Minoh Pale Ale

Draught at Thrash Zone. I got really excited about this brew when I saw it on the tap list because it said it had been specially dry hopped for Thrash and I hadn’t had a well hopped beer lately. The copper body with a frothy white head made me even more excited. The intense aroma of floral, citrus, orange, and caramel malts made my mouth water. The subdued flavor that was full of earth and grass brought me back to ground. Sadly the flavor just doen’t back up the aroma. Not bad, but a little dissapointing.

Tap at Beer Belly, Osaka. Cloudy peachy golden with a medium creamy offwhite head. Potent pineapple hop aroma. Very bitter pineapple flavours. Very good.

Tap @ Beer Belly: Caramel, white head, nice lacing. Nose of refreshing hops, clean sweet pale malt and a refreshing grassy citrusy hop flavor. Clean and tasty with a nice smooth mellow malty finish.

My Bottom Line:
This Pale Ale’s honeyed cereals provide a little too much sweetness for the wooden hoppiness, but even though cohesion isn’t reached, it remains worthy of a try.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam circles the pale golden.
-The smooth carbonation and mushy maltiness don’t build a cleanly sculpted mouthfeel.
-Even the finish is rather sweet, with barely any hoppiness (although those were quite upfront in the middle).
-Quite understated for the style, I felt like the chosen grain bill just wasn’t serving the beer well enough.

On tap at Ushitora.