Cabernet Ale
Minoh Beer

 

Bought a bottle of this (June 2012) from the Tobu department store in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Poured into a Rochefort goblet as a replacement of a red wine glass. Clear with a light red hue and a bit of baby pink head on the top with lots of bubbles coming up from the bottom of the goblet. Not much of a smell coming off this... disappointing as I was hoping for more of a red wine cab scent. The taste is really a mix between beer and wine (this brew is 75% hops, 25% cab) with the wine side winning out in the end of the taste in the throat, releasing a bit of sourness. Overall, this was an interesting beer... that's all I can really say. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. Ultimately, I can respect the experimentation and give it a good grade.

Comes in a blue bottle which is different for a start. The old wine and beer mix has been done before it just begs the question, why? This beer is almost closer to a sparkling red wine than a beer. A dark raspberry sort of rusty colour? Soft, sweet plummy notes and a touch of vanilla on the nose. No hops or malt to speak of. On the palate as well are a bunch of flavours more closely associated with wine; no sign of hops or malt. Slightly sweet, tart, a touch of tannic dryness at the back but mostly plum raspberry kind of flavours. No real bitterness either. Decently made, just not sure what they hoped to achieve with this beer other than proving they could make it.

330ml bottle poured into Unibroue glass mar7 2010

A a cloudy dark pinkish color that has a fast falling thumbs width of head that left no lace. interesting color for a beer something different anyways

S berries and that synthetic grape flavor you would find in purple candy and mild red wine

T not far from the smell but just a little sour

M quite tart and it coats your mouth just a bit

D different that's for sure wine and beer are a couple of things I usually keep separated from each other.

I doubt I'll be drinking this again, not saying it's a lousy beer its just a little too pricey for what you get, not to mention it's a retired beer so that makes my future decisions even easier

Christmas puts me in a weird beer-buying mood, I've come to learn about myself. Red wine and beer? Bring on the crazy...

This beer pours a hazy pinkish-orange colour, with lots of soapy pink-tinged head, which has good retention, and leaves a bit of thin, sparse lace around the glass. It smells at first, exactly like fermenting red grape must - that hot, yeasty, fruity aroma that tells you the magic is underway, and then some white grain maltiness, which seems an indication of a duality that will manifest again soon. The taste is tannic red wine, and grainy malt, a bit of neutral sugar sweetness, and mild earthy hops. The carbonation is average for a beer, but seems weirdly high when the wine flavours are considered. The body is fruity and fairly smooth, and it finishes dry - mostly from the red wine essence overshadowing the mild graininess.

The beer in this, um, beer, is definitely playing second fiddle, but that doesn't meant that it's bad - it's actually fairly easy to drink. That said, I'll take my big-ass Cabs separate from my average pale ales, please.

Now available in Canada with the Sherbrooke beer club. Comes in a 330 ml cobalt blue bottle, 7% ABV.

Pours out a murky opaque garnet hue, quick splash of pinkish head that diappears almost immediately.

Grainy, light bready malt on the nose, some berry sweetness of strawberry, raspberry and purple grapes, alcohol warmth.

Light grainy malt is blanketed by a mildly tart grape flavour with some low-lying fruit sweetness in the background. Like a dry, low carbonated wine cooler. Dry, tart, lightly sweet aftertaste.

The mouthfeel possesses a medium fullness considering the carbonation is almost non-existant.

Well then, here's a curiosity I was glad to try, however there's no real impetus to go back for more. In fact I'm not even finished the glass yet and I'm a bit bored with it. It's no sink pour by any means, but I'm still working up the motivation to finish it off.

I had this on tap at Beer Belly in Osaka, which is something of a Minoh tiedhouse. As far as I can tell, this is a fruit beer made with grapes, and has never seen the insides of a wine barrel.

Nice cloudy red/pink body with an eggshell head that showed decent retention and produced a few streaks of lace as it dropped to a film. There's a nice fresh grape and berry aroma, but there's also little depth and complexity, and it seems more like fruit juice than beer. Straightforward flavour of grapes and red wine, and very limited bitterness. Not really anything else to it. It has the appropiate body and carbonation for a fruit beer - fairly light body with a steady stream of bubbles.

Some people would term this a 'girly beer'. Its sweet (as opposed to bitter), and has very little beer-like characteristics. Having said that it did make a nice refresher on a warm evening and was gone before I knew it.

Appearance: Hazy, completely opaque, mushed strawberry looking red body, small white head.
Smell: Simple grape-y red wine aroma.
Taste: There has to be not more than one half of a hop pellet used in each 19 liter keg. No bitterness. Simple red wine flavor.
Mouthfeel: Smooth mouthfeel, with fine carbonation.
Drinkability: Simple yet interesting.