Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout

Brewed by Kiuchi Brewery
Style: Stout
Ibaraki, Japan

The beer decamps the stubby 330ml bottle a soot black with some light ruby highlights, the head pompous, the color chocolate and the texture creamy, upon its depletion the lace forms a nice concealing sheet. Nose has a rich nut like aroma, chocolate, coffee, caramel and a pinch of hops. Start is nicely malted; sweet with a burnt grain and hop spicy bite at the back, top is full in feel. Finish has a standard acidity, the burnt grain and hops provide a lingering bittersweet bite, aftertaste dry and long lasting, a fine stout.

Draft: This has to be one of my favorite stouts it hits the mark on every level from the wonderful pour and the nose that gives a wonderful mocha aroma to the long lingering espresso finish. I wish this beer was more widely available in the states.

12 oz. bottle - pours dark brown with dark head; coffee and chocolate aromas jump right out; almost like chocolate milk; drinks with a rich and creamy texture; flavors of bitter coffee and roasted malts; yummy

Single bottle. Taste: rich, malty, chocolate-coffee taste with complex nutty aftertaste and some bitter hops taste. It’s not sweet. Palate is heavy and leaves a filmy coffee aftertaste (I didn’t think it was bad). Pretty good beer. I like it better than Dragonhead’s chocolate stout. A little too heavy and intense for me to give it a higher rating. Appearance: Pours pitch black, impenetrable to light, no head, no head retention. Smells faintly of chocolate/coffee. You guys love stouts, lol. Maybe as I rate more beers, I’ll appreciate stouts more. The more experienced people seem to love them.

Pours a dark black with a dark brown head. This beer has one of the most beautiful aromas I’ve ever experienced. Very strong coffee bean/espresso presence as well as a burnt dark chocolate scent. The coffee/espresso theme again is dominant in the taste but a nice dark chocolate taste balances it out perfectly not making it too bitter. A nice combination of caffeine kick and alcohol strength. The best infusion of coffee and alcohol that I have tasted and Hitachino’s best beer.

For some odd reason I could never quite get up the nerve to open this, but tonight I decided to go for it. Not sure what my reservations were, perhaps just a couple of wretched flavored stouts and porters I’ve had over the past few months. In any case, this was a very nice reversal of fortune. Poured black with brownish ruby highlights at the edge, decent dark tan head fades entirely. Aroma was just fantastic, richly dark chocolate with smooth espresso. Flavor was more espresso driven, with chocolate as as the underlying note. Not as thick in the mouth as the aroma would have made you think, but still full bodied. Excellent beer.

A solid stout. Great coffee flavor that doesn’t bitter out as many pervasive coffee flavors can. Actually very little evidence that it’s a beer at all: really tastes like a derivative coffee drink.

Thanks again to drmat for sharing this beer. Pours very dark brown with a small dark orange head. The aroma has lots of espresso, licorice, staleness, chocolate and dark caramel. Medium body with a small amount of sharp carbonation. The flavor starts with espresso, soda shop malt, some sharpness and lactic acid. The finish has a small amount of fruitiness. A decent beer that I’d probably like better if I was a coffee fan.