of wet Mosaic hops that were overnighted immediately after they’re harvested. These wet Mosaic hops bring bold characteristics of grass, berries & grapefruit to this rare beer. Drink this fresh before you miss out!! Hops: Fresh Wet Mosaic!! Galaxy, Simcoe, Centennial, Chinook Malts: 2-Row, Munich, CaraVienna IBU: 68 ABV %: 7%

Bootleggers Brewery – Bootlegger’s FOMO – 16 oz. can poured into specialty glassware – 7% abv.

I sampled a couple of super fresh 16oz cans of this new release, which have a simple can design and unique matte texture on the label wrap. Into the glass, FOMO is clear, deep golden in color with thick, off-white foam that persists for several minutes. After a few sips, sticky patterns of lacing decorate the edges of the glass. It’s beautiful.

The aroma starts with nuanced zesty red grapefruit and vanilla cake. I don’t get anything to suggest wet hop Mosaic, though. As it warms, the grapefruit character peters out leaving behind more malt-derived aromas like candy corn and Frosted Flakes. The flavor is the highpoint here with an oily, rich body from the front of the palate all the way to the finish. There’s ample sweetness with dessert-focused flavors of crème brûlée and white chocolate. The bitterness here is quite tame with mild red grapefruit peel. I think it could easily be dialed up to match the sugar character. Presently, it tows the line with just regular blonde ale. Usually, I complain about the opposite: super bitter IPAs with hardly any sweetness for balance. But FOMO is never cloying, and I don’t even think it’s truly off-balanced. It just doesn’t strike me as a wet hop IPA.

My wife was really impressed with this one describing the aroma as more tropical fruit focused with Hawaiian rolls while the flavor was super fresh tasting, pulpy fruit juice. She thoroughly enjoyed it.

Overall, FOMO is an easy-drinking, sweeter IPA with a fantastically rich body and nicely-integrated wet hop character. I wish the Mosaic character was more intense in the aroma and that the boil hop character was more aggressive to match the sweeter body. This is highly-approachable for any beer drinker including those usually shying away from hop bombs.