Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale

Brewed by Kiuchi Brewery
Style: Traditional Ale
Ibaraki, Japan

If this didn’t cost so much, it would have been a drain pour. Bottle poured a hazy watermelon/amber color with no head to speak of. Aroma is medicinal... like a grapefruit cough-syrup. Flavors of strawberry and ginger. Sour finish. Medium-bodied with a "sticky" finish... left an intriguing aftertaste of raw meat that is just hanging at the back of my throat. Very memorable.

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Pours amber with a red tint. Large off white head made up of some large and some small bubbles and a slightly sticky lacing. Kind of a sweet mediciny smell to it. Caramel is around, some roast. Almost minty. Some of that mint is around the flavors as well. The medicine makes itself known. The sake is a bit more distinguished here. I’m not really finding any strawberries though. Hints of yeastiness and lactose are around. The palate is almost chalky and thin at the same time. Watery, rather. Finishes tartly.

11.2 oz bottle. Pours a cloudy watermelon color with thick fluffy white head and tons of little floaties. Aroma is of hops, yeast and strawberries. Taste is the yeasty tart combination of sweet and sour fruit. Starts with a sweet/sour tanginess that gives way to a nice light maltiness. A tad on the thin side. Pretty nice but not what I expected based on other reviews. This seems more like a fruit beer. The higher ABV isn’t noticeable at all. It wasn’t until I finished that I realized the dry ricey connection.

Import bottle. Intersting pour. Cloudy yellow but with burnt orange highlights. Big, foamy "shook-up Coke" head. Taste is pretty tart. If they say it’s strawberries, I’d go along with it. A bit lactic, too, kind of Belgian, I’m not too thrilled by it, but I’m pleased to find a beer from a country without a beer tradition that puts a local twist on a brew instead of doing the same old pale lager.

Darker red color with some cloudiness. A thin white head. A rich sweet aroma with pineapples, mangoes and some walnuts. The taste is rich with some slight sake notes. Also hints of mango and some oak. A slightly dry finish for a sweet taste. A decent and intriguing ale. My main problem with Hitachino is still the large price tag.

(draft) Tastes like a pilsner until you swallow, that’s when the funkiness takes over. I guess the funkiness was due to the sake yeasts used on the rice. My enjoyment of this beer grew with each sip, but by the time the glass was gone I still didn’t like it enough to order another pint.

This pours a hazy brownish color, looking like a cloudy pekoe tea, with only a circlet of white representing a head. The aroma tickles the nose oddly, some bitterness, some berry fruitiness, some microscopic bubbles digging into my nostrils and causing my eyes to water. Little visible carbonation, but it feels quite fizzy in the mouth. Interesting clashing of flavors with malt and strawberry sweetness, some sake-like alcohol presence, and a bitterness that I really can’t identify. The more I drink it, the more I like it... but it does have an 8.5% abv. Strange bitter finish. This is a brew to try again.

<center>A zinfandel hue
Grain husk and fruit, dull
Bubbles cut like Samurai</center>