Hitachino Nest New Year Celebration Ale

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

This blows away any other Japanese beer in the market. The malts and hops blend together and form a thick, syrupy, sweet style with rich caramel and dark fruits. A must have.

Celebration Ale 2007 orange to brown slightly hazy pour, lasting off light brown head, hints of spice and a fairly bitter middle, brown sugary wheat, average duration a bit syrupy whith a slight pinch of vanilla.

Pours with a huge head that takes a long time to go away. Smells like a wit beer but has a darker nutty taste.

03-Oct-06 (330 ml bottle, 2004 vintage: $4.29 at Whole Foods in La Jolla, CA) The intensely fruity aroma is both sweet and tart, with dried apricots and peaches, vanilla, oak, a hint of smoke, and lots of pungent earth all working in unison to stimulate and excite my senses as well as my desire to taste this beer. Truly, this beer smells magnificent and it’s enhanced by the fact that I’m drinking this out of a round goblet with lots of concentrated head space in which the aromas can congregate. The beer is dark amber to light brown in color and very cloudy from sediment, and there is still a thick layer of dark-brown sediment lining the bottom of the bottle. The very active and lively tan-colored head, which rose to nearly two inches on the pour, settles to and holds at a full layer a quarter-inch tall, but leaves virtually no lacing on the glass. Finally tasting the beer, the dark, moderately sweet fruits really jump out and the mushroomy earth and the wood are right there too. A mild spiciness, mostly ginger and nutmeg, is somewhat pushed into the background by the fruit and earth when the beer is colder, but the spices come out more at room temperature. Bitterness is mild throughout. And then in the finish, a smoked bacon flavor just comes out nowhere to add a new wrinkle to this complex beer. Body is full to slightly syrupy, but never cloying. Carbonation is light to medium, but soft on the palate. $4.29 is pretty expensive (I suspect I can find it for a lower price), but this is a great beer to hold onto for a year or two. Very flavorful and immensely enjoyable, the price tag won’t prevent me from buying a bottle or two each year.

2005 bottle. A little over one year old. Pour is a matte mellon orange with a thin film of white lace. Aroma is citrus and nutmeg. Quite attractive. The flavor is full of spices and flavors. This is a sipping beer that is for enjoyment in small quantities. No hint of the 9 percent alcohol.

The 11.2 ounce bottle poured a hazy orange/amber beverage with a small thick creamy off-white head that was mostly diminishing and left good lacing on the glass. In spite of the fact that I poured carefully, there was a lot of suspended particles interfering with the clarity. The aroma was interesting - coriander, orange peel and vanilla were discernable. The body was medium-full with soft carbonation and a slightly astringent finishing texture. The flavor started out sweet. It then morphs to a light bitterness in the middle and stays that way through the medium-long finish. There is a nice alcohol warmth at the end as well.

Bottle 2007. SPLENDID! This was truly a celebration inside of my mouth! As someone stated prior about this particular year’s festivities, the alcohol is well hidden, and instead everything else is abounding to be the first flavour to your palate! This is another HIGHLY recommended Hitachino brew! DO NOT MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY.

Fabulous beer. Extremerely interesting. Aroma is very reminiscent of Jolly Pumpkin’s Bam Biere, saisony and spicy with great oak notes, lemon, orange peel, and a good light bitterness. Flavor is similar, with more astringency and lemon, good sourness to complement winter spices. Awesome funk. A great surprise... just wish it wasn’t >$5 per bottle!