Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale

Brewed by Kiuchi Brewery
Style: Traditional Ale
Ibaraki, Japan

well, it was a unique experience. very sweet taste with some kind of meaty mysterious layer to it; primarily meaty, sweet/cola syrup, perfume, spice; i really didn’t like the aftertaste, though. a must try, in any case.

A heavy pour and got a two-fingered head that faded quickly to a ring leaving some lace. Hazy golden color. Light-medium carbonation and light bodied. Nose is barely there maybe vanilla?? Starts with a typical malt/hop mix but then the finish there is an incredible kick of sweet vanilla nothing like I have had before and quite different from other Japanese beers. $3.89 for a 11.2oz bottle from Tully’s Beer & Wine Wells, Me.

Interesting aroma of olive. Small white head. Pinkish orange colored body. Grassy, slightly hoppy taste. Nothing bad. Nothing really spectacular either.

Poured out a pinky cloudy colour, with a pink head. Looked like a hazy berry cider. Aroma is richly spicy with clove, orange peel, and pepper overtones. Hop taste is mild, but a nice, round malt profile softens the spicy tanginess from the belgian style fermentation. A unique beer with lots of potential. I’d like to taste it brewed with an english ale yeast instead of the belgian style.

Hazy orange lots of floaties. Fizzy head. Rice doesn’t seem to promote head retention. Faintly nutty aroma. Taste was a big surprise, rich, nutty, and savory combined. I was taken back to a turkey stuffing I made once using sausage and wild Nepalese rice. I was almost shocked by it. Prickly carbonation detracts, but all in all quite fascinating to see what the right rice really can do for the flavor of a beer.

330 ml bottle. Gorgeous look to this...the color is of hazy, unripe watermelon, luminous with a thick, creamy, lasting near-white head...pungent, sour aroma is reminiscent of melon again, with lactic qualities and, dare I say it, horseblanket, really unusual and unique...very sour throughout on the palate with bitter metallic undertones, more lactic qualities, but a light nutty sweetness that compensates and a sort of lemon-lime soda feel in the prickly high carbonation...very interesting, absorbing beer that would probably be better colder and in very hot weather...closer to gueuze than anything else, but immensely strange and certainly its own thing. The metallic undercurrents get to be too much at the end for me, but I would unhesitatingly recommend it to the adventurous...

Irregular, fluffy white head, orange-brown-pink body. Aroma of rice, skirt steak in a stir fry, and lactic. Hard to place flavor, but some licorice. Moderately thing, nothing remarkable going on in the palate. Curious and interesting, though not entirely satisfying. Thanks Paul for buying this and joining in on the drinking.

12oz Bottle. Pours a light orange color with a small white head. Nose is light hopps, very plain and sweet. Taste is thin with some light rice hints and a bit of light bitterness in teh end.