Hakusekikan Scottish Smoke Ale

Bottle from Tanakaya. Poured a burnt amber brown colour with a beige head that faded quickly. Smoked ham and cheese on the nose with some caramel , creamed corn, and radish in the flavour. Finish brought the smoke in nice crisp and slightly dry fashion. This could use a little bit more of a stronger base and a less oily mouthfeel to keep things together, but there are enough good elements here to make this well worth your time.

Handpump at Pangaea’s in Tokyo. Malty, sweet, smoky aroma with caramel. A nice nose. Smooth, smoky, caramel malt flavor. Malt and smoked flavor work, but something to balance it seems missing.

Crisp mahogany in color with a large beige head. Huge smoked ham nose with slight earth notes. Mouth is a bit thiner than I was expecting but it’s not bad. Not as smokey of a flavor as I was expecting, either. Slightly sweet malts with just a little fruit. The finish is much smokier than the rest of the flavor. The smoke peaks and valleys starting and finishing strong but lacking in the middle. Not bad and a good smoke to start out on.

Another interesting release from Hakusekikan. Beautiful chestnut color, with no head. Big nose of smoked bacon and cheese. It was hard to detect anything scottish here. The mouth is light and somewhat sour. It’s not nearly as smokey as expected and actually kinda bland. Then the finish and WOW a big smoke explosion. I don’t know how they did this, but Japan’s smokiest beer never shows its colors until the end. Very subtle and then a big hit. Interesting, interesting. Very enjoyable if you like smoked beers.