Hitachino Nest New Year Celebration Ale

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

(Bottle) Pours a murky burnt orange body with a huge "long-lasting" rocky beige head. Aroma of bread, caramel, orange, and spices. Flavor of spicy fruit cake and malt. Chewy body with a lively carbonation.

Cloudy dark amber/brown (like apple cider) with a monstrous thick beige head. Aroma of orange peel, pear and clove; very vibrant and fruity. The flavor is very bitter, harsh and sweet at the same time. Has notes of toasted malt, caramel, molasses, apple cider, orange peel, clove and various other spices. Lingering fruity bitter finish with an alcohol presence. Medium body with VERY lively carbonation. Not much lacing, good head retention. Overall, pretty complex but it just wasn’t my thing. I found this much more drinkable after it sat out for an hour or so and the carbonation mellowed.

Pours a cloudy, and due to a bad pour, yeasty, amber /brown hue with a wonderfully foamy head with a decent head. Aromas of bananas, caramel, a little grassy, very complex.... hints of all the spices said on the bottle and the vanilla mellows it out. Mouth feel is medium bodied. Flavors of all the said spices with a slight sour bitterness that doesn’t do the beer well. Tea and cinnamon dominate the finish.

(Bottle) As mentioned below, this beer was very good - something of a surprise from this Japanese brewery as many of the bottles that find their way to Eastern Canada are somewhat flat in flavour or spoiled. I found the New Year Celebration Ale to be hoppy, spicey, soy, oysters, and piney in the nose with a strong flavour of the latter. It pours a thin white head with a deep orange body. The hoppy flavour is very likely due to this 2005 barleywine’s youth yet it is still loveable though not terribly to style. My thanks to Lubiere for sharing this bottle at the DumDum Small Bottle gathering,

Surprisingly good. Dark brown/amber body with a full off-white head. Fruit, spice, floral notes in the nose. Lots of carbonation is a minus but it is fuller in body. The flavor is a nice blend of fruit and spice. Like a spiced tea. Not bad at all. Thanks, Kris (Alcoholist).

This is a great spiced beer. Coriander, spice, and malty flavors. Finishes crisp, clean, and rich.

12 oz bottle. Thicky meat lasting, lasting head tops a pale copper to dark amber, lightly cloudy thick body...coriander and orange peel dominant in the nose, whiskey and vanilla lie in wait underneath...intriguing, uniquely zesty yet rich and sweet mouthfeel, fizzy like Pop Rocks but very spicy with pine, vanilla, pumpkin pie spicing...warming, juicy and refreshing despite the big alcohol and huge complexity with a woody/hoppy snap at the finish. A delight, as good in its way as Anchor Our Special Ale.

12oz. bottle. Split in two glasses. First on was clear but the second one was cloudy from thick bed of sediment. Amber in color with a thin head and no lacing. Lots of spice and fruit up front with a sweet malt back ground. Strange but good brew.