Hey! It’s another beer from Minoh! If Aooni is my beer of the year then Minoh is fast becoming my brewery. One day I’ll go to Osaka and visit them. Today is not the day, though. Why? Because I’m cold and it’s one week from payday. Don’t worry. Minoh Pilsner is great. Despite being a pilsner, it’s made by Minoh. Now there’s a snobby Japanese craft beer sentence if ever there was one.
Minoh Pilsner Nose and Flavour
Normally, I frown upon a big frothy head. I’m the only one with a big frothy head here, buster. I’ll forgive it in this instance, however, because although anything a Big Brewery makes is looked down upon in the craft beer universe (so, lagers and pilsners), this pilsner actually smells quite nice! Minoh Pilsner is fruity, like a saison! You know, that beer that I love but wants to murder me all the time! WHAT IS GOING ON?! So the big frothy head amplifies all the melon and citrus notes and makes me a bit confused but happy.
The melon and citrus flavours continue when you tuck in, fortunately. It’s another smooth mover that I drank extremely quickly, and I am an extremely quick drinker. There’s no bitter flavours, and I didn’t think “Ugh, lager” once while drinking it. My god. Could it be? This could very easily be a crossover beer from mainstream to craft.
Joe’s Soapbox Corner
For drinkers used to the Big 4 beers, getting into craft beer is a minefield. Beers they are familiar with are severely under-represented, replaced instead with pale ales and darker beers. They’re expected to see this as “real beer” and “fuck all the light coloured beer”.
However.
For newcomers, IPAs are off-puttingly strong in both flavour and strength, and darker beers are almost seen as a novelty in the same vein as Rob’s much-loved Ryuhyo Draft. Excellent lagers and pilsners like this, while sniffed at by most craft beer fans, are an essential part of the ecosystem. And hey, look at Rob’s review of Bay Brewing. Some places aren’t just about West Coast “Hop Motherfucker” IPAs. Try them out.
Minoh Pilsner One line review
Minoh Pilsner is a great pilsner. Never thought I’d write that. Drink it with your buddy to show them that craft beer is not about outdoing each other with 10% ABV or quintuple hopping.
Where to Buy Minoh Pilsner
Minoh Pilsner can be bought from the Minoh Beer online store here. Else, Sakaya Okdaya sell it here, GoodBeer here, CraftBeers here, and Le Collier in Tokyo Station here.
1 comment
I just had a bottle of this Minoh Pilsner. Not bad, better than the usual lager-style beers available everywhere, but somewhat lacking the thrill I get when drinking some other craft beers. Maybe because I have had too many German pilsners in my youth, most Japanese pilsners fail to get me excited.