Kuhnhenn Tenacious Cassis
A special batch of "5th dementia old ale" that was overattenuated with high gravity ale yeast and then blended with cassis to add back body.
3.7
247 reviews
Warren, United States
Community reviews
Bottle at Mikkeller&Friends. Clear deep dark reddish - no head. Black current. Tartness. Some bitterness. Marmelade notes. Fruity. Acid notes. Marzipan. Light gasolin sharp aroma. Zesty sharpness.
Bottle BrewEngineer. Clear deep copper amber body with cherry notes and no head
Sweet twizzler and cherry aroma with fruit and caramel
Sweet twizzler flavor with raspberry fruit and faint caramel notes
Medium full body low carb
2007 bottle from the cellar and courtesy of a trade long ago. no motion to speak of upon opening bottle and no head whatsoever. aroma is very vinous...port wine like...raisin, dark fruit, alcohol, warm bread...pretty darn good actually. flavor is, well...one of a kind...I went back and forth on this one for a number of sips...one sip it tastes like a combination of alcohol and a soy bomb, and the next I’m thinking a good port wine with a strong currant flavor. overall...very boozy ( the 16% shows IMO). lots of dark fruit...raisin, black currant...some soy in the background...interesting, but a very slow sipper. palate is syrupy and no carbonation...glad I got to try it...but not upset there aren’t more in the cellar...
Pours red. Notes of sweet raspberries, alcohol. Flavor is raspberries, booze, sweet malts, and up front cough syrup and medicinally. Slick and oily smooth. Not even close to anything good.
Vintage 2007. 6.3 oz. bottle, sent from northernbrews (thanks a lot, Jeff), pours a purplish dark mahogany with zero head. Nose is pleasantly tart with loads of the black currant showing off, some brown sugar and maybe a bit of syrup, though it’s mostly black currant. Flavour is brutally boozy and cloyingly sweet, with loads of thick, syrupy black currant, cloyingly sweet jam, loads of alcohol and lots of brown sugar. Again, brutally boozy and intensely sweet. At first, I wasn’t sure whether to think this was a fun extreme beer or an uber-gross mess of a boozy sweet bomb. The more I drank, the more it became obvious it was the latter. Nasty stuff.
2007 bottle. Pours a very dark amber color with a small head that quickly fades. Huge berry and fruit aroma. Blackberries, raspberries, pineapple, and lots of other tropical and red fruit. Taste is amazing. Lots of sweetness but the alcohol helps to mellow it. Slight alcohol burn in the finish but very smooth. Thick and slightly syrupy mouthfeel is perfect. I sipped this small bottle for two hours. More fruitness comes out as it warms. Just great.
Old bottle, but not sure how old. Poured almost still, very deep, garnet-tinted brown.. this actually had some legs to it. The aroma picked up lots and lots of thick, syrupy currants over smoked black malts, chocolate, and licorice.. peppery alcohol burned the back of the nostrils a little.. this was huge, and I enjoyed it. The flavor kept the hugeness going.. jammy black currants throughout, with more of the smoked black malts and licorice supporting.. black pepper, blackberry seeds, and more currants around.. finished with tart currants, a touch of smoke, and peppery alcohol.. majorly belly-warming. Medium-plus bodied and syrupy on the palate with low carbonation.. nicely tangy.. considering the ABV, it held the boozage in check.. overall an excellent brew!
20th November 2009
Cloudy brown beer. Resonant blackcurrant nose. Slight dry palate. Rich blackcurrant immediately demands attention. A dry almost Port Wine like mid. Imagine a good vintage Port Wine with just the blackcurrant flavours extracted and that describes this beer well. Pretty one dimensional but it’s dimension is robust! Fresh blackcurrant,spirity blackcurrant, blackcurrant liquer! Unique beer. It’s blackcurrant by the way!
Thanks to ibrew2or3. Pours rich murky brown. Aromas of toffee and dark fruit. Flavor is rich sweet and deep. Loads of raisin and plum. Toffe, caramel, and brown sugar as well. Wonderful sweet treat.
Bottle with Pat, Dallas, and Jimmy. Thanks to james for sharing this awesome brew. Pours a murky brown color, not much head. Aromas and taste of plum wine, apple, brown sugar. Taste was the same with further notes of grape and cocoa powder. So drinkable for the 16%
Bottle split with pat, Dallas and Tom. Pours a deep purple brown body with no head. Aroma is crazy extreme raisin bread and sugary molasses. Mouthfeel is thick as hell with notes of raisin, raisin bread, sour cherry, molasses, sweet bourbon.
Bottle with James pat Vinny and tom. Dark brown pour. Really grape nose. Taste is heavy like an after dinner wine. Alcohol bite with nice dark fruit flavors. Good for the right situation.
Bottle generously given to me for my birthday from BenC...thanks Ben! - Pours dark brown with red highlights and next to no head...just a couple bubbles around the ring. Nose is tons of currant--reminds me of the days of drinking Absolut Kurant in the dorms. Has a menthol component to it as well, and there’s a chocolate cake element hanging out below it all. In the end, the currant is a little too strong, too pungent, and too...um...not my thing. It’s there boldly in the taste as well, with the same menthol. The malt comes through more as well, big gooey sweetness up front, transitioning to a dry breadiness on the finish. Definitely warms the belly, though the 16.5% isn’t too noticeable otherwise. Glad I tried it, but wouldn’t seek out.
Bottle shared by Plovmand, thanks buddy. Pours mudbrown with no head. Aroma is blackcurrant, raisins, caramel quite vinous. Flavor is alcohol, blackcurrant, raisins, plums and caramel. Low and soft carbonation.
Bottle. Pours almost clear dakr reddish brown with no head. The aroma is sweet cassis, sweet toasted caramel, some anise and has some vinous port like feel to it. The flavour is very sweet and quite boozy with notes of cassis and dark berries. Quite boozy finish. The aroma is good and pleasant but the booze overpowers the overall impression.
Pours a very dark plum color that’s completely opaque with a miniscule off-white head that lingers for a minute before disappearing. No lacing.
Sweet vinous aroma that’s bursting with currant, dark cherry, blueberry, grape and other dark berries. This is countered by a nice malt character with hints of chocolate cake, fudge and toffee. Slightly syrupy/medicinal character but not overpowering and although the ABV is really high, there us little to no booze in the nose. Smells like dessert!
Medium bodied with a very prominent vinous, dark fruit flavor that’s countered by dark malt notes and boozy sweetness. Lots of sweet currant flavor along with some grape, blackberry, blueberry and other dark berries before being countered by hints of toffee and chocolate cake. Even with the maltier notes it’s still too sweet for my liking. The ABV is decently masked considering its 15% but there still a decent amount of boozy warmth throughout.
Bottle, shared with javit before the big tasting. Pours murky tawny-garnet, no head, no lacing. Nose is tart berries; raspberries, tootsie-roll, Christmas fudge, cassis coulis, milk chocolate, brandy, tobacco. Lovely smelling stuff, is what I’m saying. Flavours of tootsie-roll, cassis, more tart fruit. Alcohol is amazingly absent considering the strength. A monumental brew!
Bottle thanks to FlandersNed. Pours purplish brown. No lacing. Nose/taste of oak chips soaked in alcohol, black currant, nuts, chocolate and caramel. Finishes with black currant followed by nutty oak chips soaked in alcohol. Medium body.
Bottle 12fl.oz. @ home.
[ Courtesy of Secret Summer Santa ]. Unclear medium to dark brown red colour with a small, fizzy, virtually none lacing, fully diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, caramel, blackcurrant, fruity - berries, alcohol. Flavour is moderate to heavy sweet, light acidic and light to moderate bitter with a long duration, blackcurrant, chocolate, alcohol, sharp. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is flat to soft, finish fee lis light to moderate alcoholic. [20110815]
12oz bottle at pre-GTMW tasting, pours a murky dark brown with no head, aroma was extremely sweet and the flavor had more of a boozy front and finish rather a lot of fruit to it. Overall this one wasn’t my favorite of the night but was still very happy to have tried it.
8/12/11. Bottle shared pre-GTMW. Rich oxidized aroma with plenty of big fruit. A bomb of cassis with plenty of alcohol and a touch of oxidation. I wasn’t as thrilled as everyone else tasting it.
Pours reddish brown with no head. Aroma is oak, chocolate and a hint of alcohol. Flavor is vanilla, chocolate, cherries and a bunch of booze. Medium bodied with little carbonation.
12 oz. bottle shared by jckp64- thanks, John! No vintage on the bottle but it seems to be a few years old. The ABV wasn’t on the bottle, either, but 16.5% sounds about right. Pours a hazy, murky reddish-brown color with some small tan bubbles around the edge. Aroma of oak, ripe sweet cherries, vanilla, chocolate, earth, and a little booze and oxidation. Flavor of vanilla, toasted sugar, oak, cherries, grass and bitter earth, and warming booze. Really complex. Medium-full bodied, with a sweet, chewy, warming mouthfeel and low carbonation. This one was a lot of fun to drink. I’d be curious to try something like this fresh.
This turned out to be a pretty interesting and good beer. First off, there’s a very nice aroma as soon as the bottle is cracked. Lots of rum soaked raspberries, some blackberry too, with old wood, caramel, chocolate, rubbing alcohol, and plums. A layered scent with a lot of depth. The pour is this slightly murky dark brown with a little red in it with a thin head that never full develops before fading away completely. Nothing at all left on top so no lacing. This is very smooth going down with some alcohol burn settling in the back of the throat. But in a good way. I’m surprised how drinkable this is considering how strong it is. Creamy caramel, chocolate covered fruit (most notably raspberry but maybe even some cherry too), vanilla, and boozy flavors. This is like a cross between their Raspberry Eisbock and 5th Dementia and I think the best of the bunch. Well done!
(bottle from Alexsdad06!!). Pours dark brown with red hue-almost cola color when held up to the light. Khaki head dissipates quickly even after a vigorous pour. Lots of carbonation bubbles hug the side of the glass. Aroma has fruit (cassis), ripe dark pit fruit, and caramel. Taste is sweet from both the fruit and the malts (caramel flavored), but the malts carry this as the fruit fades. Full bodied with a slick texture. Oh so smooth finish with alcohol noticeable, but pleasant. This is a delicious beer.
Reviewed from notes. Poured into a flute.
Color is a dark reddish-brown with no real head. The aroma slaps my nose silly with really strong fruit components. I get some black currants, cherries, berries, and a pretty nice amount of dark sugars. The taste pretty strong as well with a lot of fruit, and then the booze kicks in a tiny bit, making it a bit less enjoyable than the nose. Feel is great with some nice warming alcohol. Drinks really well and I was actually disappointed I didn’t have too much more after my first flute full of this.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 11-12-2010
Bottle thanks to Ryan Meray! 6.3oz bottle poured into my Narke tulip...Pours a really dark mahogany, bordering on eggplant purple. Not surprisingly, no carbonation. Comparing to other Kuhnhenns, specifically KRE, this looks a lot better...Awesome aroma that has a wonderful red grape backbone, freshly squeezed grape juice that I remember sucking down as kid. Complimented by toffee, syrupy molasses and vanilla. A hint of the 15% alcohol creeps in, but its used perfectly to break up the sweetness. Can’t imagine a 15%, or beer with fruit smelling better...The taste lets me down ever so much, I think particularly because the alcohol is not as well hidden at all. The grape juice quality is still there but mostly only shows on the front. I get a ton of alcohol not bad grain, but just prevalent. There is a slight tart finish, blackberries are shown off in a great way, sweet but tart. Toffee, vanilla and wood come in too. There is a slight chalky taste and feel that is by biggest complaint, not sure if this has gotten old already!..The feel is warm, chalky and tannic. Slightly distracting...Pretty easy to drink for a 15th.
Another solid Kuhnhenn, I’d drink this again; I’d even track it down again.
(thanks thirdeye11) whiskey, pipe smoke, very strong shit. i might be licking an ashtray. good lord.
The beer pours dark amber cognac in color with no head. Wow - the mixture of booze, black currants, berry, and licorice all crowd the nose nicely together. The flavor of malts and berry dominate on a medium body. It is malty syrupy sweet as well.
Bottle. 2007 vintage. Poured into a CCB snifter glass a reddish hued mahagony brown color with a razor thin head that collars around the glass. Just an outstanding nose! The aromas coming from this very fruity from the cassis; raspberry, cherry, apple, orange, pear, apricot - they are all in the nose smelling very sweet. For being 16.5%, I don’t get a strong booze note. Medium/heavy mouthfeel with very little carbonation. Ok, the booze is pretty evident in the taste. Lots of fruit notes again in the taste with a deeper dark fruit flavor like raisins and dark cherry, some vanilla as well. The heat from the alcohol warms the mouth, throat, and nostrils. The back end is kind of like cough syrup with the fruit, alcohol, and slightly medicinal/bitter flavor. Overall, this is a beer not for the timid. Big and boozy.