Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale

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

Bottle. A hazy puke almond color with a nice off-white head. The cedar qualities are evident in the flavor. This beer follows the IPA style in part but not as malty as the English variety. Rating from December 2005 notes.

複雑なビール and refined. Well done aromatics of cedar swamps drying in kilns. A 23.3 fl oz btl that sat in my cellar upright and undisturbed for a year before it’s opening, I can not help but think that it’s undisturbed nature and correct temp and light helped it show it’s best. Magnificent structure and balance. Some bandage adhesive flavors that were mellowed with the cedar sake funk. Awesome funk! This was super funky and stanky. Dank and funk permeate. If they don’t get it that’s ok- more for the Magyar!

12oz bottle, props to gputty! Dirty golden brown with a big, foamy off white head. Nose is dry peppery cedar. Biscuity/cookie sweet, peppery finish. IPA? WTF? No way, but damn interesting beer.

12oz bottle: Pours to a cloudy deep amber colored body, bits of yeast visable (I poured the entire bottle; I like my yeast), with a medium-large eggshell-colored head that lasts. The aroma is floral, spicy hops and a strong cedar scent, it’s difficult to tell whether the cedar is taking over the aroma. Taste again shows plenty of cedar, but it’s not at all unpleasant. The cedar flavor actually blends very nicely with the floral, grassy, and lightly fruity hops, along with some sweet earthy caramel malts, maybe even a tiny hint of cereal. The blend of bitterness from the hops and wood flavors from the cedar casks produces a very unique taste, and also a unique feeling on the palate that I can only describe as being like an acidic sweetness (without that flavor of course). Medium bodied, medium carbonated, finishes with extended bitter floral hops and cedar wood notes, making your palate almost puckeringly dry. Very interesting and the cedar definitely adds something unique here. I would love to try a saison matured in cedar casks myself...

Draft. Tough to see what this one looks like. It was poured in one of the coolest glasses I have ever seen in a bar (Rich O’s for this one). The glass was a greyish tan with the Hitachino logo on it. Anyway, it looks a bit hazy with a decent white head on it. Sorry I can’t describe more of the appearance. The aroma is sharp with floral hop notes. The flavor is interesting. The cedar from the aging comes through, but the hops are very subtle in blending with the woody flavor. Not overly hoppy, more of an English style IPA, but well balanced. Hitachino is making a fan out of me.

Floral cedar and hop notes intermingle to the wondrous delight of my olfactory senses. Rich full mouthfeel that starts wonderfully and ends even better. The up front hopping is superbly well balanced and continues to build with each sip. A beautiful beer that makes me hope more brewers will use cedar barrels.

Average off-white head on an opaque honey colored beer. Aroma is a funky sweet like that of an old leather boot marinated in cider vinegar. Taste is mostly dry and slightly salty with the faint bitterness of hops, and a woody alcohol bite $3/11.2oz

Bottle. Aroma strong and very malty, woody with a bit of a scotch musk. Slight medicinal twinge with ... melon? Pungent funk. And hoppy! Amber-orange pour with little (but lace-heavy) head. Crisp, tart, bitter, and sweet taste with healthy barnyard funk and strong sourness. Rubbery dryness less pronounced than in others from HN. Dry spiciness. Alcohol well-hidden. Pleasantly hoppy on the palate, even introduces some light fruitiness and citrus. Light grapefruit and lemon/orange zest join rounded chewy earthiness. Well-balanced and medium-full body. Wonderful cedar closet memories established in the finish and aftertaste, and the casky woody notes linger for minutes. Herby (with pine needles?), peppery. This is absurdly interesting, and unlike some of the other offerings from my now-beloved HN, suitable for frequent consumption.