Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale

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

bottle, amber color with malty nose, sweet flavors of strawberry and orange with a dry oaky finish

Pours amber with a thin white head. Smells of sawdust, pine, sweet. Tastes cloying with a weird lysol like bite. Very weird concoction.

Tallahassee, Fl., Liquor Loft - 11.2 oz bottle. Cloudy, dark orange pour with a thin but sticky white head. Aroma of juniper berries and a faint whiff of bug spray. Flavor has some of the same juniper notes with some brief citrusy notes and some of that same insect spray essence. The result is somewhat muddled. Moutyfeel is slightly spritzy with a slightly tongue numbing essence to it. Overall, not one of the finer offerings from this nomally solid brewer.

12-oz bottle purchased at Coaltrain Wine and Liquor, Colorado Springs, CO. Pours hazy orange with a small, fizzy, off-white head, somewhat lasting with fair lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cereal, meal), heavy hops (flowers, grass, citrus), light yeast (sweat) with notes of apple, pear, and peach. Medium bodied, sticky texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Average duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness.

2002 Vintage, Oak Aged. 12oz bottle. Appeared to be bottle conditioned. Served in a Duvel Tulip. A little over carbonated, probably due to the age. Huge, big bubbled head filled the glass. Hazy dark gold. Fruity aroma with some toffee malt and a little hops. Complex aroma. Medium bodied. Flavor is fairly understated. Very smooth mouthfeel. Malty sweetness and a bit of hop bitterness. Some wood comes out in the finish. I would have liked to taste it a bit fresher. Good beer.

Bottled. Complex malty nose and rich malt flavors: cedar, chocolate, caramel, nuts, plus a bit of citrus and dark fruits. Good citrus, floral, hops all the way providing excellent balance. Dry finish with hops and cedar. Rather sweet and malt-dominated but complex and well-balanced. The sugi barrels add a nice, complicated touch.

After a hazy amber pour, the aroma is quite peppery and astingent. Cedar is apparent in the flavor, which makes for a different herbal hop bite that is really pleasing.

Bottle. Pours a ruddy amber, hazy with a small white ring of head around the edge of the glass. The aroma of this leads off with cedar followed closely by citrusy/floral hops, some hay and toasted malts. Flavorwise this has a strong hop intro, a touch of honey, wood, spicy, then a nice bitter finish. Very dry, the tannins from the cedar cask add to this, seems a touch funky too. Very quaffable, this is a magnificent beer. The cedar and the spiciness mesh well with the hoppiness to create a fantastic left-of-center IPA.