A name that feels a little too close to 'musty' to sound delicious, Mustus is actually a delightfully fresh and drinkable NEIPA that really hits the hazy, fruity notes you'd expect from the style.
The Brewery of Saint Mars of the Desert not only has one of the greatest brewery names there is, they also have a massive catalogue of amazing beers across all styles and are truly masters of their craft.
Mustus is brewed with loads of dry hopping, including in the coolship to make sure the flavours of the Chinook, Citra and Mosaic hops are really boosted to their full potential.
Tropical fruit flavours abound from the moment the can pops, with a slight hoppiness and touch of resin too balance it. The pour is thick with a lot of haze giving it the beer quite a dense body, which allows the fruity flavour to expand into the glass. The colour is deep orange which is completely opaque due to the haze; which also gives it a smooth, slightly creamy texture in the mouth.
Flavour is fresh and clean, with a hoppiness initially that's not bitter but more resinous. The main flavour is a sweetness that comes through but it's subtle, not a big fruity hit that some beers offer but it works really well to balance the grassy notes that come as the fruit fades. The aftertaste is slightly bitter from the hops but not so much as to ruinn the flavours that have come before.
Saint Mars of the Desert have some great can designs, sticking with their style of black-outlined drawings on a simple white label. There are the ocassional splashes of colour and in this one that comes from the hops, which are the main feature of the label.
Three hops line up on either side of the front of the label with the beer name featuring heavily in SMOD's font - a font that is as dreamy as the beer itself - front and top of the can. The SMOD leaf design, I hesitate to call it a logo, accents the 'u' in Mustus which is a nice touch and marks it out as a SMOD beer if the label and font hadn't already.
A little info on the side of the label - SMOD cans not generally having fully wrapped around labels - describes the ingredients and the style of the beer along with all other relevant info. What I really like about SMOD is that they put a small sentence across the bottom of the label with the names of the people who helped brew it. It helps to humanise the process and makes them very relatable.
As a small-batch beer you'll struggle to find these if you're not from 'round these parts, but if you're in or around South Yorkshire you'll likely be able to pick up a couple of SMOD beers from any self-respecting beer shop even if it isn't Mustus.
