Hitachino Nest New Year Celebration Ale

Brewed by Kiuchi Brewery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Ibaraki, Japan

2006 vintage. Pours a very attractive looking caramel-orange body. It looks thick and cloudy, with a dense, medium, off-white head that fades to a small layer. A small amount of sediment rests on the bottom. Thick waves of sudsy lace mostly rejoin the body. The aroma is unique and intriguing. White grapes, nectarines, and peaches provide for a sweet, yet acidic fruity bouquet. Meanwhile, light caramel, vanilla, and mild clove add a complex and spicy malt base to the nose. The flavor is sharp, fruity, and vibrant. Its very vinous in its complexity and structure. Moderately sweet caramel malts provide a solid foundation for the sour nectarine, while cinnamon, vanilla, and clove add depth and punch. A substantial mouthfeel and smooth body lend to the overall enjoyment, while a lingering, dry, sour finish serves as a reminder of the goodness that was. This is another winner from a most amazing and creative brewer.

2006 Bottle Purchased at Shoreline Beverage in LI, shared with my dad. Pours like a Weizenbock ciderish with a 1 finger tan head. Nose is nice, vanilla and spice, overall pretty interesting. Taste is sweet, spicy, with vanilla, nice kick also, overall bright and intriguing. Acidity is a little high, but is pretty damn intriguing and complex.

The beer pours a somewhat hazy copper with a fine off white heat that has a nice creamy texture, erodes quickly leaving a paper-thin coating of lace. Nose is sweet with fruit and malt, citrus like in its crispness, bit of sourness also noted, and a bit of musk. Start is quite sweet with a nice malt presence and a spicy back, top is light to moderate in feel. Finish has a biting acidity, hops passable, fruit like sweetness carries to the dry aftertaste; enjoy this breweries’ beers, different maybe, generally worth a sample.

Numerous spicy, fruity flavors in the aroma, a pleasant potpourri. Surprisingly, this complexity carries over into the flavor. Although robustly spicy, maintains great malt richness and manages to finish clean. A great work from this great Japanese brewery.

Pours with a rusted orange body with a minimal head that gradually coalesces into a thick creamy foam before resettling back into the murky liquid of the beer. The initial aroma is of coriander and wheat, and as the beer settles and warms the coriander smooths out and vanilla aromas begin to waft up to me. The taste is predominately coriander and vanilla swirled with a cinnamon stick, nutmeg simply serves to round out the flavor. Sweet cinnamon starts to dominate as the beer warms with the vanilla taking a back seat along with the orange peel, but not in a bad way whatsoever. Finishes with a lingering bittersweetness. Very complex and well balanced. I do not know how much of this I would like to drink, but it is an excellent holiday beer.

10/4/05. 375ml. 2004. Amber brown with large beige head. Coriander aroma. A mix of vanilla and coriander flavor. Not bad at first but then overstays its welcome.

Name: New Year Celebration
Date: December 06, 2003
Mode: Bottle
Source: Whole Foods Market, DC
Vintage: 2004
Appearance: cloudy dark amber, foamy tan head that eventually subsides into a creamy head
Aroma: light spicy aroma
Flavor: rich malt flavor with a well balanced spicy character with hints of nutmeg and cinnamon, orange and coriander appear after warming

Name: New Year Celebration
Date: May 20, 2006
Vintage: 2004
tons of carbonation, lots of spices with ginger and cinamon,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 2.9/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: *4

Wow, what a strange beer. And strange is good in this case! A huge body with a big, blocky head that keeps roiling. Pleasant looking orange body, with depth and nuance. The spicy hops come across like a DIPA but the flavors are very quirky and suggest something different. I get a very strong ginger flavor right up front, balance by some cinnamon smoothness and some clove bite. Nice one.