Boxer Ice - Minhas Craft Brewery

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

1.21/5  rDev -39.5%
look: 2.25 | smell: 1.25 | taste: 1 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.25

There are those beers that my local, in-person trader, tone77, brings by that I look forward to trying, if for no other reason than a vague sense of curiosity. Then there are the Minhas products which I hesitate to even call "beer". I am currently reading "Skagboys" by Irvine Welsh and even when I dabbled in such stuff during my misspent late-teens, I never felt as bad as I do after drinking something from Minhas. It just is not meant for human CANsumption and I end up being CANverted into a Cyberperson as a result.

From the CAN: "Brewing Excellence Since 1845"; "No Preservatives No Additives No Added Flavors"; "Minhas Craft Brewery Brewing Tradition Since 1845"; "'All Trademarks and Designs are the property of Mountain Crest SRL'".

I have to laugh at the previous reviewer's remark about their need to include a graphic of a couple of ice cubes on the CAN for those of us who may be unfamiliar with the CANcept. Too right, ya radge gadge! And what's the crown about?

The Crack revealed another brimful CAN and I went with an inverted Glug to keep things moving along speedily. The gate in my backyard came open as the heavily-booted tramping of the Cyberpeople came to collect me. The kitchen was rife with some kind of noxious fumes that smelled like a cross between a dry cleaning plant and a plastics factory along with chewed pink bubble gum for added misery. The head had long fizzled its was out of existence and the CO2 bubbles in evidence looked as big as Rover in "The Prisoner". Color was a light, cornsilk-yellow with NE-quality clarity. The moment of truth! I held it up and got a big swallow in my mouth, only to instantly regret this undertaking. It was miserable, with heavy carbonation and a taste like cheap, grape-y white wine with no redeeming qualities. My limbs became heavy and I felt the CANvergence begin to happen yet again. The finish was sweet and any resemblance to Lager was simply its name. I finished all of it, in accordance with The CANQuest (TM) Rules of Engagement, but it was not a pleasant experience. Where is the "Avoid!" button?

Serving type: can

04-10-2013 21:01:43 | More by woodychandler

tone77

Pennsylvania

2.33/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Poured from a 12 oz. can, which says 5.5% abv on it. Has a pale yellow color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell can best be described as a Minhas smell, plastics, green apples, a touch of grapes. Taste is the same. You know you are drinking a Minhas product here, no other brewer can match this flavor, and in all their beers. Quite a yeast strain they are using. Feels light in the mouth and overall nothing to recommend about this one.

Serving type: can

01-06-2013 17:51:16 | More by tone77

thehyperduck

Ontario (Canada)

2.63/5  rDev +31.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

710 mL 'monster can' from TBS, listed at 5.5%. If it were 7.1% I seriously don't think I would have even bothered getting this... I mean, fun is fun (and cheap beer reviews can be fun, indeed) but I just don't quite hate my liver that much.

Pours a clear, pale golden-yellow colour, topped at first with two fingers of frothy, pillowy, sparkling-white head that hangs around for a fairly long while. It even coats the glass with a fine web of lacing as it gradually recedes - honestly, I'm kind of impressed, this is a pretty good-looking lager. The aroma is syrupy sweet, with lots of adjunct and not much else to support it; maybe some apple skin and candy corn. A far cry from enticing, but for the style it's not wholly off-putting.

Somewhat unusual taste, with a lot more fruitiness (and a lot less booziness) than I would expect from something with 'ice' in its name. Corn syrup, apple skin/cider notes come through at first, with a weak grainy flavour barely detectable underneath this slurry of adjunct flavour. Sweet, slightly fruity finish that doesn't linger long, with very little contribution from the ethanol. Middling carbonation levels; definitely a little low for the style, but it does contribute to the smooth, slick mouthfeel going down. Relatively easy to drink.

I'm honestly not sure what to think of this stuff. The flavour is odd and not entirely appealing, but it's actually relatively unique for an ice beer, and certainly nowhere near as awful as many of its mass-produced, 5.5% abv brethren. I'm certainly not going to run out clamoring for more, but this is one obnoxiously large can of beer that I would at least consider getting again, if I needed something to get my drunk on for cheap.

Final Grade: 2.63, a mediocre C-. I've had more than my fair share of ice beers in the last few months, primarily due to a lack of other things to review. The only other Minhas beer I've had previously is the legendary Mountain Crest, and that was probably 5 or 6 years ago. To put it as politely as possible, I've avoided trying other offerings from this brewery (until now) for a reason. But I must give credit where it's due - Boxer Ice is cheap swill, to be sure, but it's better than any of the other 'ice' drek I've had in recent memory. If you're in the market for this type of beer, you could do far, far worse.

Serving type: can

11-26-2012 01:30:54 | More by thehyperduck

liamt07

Ontario (Canada)

2.43/5  rDev +21.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Can from the Beer Store. 710ml MONSTER CAN, listed at 5.5% alcohol into a tulip (serious). A 'Union-Made Beer of Champions.' Let's do this.

Crystal clear gold with a dense (actually genuinely so) cap of white head. Retention is there, lacing is solid. Hmmm. Nose is nothing at all really, faint sweetness, some grain and a bit of alcohol. Some apple juice. A bit of metal. Taste refelcts this to a tee. Subtle sweetness, some pale malts, light grain notes. A bit of veggie, but some fruitiness too (maybe it's just sweetness, who knows). No real finish or lingering flavours, save for some sweet water flavours. Medium carbonation, light body (fairly). Not a bad beer, and actually a mediocre macro. Somewhat drinkable and relatively tolerable. I thought I would be more offended by this, but I wasn't - surprising

Serving type: can

03-25-2012 03:53:34 | More by liamt07

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

1.9/5  rDev -5%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5

710ml Tallboy (only $two-fiddy!), or "Monster Can" as they call it. Two ice cubes rendered on the label, for those possibly unfamiliar with the 'ice' concept, i.e. Mountain Crest's target demographic.

This beer pours a clear pale golden colour, with two fingers of thin foamy off-white head, which melts away quickly, leaving a low ridge of soap scum lace around the glass. It smells of sweet, sugary apple puree, and some mild rotten veggies. The taste is still very freaking sweet, some cooked corn mixed in with the sickly apple essence, and that ungodly recycling room floor aura not far from the surface. The carbonation is not too bad, the body smooth, I suppose, and only moderately cloying. It finishes still with the touched fruitiness, and a soft corn husk edge.

The whole extra +.5 ABV doesn't really represent, the marginal effects probably only apparent once you finish the whole big-ass can, or a case of this stuff. I'm sure as hell not going to be the one to tell you if that is the case or not. Not the worst to drink if the cost and circumstances are right (free, and stranded, respectively).

Serving type: can

02-12-2011 23:37:04 | More by biboergosum