Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale

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

From a 330ml. stubby narrow neck brown bottle with a short blurb about the IPA on the back label. Made a good appearance, poured a cloudy golden brown with a foamy whitish beige bubbly topped head that settled into a thin bubbly lacing, good carbonation. Had a big spicy, peppery hop aroma with a little toasted grainy maltiness and cedar woodiness in the background. A crisp, smooth medium bodied mouth feel, good drinkability. Spicy, peppery hop bitterness upfront, cedar woodiness and mild toasted grainy flavors balancing the hops bitterness, an ever so light buttery yeastiness and a crisp, peppery finish. A nice take on the English IPA, tasty and mildly bitter, well worth seeking out and trying.

May 26th 2007 Re-rate. <P> Big cedar notes with some sweetness and citrus notes. The cedar is so smooth and soothing. The body is a cloudy orange and holds an amazingly lasting, creamy, frothy and bone white head. Sweet malt and mild caramel notes. The finish is full of cedar notes and a slight tinge of metal. The mouthfeel is kind of spritzy, but not drasticaingly so. Still a real treat. <P> Original rating a 4.1 <P> The aroma is strong with cedar notes and then very faint notes of caramel malt. Dark cloudy amber color with a firm and lasting thumb thick white head. Smooth caramel malt in the fore is quickly followed by spicy cedar notes that affect both sweeter Italian vanillin flavors as well as medium spiciness. The wood flavor is sharp and pervasive and adds an element I’ve not found in any other beer. There is a fair amount of hoppiness, but it melds together with the cider notes as they both touch on resiny and piney flavors thought there is no mistaking the cedar presence. This was a truly unique and rewarding suprise. Damn nice beer. Vastly underrated in my opinion.

I was expecting some type of smooth japaneese ale good with some sushi. From the first sip what a suprise. A good hop bite but I did not detect the ipa classification. An old woody flavor. But the overall flavor palate and everything else is spicy downright pepery.

11.2 oz bottle. Pours a clear light orange color with foamy off white head. Pleasant comingling of caramel malt, toasted bread, and light sprucy hop aromas. Unlike some of the previous raters I don’t detect the cedar notes. Flavors are similar. Crisp finish with sublte lingering hop bitterness. My initial impression was that it tasted like a European lager. Never would have pegged it as an IPA.

11.2 oz bottle. Extremely effervescent, pouring a huge tan and rocky head. The colouris deep hazy amber like unfiltered apple cider. The aroma is instantly of cedar and tobacco and a light hint of lemony goldings hops. The flavour is a touch sweet with the woody notes continuing in the mouth and a very lovely crisp bitter finish. The cedar maturation is the standout here but the nature of the IPA beneath the wood is clearly of high quality. A nice beer but a bit over priced.

Hazy tangerine with huge, long lasting and beautiful khaki head, settling in a lumpy dome with trails of sparkly lace down the glass. The cedar aroma is what hits me first, along with a spicy forest or tobacco kind of scent. Like opening a cedar box of top-notch cigars while standing in a spruce forest after a rain. Lively, surprising, a bit bombastic, but so different and so interesting. Resiny woody flavor, with a modest level of bitterness and a bit of sweetness, transitioning into a clovey dry finish. A remarkable and distinct re-thinking of the style.

Bubblegum and oak mix with the slightly floral aroma. Hazy amber in color. Too much wine barrel flavor and overwhelms the hoppiness and malt. Overly spicy in a bad way - tastes like a bad west coast winter beer.

Amber body with a gray overflowing head. Weird metallic grape and lemon spice nose. Off sweet sugar flavor with raisins in the finish. Overly sweet with unfriendly spices. Ap-3 ar-4 tas-3 pal-1 ov-7