Hitachino Nest Lacto Sweet Stout

Brewed by Kiuchi Brewery
Style: Sweet Stout
Ibaraki, Japan

What the hell is this? A sour smell of socks or sulfur, leather and burnt hair yields a weakish flavour of burnt coffee, mild coffee candy aftertaste. Some grape-like flavours. Not entirely unpleasant, though.

Name: Sweet Stout
Date: 12/06/2003
Mode: Bottle
Source: Beverage Resort

black with ruby highlights, lightly roasted sweet malt aroma, dry malt flavor yet cloying, touch of roasted character, boring

Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 2/10; Palate: 2/10; Overall: 5/20
Rating: 1.6/5.0
Score: 4
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On tap at the brewery, and the last beer I tasted there. Pours a dark, dark, reddish brown (actually a little lighter color than most of the stouts I’ve come across. Strong aroma of coffee, cream, and earth. Flavor contains all of the above, but the hops are a little sour, which is not good with the cream. The palate is very lively-- lots of bubbles. I was expecting something smoother.

12 oz. bottle. Pours clear dark brown in color with a small fizzy rapidly diminishing beige head. The aroma has some chocolate and a hint of coffee that gets interupted by a sensation of slightly soured milk (two days past the drink date). The flavor is very sweet to the point of distraction. I would like to see something balance this out a bit more. Medium bodied at best. I will not revisit this one any time soon.

Pours deep brown with a large tan head. Nose is cream, chocolate and small coffee. Cloyingly sweet, milky flavor, with roasted malt and chocolate. OK but too milky for me.

Slightly sour aroma. Chocolatey/coffee aroma I think, but the sour makes it hard. Deep brown color with mahogany hilites. The tan head was ferocious, and then it was suddenly gone. What was left laced around the edges. Medium bodied. Definitely sour, but it is very easy going. The dark roasted malts balance the sour. It’s very complex. Dark fruits, dark malts, lactic sour, a fairly dry finish. What a unique brew. Went very well with andouille sausage.

Bottle. Pours clear dark brown color with a large frothy light brown head that was lasting with excellent lacing. Moderate roasted chocolate malty aroma. Medium to full body with a creamy texture. Medium balanced creamy bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. This is a drinkable sweet stout.

Just scanning some of the high and low ratings for this beer, it’s apparent that it is one that you have to try for yourself to decide what the heck it smells/tastes like. I found it decidedly unique and easy drinking for a sweet stout... Pours black with a frothy, tan, diminishing head. The nose is of chocolate, coffee, roasted malts and a faint sour milk. The mouthfeel is light and oily while remaining lively on the tongue. The flavor (for me) was sweet, milky chocolate, coffee and roasted malts with a lightly sour finish unlike any other stout that I’ve sampled. This beer wins "brownie points" from me for simply being different, but at about $4/bottle, I doubt I’ll be drinking it again any time soon. My buddy’s new girlfriend gave me this bottle, and another Hitachino, as a birthday gift the first time that I met her. I’d say she’s a keeper.