Cerveza Hanna - Jamaica Rubi

Cerveza Hanna Jamaica Rubi (Hibiscus Flower Ale)

4.5%ABV

2 out of 5

This beer is a little hard to review because it doesn't really taste like beer at all. Hibiscus flower water (agua de jamaica) is ubiquitous throughout Mexico City, but I have not seen anyone attempt to use it in an alcoholic beverage before. On its own, hibiscus flowers are really bitter so I thought it might make for an interesting addition to beer. I have no idea what else is in this ale, but the taste of hibiscus is overpowering. It is more like a fermented agua de jamaica than anything that resembles a beer. This is not necessarily a bad thing, so for someone that generally doesn't like the taste of beer, this might be more appealing. For readers familiar with kombucha, and especially kombucha made by GT, this beer by Cerveza Hanna tastes remarkably similar to their Trilogy or Cranberry flavors. For those that are not, just imagine carbonated agua de jamaica that is slightly pungent.  The color of the beer isn't quite as dark as agua de jamaica, it is more of a strawberry red. The beer is bottle-conditioned, and from my experience upon opening it, the makers added too much sugar because it exploded everywhere. While I only gave this beer a 2, it isn't particularly bad for what it is. If you want to try something unique then this beer is at least worth trying once.

I don't know anything about Cerveza Hanna. On the bottle it says this beer was produced for the Guadalajara Beer Tour, so I'm guessing they are located somewhere in Jalisco. I found this bottle at The Beer Company in Coyoacán, located at M.A. Quevedo 847, but I think it was the only one left at the store.