Hitachino Nest Lacto Sweet Stout

Brewed by Kiuchi Brewery
Style: Sweet Stout
Ibaraki, Japan

750mL (or thereabouts) bottle pours with little head. Looks a little cola like, but very hard to see through. Aroma is awful and strong, lots of tin, almost smells like old musty silverware. Flavor is not much better, unpleasant but with a partially redeeming notes of espresso. Still, the milk’s gone bad folks. Palate is blah, but works witht the beer as a whole. Overall, disappointing but not quite a drainpour. In one word - Lactose.

Bottle.

I’m going to go way against the grain here, but this is a darn good beer. All of this flavor and body and roasty goodness 3.8%? You’ve got to be kidding me. This thing is a new session favorite. If I ever have to quit drinking, one of these with dinner every night is going to be my backup plan.

Pours dark w/ a modest head, nice roasty, nutty aroma. Gently sour in front, mildly sweet throughout, roasty. Vinous tones, soft blueberries. Nutty, mild smoke on the finish. Lots going on here. Soft in the mouth, lovely to sip but hard not to do so quickly. It comes into its own as it warms toward cellar temperature.

Splendid.

Roasted aroma and nutty flavor stands up to a world class stout such as Samuel Smith’s oatmeal stout!!

12-oz. Black. Thick moussy tan head that falls quickly away to nothing. Nice soft chocolate, licorice, and ester-y nose. Medium body with gentle carb. Roast comes through on the mid-palate with a decent showing of licorice and that ester again--somewhat cherry like. Clean finish. Good stuff, well underrated.

dark brown color, some tan fizzy head, sweet lactic smell, taste is odd lactic smooth, roasted malts odd tartness but interesting brew

Bottle. Poured a deep brown color with an averaged sized tan head. Aromas of chocolate, caramel, lightly eathy, vanilla, and roast. Tastes of roast, chocolate, and lighter coffee. Thin body.

Deep dark brown, golden at the edges, flat brown head. Aromas of chocolate, soy sauce, and an erthy quality. Sweet, chalky, with coffee bean, chocolate standing out. Nearly no bitterness. I found this quite smooth and creamy, not at all watery. I thought it was very good!

Single bottle: Taste: Sweet milk stout. Okay, not great. There is some complexity to it as the lactose sweetness comes together with malt, hops, and small chocolate and coffee flavors. It all leaves an aftertaste like a glass of slightly sour milk with some hops thrown in for bitterness. I found the Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout overpowering and too bitter and this a little too light and milky for me to really like it a lot, but I would drink it again. Appearance: Black, no head. Just like the Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout and the Nest White Ale, which were better than this.