Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale

Brewed by Kiuchi Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Ibaraki, Japan

11.2 oz bottle. $3.99 @ Holiday Wine Cellar. What a deliciously interesting beer this turned out to be. The minute I popped this open, it gushed all over the place. Carbonation was obviously too high, but upon sitting a second or two, it was fine. In fact, it didn’t lose much carbonation, actually. Poured a nice amber/golden color. Aroma was funky as hell. I guess the funkiness comes from the Cedar, but damn if it didn’t smell like it was full of brett. In fact, the flavor was like an IPA with a slight amount of brett in the mix. If I was drinking this without knowing any better I would assume this was a hopped up Belgian beer infused with Bretts. As it is, it’s damn fine, if not very complex and odd.

Deep slightly hazy dark amber body, big fluffy yellowish head; Big nose, not at all what I expected, lots of very clear ceder notes, but lots of very caramel sweet malty aromas as well; Big soft carbonation in quite soft but a bit thin body, sweet and slightly bitter; Very cedery finish, hop aromas as well bitter as a little sharp, malty sweet. Quite strange beer.

Pours a very hazy deep peachy amber with a modest fluffy white head and some spotty lace. Aroma is earhty and herbal hops, slightly grassy, hay, fresh cut mulch- cedary and even hints of black cherry wood- cyanide. More woody hints, vanilla cream, straw, doughy malts, and has a light herbal bitter finish. Nice beer overall.

05-May-07 11.2oz bottle picked up at Half Time in Poughkeepsie. Pretty orange amber color beneath sturdy white head that fades to a sheet. Aroma is spectacular and eye-opening. Floral, perfumed, herbal hops remind of Orval initially, but quickly evolving are fragrant fresh peppers, barnish hay, black pepper, wow, just brilliant. Medium-full bodied, palate coating, soft effervescence. The softness is disrupted with a pleasant mix of woody, dusty dryness and hoppy astringency. This beer is full of distinct directions, the peppery cedar, the floral hops, the fruity malts, and in impeccable balance. For pete’s sake, I can’t believe it took me so long to get a second crack at this fantastic stuff. Amazing.

330 cl bottle in tulip glass. Poured straight into the glass, kicks up only a modest, well-behaved head of spongy foam over a coppr body. Pretty clear, just some floaties apparent. I keep thinking I’ll smell cedar and thus I do. Light, on top of a slight hop nose. I realize that a cedar cask for sake is not going to smell like a sock drawer freshener but likely have a slight residual cedar sensation, and that’s what I get (It would have been easier to describe in a Haiku, perhaps). Unexpected gunk in the bottom of the bottle gets into my glass. This would seem to favor English hops: a bit more earthy, peppery and slightly piney, which plays well in here. Just the right bit of sweetness. A slightly gassy finish, but overall very nice. A foreign beer that actually has some character of its origin culture, instead being another pale Heinie clone. Worth serving at a beer tasting for newbies.

Browned Amber color with Off white Head. Malt and Ground Pepper Aroma. Starts of with Caramel Malt Notes..With Alot of Peppery Notes to it...Dry and Peppered Aftertaste..Perhaps the Cedar Had Something to do With it...Interesting.

This $3.79 bottled brew from a bottle shop poured a small sized head of foam with a frothy top fine to medium sized white colored bubbles that were mostly lasting and left behind a semi-opaque dark orange brown colored body and a good lacing. The mild aroma was malty brown malt and dough. The mouth feel was tingly at the start and at the finish. The flavor contained notes of pale ale like hops and brown malt. A decent one but not one that I would consider buying again.

Pours a tawny hue with vitually no lasting tan head, oily to syrupy texture, brown sugar hints of cirtus fruit, rather sweet, not very hoppy for an IPA, slight cedar aftertaste which obviously comes from the maturing process, very enjoyable although not that complex.