Minoh W-IPA

Brewed by AJI Beer / Minoh Beer
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Osaka, Japan

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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330ml brown bottle. Dark amber, thin white cap. A lot of floaties and clumpy sediment. Aroma has a light citrus/grapefruit note, some malt. Malty flavour, toffee, sweet. Finishes with slight grapefruit notes. Mild bitterness lingers. Tight, fine carbonation profile, medium body. A lot of sweet malt character, but not enough hops to back it up - this seems a bit underhopped, as such the malt sweetness becomes a bit too cloying. Not bad but needs some tweaking.

Bottle. Pours an inviting deep hazy orange with a slow-to-rise orange-tinted head. Aroma is very malty with elements of cooked peaches and light resin. Flavours are more malt driven, as expected from the aroma. Sweet biscuity caramel dominates, rounded out by orange peel and peaches-in-syrup. The finish is quite bitter with a mild alcohol burn. This came across as more of an American strong ale due to its heavier malt base, and I found myself wishing it had something to give it a little lift. Although it wasn’t a disaster, the balance just wasn’t quite there.

Very dark amber with lasting very thin creamy head. Caramel, chewy malt and hop aroma. Thick malt, big caramel, spice and hop flavour. Big thick body. A Japanese DIPA or Barley Wine. Lasting spice and hop. A bit of citrus.

Bott@ Strasbourg Mondial de la Biere 33cl. Not long lasting cream color head. Bubbly. Aroma: bitter-sweet, caramel. Faint. Tofee and bitter choccolate resiny flavour. Orange notes. Medium body

Bottle at Bière Mondial 2009, Strasbourg. Pours a hazy brown with a beige head. Smells of cascade and amarillo. Dry with lots of aromas of hops and hints of alcohol. Some grape fruit. Medium bodied. Medium to soft carbonation. Long bitter finish.

Pours a cloudy amber with an off white head. Pretty sweet aroma with not much hops on this one. Sweet flavor with some grains, caramel malts, and little citrus hops. Not very good.

[2211-20090605] Sample. Maple syrup wood fruits aroma. Clear, dark amber body with a quick foamy off-white head. Heavy woody malt flavour with a toasted bitter finish. Boozy body is a little watered down. Bit of a quivering kick on the first sip.
(4T @ Mondial 2009; Montreal, QC)

Bottle, Mondiale. Very malty aroma, some earthy hops. Very dark brown/orange, small white head. Nice taste - very hoppy, but also lots of burnt toast malt. Alcohol not really present. Pretty average to poor for the style to be honest but on its own it is fine.

In short: A great hoppy nose but a taste that is too sugary. Boring.
How: Tap at Dieu Du Ciel (special Japan Night during Mondial 2009)
The look: Clear copper body topped by a medium beige head
In long: The nose has superb resinous citrusy and slightly coniferous hops. Taste is bit of a letdown. The sweet malt profile with lots of caramel some honey is very sugary and takes too much room. The hops are crushed under this sweet malt profile and the finish is mostly caramelized and sugary (brown and white sugar). Very mild bitterness. I didn’t care for this beer but I finished the glasses of my friends who didn’t care for it either but that’s because I’m a cheap drunk. Totally unbalanced, I can love unbalanced IPAs but they need to be unbalanced the other way. This beer is like a your too-generous granny coming out of the shower, smells nice and is just too sweet. Yes I need help.

Bottle @ Mondial de la Biere 2009
Appearance: murky with plenty of sediment, muddy amber. Lighter white top, some lace.
Nose: Frontal sweet malt , bit plain in character , light bitterness shown up on top. 7-.
Flavor/Palate : Soft , creamy bodied with noticeable floaties. Drying alcohol as follow up. Straight malt character. Fruity short bitterness. Dry alcohol once again at finish.