Hitachino Nest New Year Celebration Ale

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

Bottle. Poured hazy orange with a large frothy white head that was mostly lasting with fair lacing. Moderate spice and fruit aroma. Light to medium body with a slick texture. Medium spicy sweet flavor with a medium spice finish of moderated duration. Refreshing complex beer.

Bottle - 2006: Solidly opaque orange-brown with a tight foam top that slowly collapses into itself. Quite the fully flavored spicy aroma, a gigantic mishmash of so many possibilities ... but mostly like a musty, moldy orange. Then this drinks with the same over-the-top load of the flavors, like they were cleaning out the spice drawer ... all the advertised ones are there, but to me the orange dominates, but not in a good way. Ever get an orange that’s all dried out and chewy ... now sprinkle a bunch of nutmeg on it ... that’s what this tastes like. Can see how people like it, particularly with the right food. Well made, but not my cup of tea (or beer). (#2950, 6/3/2007)

pours cloudy amber with moderate offwhite head. aroma is loaded with spices (smells almost like apple pie) and some sweet fruity characters. taste brings back all that spice to the table with some really tangy sweet red fruit character. finishes pretty spicy bitter. pretty interesting and good stuff.

Oaky brown with a (too) voluminous tan head. Aroma is spicy and bitter, and taste is same with a weird cidery woodiness. $5/330ml

2006 bottle. Courtesy SoLan. Pours a cloudy orange with a 3cm white cap. Very spicy, herbal aromas. Some cinnamon, mint, coriander, and various other spices entangle to make a quite intriguing aroma. Taste was quite unique, very spicy, some black pepper, coriander, and clove. Just a ton going on with this beer. Really unique spices continually show up in each new sip. Quite enjoyable.

Bottle from 2004. Hazy amber golden color, light tan head. Sweet, malty, fruity, floral, peppery aroma. Acidic, fruity, sweet malty alcoholic flavors with a fair amount of hoppy bitterness. Very soft and sticky mouthfeel with a slightly sour astringent finish. Definitely one of the better Japanese beers out there. Complex and well-balanced, great stuff.

thanks dan! 2006 nice fruity nose. Such a great spice profile. The orange is upfront, and the vanilla finishes. You can pull out the entire spice rack from this one, yet it is very balanced. The is a long lasting fruity after note, that follows a gentle bite.

2004 bottle. Complex aroma of fruit. Citrus, perhaps pear, vanilla and others. Ruby apricot color with a ferocious beige head. Strong fruit flavors, followed by the listed spices. Shockingly good. Finishes relatively dry, with an astringent fruit character.