Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale

Brewed by Kiuchi Brewery
Style: Traditional Ale
Ibaraki, Japan

This is one strange and funky beer. It pours a pink grapefruit red with sizable particles and a large, frothy, pinkish head that diminishes. The nose is a musty steamed rice with light floral notes and plenty of funk. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied, gritty and dry; quite odd. The flavor is a lightly sweet malt front followed by funky rice and a dry, plastic finish. The funk smooths a bit as the beer warms but not nearly enough for my liking. Meh. It’s definitely unique, but the only thing that made me continue drinking it was that little voice that kept asking, "What the hell is that flavor?" I still can’t put my finger on what it was, and I guess I’ll be taking that one to the grave, because I certainly wont be drinking another bottle of this stuff.

Ruby red, no head. Very floral aroma and flavor. Some fruity-ness, but not much else. Alcohol is obvious. Not much body, a bit sticky, long rice-y finish.

I remember this being a bit more of a sour beer, but this time around it’s got more of a smoky bite to it to balance the warm fruity flavors. A bit too bitter, though the mouthfeel is nice.

Bottle sampled. Pours hazy amber/copper with a white head. Aroma of fruit, slightly acidic, and sweet. The flavor is sweet upfront, fruit, with a bitter lacic finish.

Appearance: Pours a clear, deep pink body with a bubbly white head. Definitely looks like pink champagne! Smell: A compelling aroma of grains, strawberries, and perfumy jasmine blossoms. Slighty medicinal. Taste: Seemingly sweet at first, the taste abruptly shifts to tart and sour. Flavors of strawberries, watermelon Jolly Rancers, and ginger. It does indeed share some characteristics with sake. And yes, there’s more hair-raising medicinal properties. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with a prickly carbonation. Drinkability: A unique, if slightly unsettling beer experience. It’s medicinal, lactic qualities aren’t too endearing to me, either.

Nose-fruity leather, cough drops, Mickey’s Fine Malt Liquor. Taste-burnt plastic, cherry, wood, cheap cough syrup, candy cigarettes, not overwhelmingly nasty, just full of adjuncts and artificial tasting sweetness. Vanilla.

pours a strange pinkish copper with thick fizzy off-white head. aroma is a spicy soggy rice. taste is spicy rice, doughy sweetness and some nuttiness. finish lightly bitter with some rice sweetness. pretty interesting stuff definitely the first of its kind for me jus not my favorite flavor.

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say thanks to Peter for bringing this and the fine joking that ensued. Pours fruity looking red, with a pink-ish head. Aroma of leather and fruit? Bleh! While the flavor is complex, it’s a mix of odd and bad, with earthy must, rotten fruit, and berries. By this point in the night, I was kinda vague on texture and such. It was not the worst beer of the tasting.