Hitachino Nest Real Ginger Ale

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

draft @ papago... pours a cloudier and darker than expected shade of amber topped with a lasting off white head. fresh ginger in the aroma actually numbs my chest a bit. but aside from the freshness, there is little else in the aroma. there is some maltiness but the citrus and hops smells are surely due to the ginger. the flavor is again, mostly fresh ginger and its spiciness along with some skunky grassy hops and caramel. it finishes with dryness and some sour notes. the ginger aftertaste lingers until i’ve moved on to the next beer... the body is medium with creamy soft carbonation. i don’t know about this one???....7/4/6/4/13/3.4

bottle with a new label... not sure of the age though.... wow! big time difference...the real ginger is there but it is a lot less sharp than it was on tap. aroma and flavors of caramel, chocolate, malt, coffee and flowers. it has really mellowed and softened while becoming much more approachable to the novice... awesome! 9/5/9/4/18/4.5

330. Pours a cloudy, ruddy dark amber with a gigantically massive tan head. Find something else to do for a while if you plan on filling the glass before you start drinking. Nice ginger nose with some sourness there, too, kinda vinegary. Interesting. Definitely gives you the sense of fermented biomass outside of the cerel realm, even if the layers of complexity all come from ginger and fermented ginger. Medium body with very soft and subdued carb. Caramel, toast, and acres of ginger on the mid-palate, with a lingering ginger finish of modest duration. Fairly interesting and borderline sessionable.

can’t remember if this was from trade or bought on vacation, so my apologies if I’m forgetting the donor.
Pours dark amber with a lasting offwhite head atop. Pretty nice looking beer. Nose is malty, with some spicy ginger notes and hoplike aromas wafting up. Somewhat full bodied, and malty with tartness and some light ginger spiciness, with a semi-rich body and a light ginger flavor in the finish as well. Not bad and you actually get some of the advertised ginger.

Pours with a frothy, two finger thick, darkly amber tinged, tan colored head that sits on top of a deep amber colored beer. When held up to the light, the beer shows lots of carbonation and a lightly hazy, bright red color. As I pour the beer smells quite fruity with a mix of citrus and berry notes. A closer inspection confirms the fruitiness. Smells a bit like young, sweet pickled ginger that comes with sushi, but I am surprised how fruit-like this smells. Towards the finish a woody, spicy, almost black pepper like notes emerges, but mainly berry and citrus notes seem to dominate.

Sweet and tart tasting up front, the beer finishes with quite a chalk-like taste. Spicy ginger flavors play a prominent role here in the flavor, though I would not call them overwhelming. There is still some of that citrus and berry flavors from the aroma too. Flavors of ginger, key limes, strawberries . Sharp and slightly astringent in the finish (from the ginger), chalky, dusty malt notes also enter in to the mix. Woody, earthy ginger notes intermingle quite well with tart and sweet fruit notes. This has a medium fullness to it that allows the beer to have some heft and presence on the palate. The malt especially contributes to a full mouthfeel here, and seems to work quite harmoniously with the ginger character; by which I mean that a lesser bodied beer would probably not hold up nearly as well to the ginger character.

This is an interesting brew, it has brought out a side of aromas and flavors of ginger that I did not realize was there (and that is always cool). I do really like that the ginger character is not over the top, it is certainly present, even perhaps the largest flavor contributor, but really integrates itself quite well here. As I work my way through my glass this beer actually grows on my quite a bit; it has moved up from being interesting and educational to being tasty and fairly quaffable.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson, AZ

Single bottle: lots of head, good head retention, amber color, slight ginger flavor, slight oak flavor, slight hops flavor. Smooth finish, some aftertaste. Not a lot of flavor, though. Not as good as the Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale or the Belgian White Ale. My bottle had a different label. I need to re-rate this.

Bottle: Big sweet toffee and ginger aroma. It pours a hazy orange with a minimal white head. The flavor starts with toffee that quickly fades a big ginger finish. There is some faint sour fruit in the background. Medium-bodied with semi-lively carbonation.

Nice cloudy orange with a tannish lasting head.Ginger nose , ginger flavor and carmelly malty some doughiness.

I love Reed’s non-alcoholic ginger beer. This has a lot of the same strong ginger flavor in a mildly malty beer....delicious.