Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale

Snagged one of them big ass bottles and popped it Labor Day. Nice color, interesting and slightly funky smell. Goes down well but a tart berry aftertaste caught me off guard. It’s like a moldy Strawberry burrowed out the ground, made it’s way up my body and hopped in my mouth at as soon as I took a swig. Attempted to muscle through it but it began to get on my nerves. I let it get warm on the table, lost in the shuffle of the BBQ.

bottle, pinkish red pour that is very still, nose is sour strawberry with a sour bitter fruit flavor and dry spice finish

Now I am a sucker for pretty much anything out of Japan, and it is old news to me that the craft beer scene has been exploding in Japan these last few years. Much like Japan has become a Whiskyopolis, it is becoming a craft beer Mecca as well.
Red Rice poured a beautiful orange and pink color in my glass with a very nice finger-sized head. The head dwindles to a thin white-pink layer on top with a sweet nose or roses and pink grapefruit. She is very bright, effervescent, crisp and tangy on my tongue. A light body, Red Rice as a slightly creamy palate which glides down easy with each quaff. I can detect a faint hint of its rice origins in terms, but it is very minimal. Much like in the nose, this ale is full of sour, overripe pink grapefruit, and I also detect some tangerine in the palate, mingling with a light sweetness. In the second punch, I detect an almost Belgian influence of yeast and bread in the palate. As I finish my glass, a thin layer of sediment has formed on the bottom of my glass, evidence of this beers’ brewing process.
Overall, a very good ale, and if I hadn’t known beforehand that it was a Rice Ale, I may not have even detected the light bit of rice I did. Once again, the Japanese have taken a foreign influence, embraced it, and made it their own.

33 cL bottle. Pours hay orange with a creamy and off-white head. Yeasty, caramel and mild fruity aroma. Light liqourice/spice note to a creamy and caramelish base flavour with a light belgian yeast touch, quite nice if it wasn’t for a mild rubber-like note following before and slight into the finish. Either it is the red rice or this one has a mild infection too. Certainly drinkable though.

Not a fan of this beer at all. There is a lot of hype with Hitachino but I absolutely feel it’s nothing but hype. Their beers are unique but doesn’t hold up to much with regards to brightness, balance and complexity. It’s lacking fundamentals.